Abstract. In this paper, we describe the design of PIRS, a peer-topeer information retrieval system. PIRS satisfies many of the goals of P2P computing in a way that other P2P IR systems do not: It does not require the centralization of data onto specially designated peers, and is therefore applicable to a larger application environment. We explain our design decisions, analyzing their potential benefits and shortcomings. We then demonstrate PIRS’s search performance via simulation.