diff --git a/pkg/client/client.go b/pkg/client/client.go
index 1ce16e2..4f46c90 100644
--- a/pkg/client/client.go
+++ b/pkg/client/client.go
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ import (
 	libp2ppubsub "github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p-pubsub"
 
 	"git.debros.io/DeBros/network/pkg/anyoneproxy"
-	"git.debros.io/DeBros/network/pkg/discovery"
 	"git.debros.io/DeBros/network/pkg/pubsub"
 	"git.debros.io/DeBros/network/pkg/storage"
 )
@@ -38,9 +37,6 @@ type Client struct {
 	network  *NetworkInfoImpl
 	pubsub   *pubSubBridge
 
-	// Managers
-	discoveryMgr *discovery.Manager
-
 	// State
 	connected bool
 	startTime time.Time
@@ -211,20 +207,11 @@ func (c *Client) Connect() error {
 		}
 	}
 
-	// Initialize discovery manager (discovery.NewManager accepts a second parameter for compatibility;
-	// the value is ignored by the new implementation)
-	c.discoveryMgr = discovery.NewManager(c.host, nil, c.logger)
+	// Client is a lightweight P2P participant - no discovery needed
+	// We only connect to known bootstrap peers and let nodes handle discovery
+	c.logger.Debug("Client configured as lightweight P2P participant (no discovery)")
 
-	// Start peer discovery
-	discoveryConfig := discovery.Config{
-		DiscoveryInterval: 5 * time.Second, // More frequent discovery
-		MaxConnections:    10,              // Allow more connections
-	}
-	if err := c.discoveryMgr.Start(discoveryConfig); err != nil {
-		c.logger.Warn("Failed to start peer discovery", zap.Error(err))
-	}
-
-	// Start connection monitoring
+	// Start minimal connection monitoring
 	c.startConnectionMonitoring()
 
 	c.connected = true
@@ -243,11 +230,6 @@ func (c *Client) Disconnect() error {
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	// Stop peer discovery
-	if c.discoveryMgr != nil {
-		c.discoveryMgr.Stop()
-	}
-
 	// Close pubsub adapter
 	if c.pubsub != nil && c.pubsub.adapter != nil {
 		if err := c.pubsub.adapter.Close(); err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/client/connect_bootstrap.go b/pkg/client/connect_bootstrap.go
index 9f7d1f1..7307ad4 100644
--- a/pkg/client/connect_bootstrap.go
+++ b/pkg/client/connect_bootstrap.go
@@ -19,39 +19,28 @@ func (c *Client) connectToBootstrap(ctx context.Context, addr string) error {
 	// Try to extract peer info if it's a full multiaddr with peer ID
 	peerInfo, err := peer.AddrInfoFromP2pAddr(ma)
 	if err != nil {
-		// If there's no peer ID, try to discover the peer at this address
-		return c.connectToAddress(ctx, ma)
-	}
-
-	// Avoid dialing ourselves: if the bootstrap address resolves to our own peer ID, skip.
-	c.logger.Debug(string(peerInfo.ID))
-	c.logger.Debug(string(c.host.ID()))
-	if c.host != nil && peerInfo.ID == c.host.ID() {
-		c.logger.Debug("Skipping bootstrap address because it resolves to self",
-			zap.String("addr", addr),
-			zap.String("peer", peerInfo.ID.String()))
+		// If there's no peer ID, we can't connect
+		c.logger.Warn("Bootstrap address missing peer ID, skipping",
+			zap.String("addr", addr))
 		return nil
 	}
 
+	// Avoid dialing ourselves: if the bootstrap address resolves to our own peer ID, skip.
+	if c.host != nil && peerInfo.ID == c.host.ID() {
+		c.logger.Debug("Skipping bootstrap address because it resolves to self",
+			zap.String("addr", addr),
+			zap.String("peer_id", peerInfo.ID.String()))
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	// Attempt connection
 	if err := c.host.Connect(ctx, *peerInfo); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to connect to peer: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	c.logger.Debug("Connected to bootstrap peer",
-		zap.String("peer", peerInfo.ID.String()),
+		zap.String("peer_id", peerInfo.ID.String()),
 		zap.String("addr", addr))
 
 	return nil
 }
-
-// connectToAddress attempts to discover and connect to a peer at the given address
-func (c *Client) connectToAddress(ctx context.Context, ma multiaddr.Multiaddr) error {
-	// For the simple case, we'll just warn and continue
-	// In a production environment, you'd implement proper peer discovery
-
-	c.logger.Warn("No peer ID provided in address, skipping bootstrap connection",
-		zap.String("addr", ma.String()),
-		zap.String("suggestion", "Use full multiaddr with peer ID like: /ip4/127.0.0.1/tcp/4001/p2p/<peer-id>"))
-
-	return nil // Don't fail - let the client continue without bootstrap
-}
diff --git a/pkg/client/defaults.go b/pkg/client/defaults.go
index c669064..05b990f 100644
--- a/pkg/client/defaults.go
+++ b/pkg/client/defaults.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package client
 
 import (
+	"os"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 
@@ -9,45 +10,51 @@ import (
 )
 
 // DefaultBootstrapPeers returns the library's default bootstrap peer multiaddrs.
+// These can be overridden by environment variables or config.
 func DefaultBootstrapPeers() []string {
-	var cfg *config.Config
-	return cfg.Discovery.BootstrapPeers
-}
-
-// truthy reports if s is a common truthy string.
-func truthy(s string) bool {
-	switch s {
-	case "1", "true", "TRUE", "True", "yes", "YES", "on", "ON":
-		return true
-	default:
-		return false
+	// Check environment variable first
+	if envPeers := os.Getenv("DEBROS_BOOTSTRAP_PEERS"); envPeers != "" {
+		return splitCSVOrSpace(envPeers)
 	}
+
+	// Return defaults from config package
+	defaultCfg := config.DefaultConfig()
+	return defaultCfg.Discovery.BootstrapPeers
 }
 
-// DefaultDatabaseEndpoints returns default DB HTTP endpoints derived from default bootstrap peers.
-// Port defaults to RQLite HTTP 5001, or RQLITE_PORT if set.
+// DefaultDatabaseEndpoints returns default DB HTTP endpoints.
+// These can be overridden by environment variables or config.
 func DefaultDatabaseEndpoints() []string {
-	var cfg *config.Config
-	peers := DefaultBootstrapPeers()
-	port := cfg.Database.RQLitePort
-	if len(peers) == 0 {
-		return []string{"http://localhost:" + strconv.Itoa(cfg.Database.RQLitePort)}
+	// Check environment variable first
+	if envNodes := os.Getenv("RQLITE_NODES"); envNodes != "" {
+		return normalizeEndpoints(splitCSVOrSpace(envNodes))
 	}
 
-	endpoints := make([]string, 0, len(peers))
-	for _, s := range peers {
-		ma, err := multiaddr.NewMultiaddr(s)
-		if err != nil {
-			continue
+	// Get default port from environment or use port from config
+	defaultCfg := config.DefaultConfig()
+	port := defaultCfg.Database.RQLitePort
+	if envPort := os.Getenv("RQLITE_PORT"); envPort != "" {
+		if p, err := strconv.Atoi(envPort); err == nil && p > 0 {
+			port = p
 		}
-		endpoints = append(endpoints, endpointFromMultiaddr(ma, port))
 	}
 
-	out := dedupeStrings(endpoints)
-	if len(out) == 0 {
-		out = []string{"http://localhost:" + strconv.Itoa(port)}
+	// Try to derive from bootstrap peers if available
+	peers := DefaultBootstrapPeers()
+	if len(peers) > 0 {
+		endpoints := make([]string, 0, len(peers))
+		for _, s := range peers {
+			ma, err := multiaddr.NewMultiaddr(s)
+			if err != nil {
+				continue
+			}
+			endpoints = append(endpoints, endpointFromMultiaddr(ma, port))
+		}
+		return dedupeStrings(endpoints)
 	}
-	return out
+
+	// Fallback to localhost
+	return []string{"http://localhost:" + strconv.Itoa(port)}
 }
 
 // MapAddrsToDBEndpoints converts a set of peer multiaddrs to DB HTTP endpoints using dbPort.
@@ -62,8 +69,10 @@ func MapAddrsToDBEndpoints(addrs []multiaddr.Multiaddr, dbPort int) []string {
 	return dedupeStrings(eps)
 }
 
+// endpointFromMultiaddr extracts host from multiaddr and creates HTTP endpoint
 func endpointFromMultiaddr(ma multiaddr.Multiaddr, port int) string {
 	var host string
+
 	// Prefer DNS if present, then IP
 	if v, err := ma.ValueForProtocol(multiaddr.P_DNS); err == nil && v != "" {
 		host = v
@@ -85,28 +94,88 @@ func endpointFromMultiaddr(ma multiaddr.Multiaddr, port int) string {
 	}
 	if host == "" {
 		if v, err := ma.ValueForProtocol(multiaddr.P_IP6); err == nil && v != "" {
-			host = v
+			host = "[" + v + "]" // IPv6 needs brackets in URLs
 		}
 	}
 	if host == "" {
 		host = "localhost"
 	}
+
 	return "http://" + host + ":" + strconv.Itoa(port)
 }
 
-func dedupeStrings(in []string) []string {
-	m := make(map[string]struct{}, len(in))
+// normalizeEndpoints ensures each endpoint has an http scheme and a port (defaults to 5001)
+func normalizeEndpoints(in []string) []string {
 	out := make([]string, 0, len(in))
 	for _, s := range in {
 		s = strings.TrimSpace(s)
 		if s == "" {
 			continue
 		}
-		if _, ok := m[s]; ok {
-			continue
+
+		// Prepend scheme if missing
+		if !strings.HasPrefix(s, "http://") && !strings.HasPrefix(s, "https://") {
+			s = "http://" + s
 		}
-		m[s] = struct{}{}
+
+		// Simple check for port (doesn't handle all cases but good enough)
+		if !strings.Contains(s, ":5001") && !strings.Contains(s, ":500") && !strings.Contains(s, ":501") {
+			// Check if there's already a port after the host
+			parts := strings.Split(s, "://")
+			if len(parts) == 2 {
+				hostPart := parts[1]
+				// Count colons to detect port (simple heuristic)
+				colonCount := strings.Count(hostPart, ":")
+				if colonCount == 0 || (strings.Contains(hostPart, "[") && colonCount == 1) {
+					// No port found, add default
+					s = s + ":5001"
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
 		out = append(out, s)
 	}
 	return out
 }
+
+// dedupeStrings removes duplicate strings from slice
+func dedupeStrings(in []string) []string {
+	if len(in) == 0 {
+		return in
+	}
+
+	seen := make(map[string]struct{}, len(in))
+	out := make([]string, 0, len(in))
+
+	for _, s := range in {
+		s = strings.TrimSpace(s)
+		if s == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		if _, ok := seen[s]; ok {
+			continue
+		}
+		seen[s] = struct{}{}
+		out = append(out, s)
+	}
+
+	return out
+}
+
+// splitCSVOrSpace splits a string by commas or spaces
+func splitCSVOrSpace(s string) []string {
+	// Replace commas with spaces, then split on spaces
+	s = strings.ReplaceAll(s, ",", " ")
+	fields := strings.Fields(s)
+	return fields
+}
+
+// truthy reports if s is a common truthy string
+func truthy(s string) bool {
+	switch strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSpace(s)) {
+	case "1", "true", "yes", "on":
+		return true
+	default:
+		return false
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/client/implementations.go b/pkg/client/implementations.go
index 2ee5e2b..f6a5763 100644
--- a/pkg/client/implementations.go
+++ b/pkg/client/implementations.go
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package client
 import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
-	"net/url"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
@@ -187,30 +186,7 @@ func (d *DatabaseClientImpl) getRQLiteNodes() []string {
 	return DefaultDatabaseEndpoints()
 }
 
-// normalizeEndpoints ensures each endpoint has an http scheme and a port (defaults to 5001)
-func normalizeEndpoints(in []string) []string {
-	out := make([]string, 0, len(in))
-	for _, s := range in {
-		s = strings.TrimSpace(s)
-		if s == "" {
-			continue
-		}
-		// Prepend scheme if missing so url.Parse handles host:port
-		if !strings.HasPrefix(s, "http://") && !strings.HasPrefix(s, "https://") {
-			s = "http://" + s
-		}
-		u, err := url.Parse(s)
-		if err != nil || u.Host == "" {
-			continue
-		}
-		// Ensure port present
-		if h := u.Host; !hasPort(h) {
-			u.Host = u.Host + ":5001"
-		}
-		out = append(out, u.String())
-	}
-	return out
-}
+// normalizeEndpoints is now imported from defaults.go
 
 func hasPort(hostport string) bool {
 	// cheap check for :port suffix (IPv6 with brackets handled by url.Parse earlier)
@@ -226,13 +202,6 @@ func hasPort(hostport string) bool {
 	return false
 }
 
-func splitCSVOrSpace(s string) []string {
-	// replace commas with spaces, then split on spaces
-	s = strings.ReplaceAll(s, ",", " ")
-	fields := strings.Fields(s)
-	return fields
-}
-
 // connectToAvailableNode tries to connect to any available RQLite node
 func (d *DatabaseClientImpl) connectToAvailableNode() (*gorqlite.Connection, error) {
 	// Get RQLite nodes from environment or use defaults
diff --git a/pkg/client/monitoring.go b/pkg/client/monitoring.go
index 209e168..f59c4bb 100644
--- a/pkg/client/monitoring.go
+++ b/pkg/client/monitoring.go
@@ -2,23 +2,65 @@ package client
 
 import (
 	"time"
+
+	"go.uber.org/zap"
 )
 
-// startConnectionMonitoring monitors connection health and logs status
+// startConnectionMonitoring starts minimal connection monitoring for the lightweight client.
+// Unlike nodes which need extensive monitoring, clients only need basic health checks.
 func (c *Client) startConnectionMonitoring() {
 	go func() {
-		ticker := time.NewTicker(30 * time.Second)
+		ticker := time.NewTicker(60 * time.Second) // Less frequent than nodes (60s vs 30s)
 		defer ticker.Stop()
 
-		c.logger.Debug("Connection monitoring started")
+		var lastPeerCount int
+		firstCheck := true
+
 		for range ticker.C {
 			if !c.isConnected() {
 				c.logger.Debug("Connection monitoring stopped: client disconnected")
 				return
 			}
 
-			// Only touch network to detect issues; avoid noisy logs
-			_ = c.host.Network().Peers()
+			if c.host == nil {
+				return
+			}
+
+			// Get current peer count
+			peers := c.host.Network().Peers()
+			currentPeerCount := len(peers)
+
+			// Only log if peer count changed or on first check
+			if firstCheck || currentPeerCount != lastPeerCount {
+				if currentPeerCount == 0 {
+					c.logger.Warn("Client has no connected peers",
+						zap.String("client_id", c.host.ID().String()))
+				} else if currentPeerCount < lastPeerCount {
+					c.logger.Info("Client lost peers",
+						zap.Int("current_peers", currentPeerCount),
+						zap.Int("previous_peers", lastPeerCount))
+				} else if currentPeerCount > lastPeerCount && !firstCheck {
+					c.logger.Debug("Client gained peers",
+						zap.Int("current_peers", currentPeerCount),
+						zap.Int("previous_peers", lastPeerCount))
+				}
+
+				lastPeerCount = currentPeerCount
+				firstCheck = false
+			}
+
+			// Log detailed peer info at debug level occasionally (every 5 minutes)
+			if time.Now().Unix()%300 == 0 && currentPeerCount > 0 {
+				peerIDs := make([]string, 0, currentPeerCount)
+				for _, p := range peers {
+					peerIDs = append(peerIDs, p.String())
+				}
+				c.logger.Debug("Client peer status",
+					zap.Int("peer_count", currentPeerCount),
+					zap.Strings("peer_ids", peerIDs))
+			}
 		}
 	}()
+
+	c.logger.Debug("Lightweight connection monitoring started")
 }