The five Gnutella protocol descriptors coordinate the flow of information when a computer participates in a Toadnode network.
| Packet Type (Function Identifier) | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Ping | A Ping packet announces your presence on the network. When another computer hears your Ping it responds with a Pong packet. |
| Pong (Ping reply) | A Pong packet contains an IP address, port number, and information about how much data is being shared by the computer that sent the Pong. |
| Query | Query packets let you ask other computers if they're sharing specific content. When another computer has a match for your query it responds with a QueryHit packet. |
| QueryHit (Query reply) | A QueryHit packet is sent in response to a Query packet. It contains the IP address of the computer with the match, and the name of the matching file or files. |
| Push | The Push packet informs a firewalled computer that you'd like to download a file but can't initiate an HTTP connection. Upon receiving the Push Request the firewalled computer initiates an HTTP connection to you. |