Advanced Appendix B: The Anatomy of a P2P Message

When your node talks to another, they exchange binary messages. Understanding these is the key to network troubleshooting.

• version: The first message. Contains your node's version and the current time.

• verack: The acknowledgment of the version.

• inv (Inventory): "I have these 5 new blocks and 100 new transactions. Do you want them?"

• getdata: "Yes, please send me block #840231."

• block: The actual raw block data.