---
slug: "Discover"
name: "Discover"
type: "Protocols"
layer: "Society"
ref: "Discover#f6e0"
sema_id: "sema:Discover#mh:SHA-256:f6e09de2a5b38c031651d22539fafaa46e32869b06dae8009bde18cb249da69b"
tags: ["Society","Protocols"]
updated: 2026-11-11
mindscape: "bootstrap"
index_url: https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/index.json
url: https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Discover/
related: ["Check","Criteria","Search","Signal","AgentDiscover","ConsensusFinder","Deep","DeepResearch","DiscoveryProtocol","HypothesisEngine","IdentityHandshake","ToolDiscovery"]
---

# Discover

Distributed query for external resources

Layer: Society · Category: Protocols

## Mechanism

A distributed coordination protocol where an agent broadcasts a query to locate external entities matching a [Criteria](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Criteria.md). Uses [Check](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Check.md) to filter responses. Unlike [Search](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Search.md), which scans internal memory, Discover requires another party to answer.

## Invariants

- A Discover states when it stops waiting; responses arrive as asynchronous [Signal](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Signal.md)s with no completion of their own.
- Responses pass [Check](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Check.md) against the [Criteria](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Criteria.md) before counting as matches.

## Failure modes

- Silence read as absence: the window closed with no match, which licenses only that nothing answered.
- Response flood: a broad [Criteria](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Criteria.md) returns more than the caller can filter; the stop condition bounds time, not volume.

## Builds on

- [Check](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Check.md) (Infrastructure; References)
- [Criteria](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Criteria.md) (Infrastructure; References)
- [Search](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Search.md) (Infrastructure; References)
- [Signal](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Signal.md) (Infrastructure; References)

## Used by

- [AgentDiscover](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/AgentDiscover.md) (Society; References)
- [ConsensusFinder](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/ConsensusFinder.md) (Society; References)
- [Deep](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Deep.md) (Mind; References)
- [DeepResearch](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/DeepResearch.md) (Mind; References)
- [DiscoveryProtocol](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/DiscoveryProtocol.md) (Mind; References)
- [HypothesisEngine](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/HypothesisEngine.md) (Mind; References)
- [IdentityHandshake](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/IdentityHandshake.md) (Society; References)
- [ToolDiscovery](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/ToolDiscovery.md) (Society; References)

## Identity

- Sema ID: `sema:Discover#mh:SHA-256:f6e09de2a5b38c031651d22539fafaa46e32869b06dae8009bde18cb249da69b`
- Ref: `Discover#f6e0`
- Supersedes:
  - `sema:Discover#mh:SHA-256:afa14d67f5837d32ee70ae99c0b625d39864254bafd2b11b0ef690cc8fda5dbc`
  - `sema:Discover#mh:SHA-256:8895070d390ce7493b0534f56d22d9dec6eb341d0865e4214f8f0141dc6f5104`

## Links

- [Pattern page](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Discover/)
- [View in the interactive graph](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/#Discover)
- [JSON](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Discover.json)
- [Index of all patterns](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/index.json)