diff --git a/antd/Cargo.lock b/antd/Cargo.lock
index f381c84..20dfcc3 100644
--- a/antd/Cargo.lock
+++ b/antd/Cargo.lock
@@ -954,6 +954,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "thiserror 2.0.18",
  "tokio",
  "tokio-stream",
+ "toml",
  "tonic",
  "tonic-build",
  "tower-http",
diff --git a/antd/Cargo.toml b/antd/Cargo.toml
index 404ea23..1741bff 100644
--- a/antd/Cargo.toml
+++ b/antd/Cargo.toml
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ thiserror = "2"
 futures = "0.3"
 rand = "0.8"
 postcard = { version = "1.1.3", features = ["use-std"] }
+toml = "0.8"
 
 [build-dependencies]
 tonic-build = "0.12"
diff --git a/antd/resources/bootstrap_peers.toml b/antd/resources/bootstrap_peers.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2923934
--- /dev/null
+++ b/antd/resources/bootstrap_peers.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# Autonomi Network — Bootstrap Peers (compiled-in default for antd)
+#
+# This file is embedded into the antd binary via include_str! and used as a
+# last-resort fallback when no peers are supplied via:
+#   1. --peers / ANTD_PEERS (CLI/env)
+#   2. %APPDATA%/ant/bootstrap_peers.toml (Linux: ~/.config/ant/) — the file
+#      ant-client's installer drops in
+#
+# Vendored from ant-client `resources/bootstrap_peers.toml`. Refresh on each
+# antd release if upstream rotates the list.
+#
+# Format: "ip:port" socket addresses. Port range for ant-node: 10000-10999.
+
+peers = [
+    "207.148.94.42:10000",
+    "45.77.50.10:10000",
+    "66.135.23.83:10000",
+    "149.248.9.2:10000",
+    "49.12.119.240:10000",
+    "5.161.25.133:10000",
+    "18.228.202.183:10000",
+]
diff --git a/antd/src/main.rs b/antd/src/main.rs
index 3808758..f813d51 100644
--- a/antd/src/main.rs
+++ b/antd/src/main.rs
@@ -116,6 +116,20 @@ async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
         }
     }
 
+    // Last-resort fallback: peers vendored into the binary at compile time.
+    // Lets a fresh release binary reach mainnet without any prior ant-client
+    // installer step. CLI/env/file all take precedence over this.
+    if bootstrap_peers.is_empty() && config.network != "local" {
+        let compiled_in = peers::compiled_in_default_peers();
+        if !compiled_in.is_empty() {
+            tracing::info!(
+                count = compiled_in.len(),
+                "loaded compiled-in default bootstrap peers (no CLI/env/file peers were supplied)"
+            );
+            bootstrap_peers = compiled_in;
+        }
+    }
+
     if bootstrap_peers.is_empty() {
         if config.network != "local" {
             tracing::warn!(
diff --git a/antd/src/peers.rs b/antd/src/peers.rs
index 9f660a7..80c2ebd 100644
--- a/antd/src/peers.rs
+++ b/antd/src/peers.rs
@@ -4,6 +4,17 @@ use std::net::SocketAddr;
 
 use ant_core::data::MultiAddr;
 
+/// Mainnet bootstrap peers vendored from `ant-client/resources/bootstrap_peers.toml`.
+/// Used as a last-resort fallback when neither CLI/env nor the on-disk
+/// `bootstrap_peers.toml` provided any peers, so a fresh release binary can
+/// reach mainnet without manual setup.
+const COMPILED_IN_BOOTSTRAP_PEERS_TOML: &str = include_str!("../resources/bootstrap_peers.toml");
+
+#[derive(serde::Deserialize)]
+struct BootstrapConfig {
+    peers: Vec<String>,
+}
+
 /// Convert a [`SocketAddr`] (as read from ant-client's `bootstrap_peers.toml`)
 /// into the libp2p-style `/ip4/<ip>/udp/<port>/quic` multiaddr string that
 /// saorsa-core expects, then parse it into a [`MultiAddr`].
@@ -44,6 +55,24 @@ pub fn load_from_ant_client_config() -> (Vec<MultiAddr>, Option<std::path::PathB
     (peers, path)
 }
 
+/// Last-resort fallback: parse the bootstrap_peers.toml that was vendored into
+/// the binary at compile time and return MultiAddrs. Returns an empty vector if
+/// the embedded file is malformed (which would be a build-time regression).
+pub fn compiled_in_default_peers() -> Vec<MultiAddr> {
+    match toml::from_str::<BootstrapConfig>(COMPILED_IN_BOOTSTRAP_PEERS_TOML) {
+        Ok(cfg) => cfg
+            .peers
+            .iter()
+            .filter_map(|s| s.parse::<SocketAddr>().ok())
+            .filter_map(|sa| socket_addr_to_multiaddr(&sa))
+            .collect(),
+        Err(e) => {
+            tracing::warn!(error = %e, "failed to parse compiled-in bootstrap_peers.toml");
+            Vec::new()
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
@@ -71,4 +100,20 @@ mod tests {
             "unexpected multiaddr: {as_str}"
         );
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn compiled_in_default_peers_parses_and_yields_multiaddrs() {
+        let peers = compiled_in_default_peers();
+        assert!(
+            !peers.is_empty(),
+            "embedded bootstrap_peers.toml produced zero peers"
+        );
+        for ma in &peers {
+            let as_str = format!("{ma}");
+            assert!(
+                as_str.contains("/udp/") && as_str.contains("/quic"),
+                "unexpected multiaddr shape: {as_str}"
+            );
+        }
+    }
 }