diff --git a/internal/discovery/discovery.go b/internal/discovery/discovery.go
index c57cd43..f7e29c2 100644
--- a/internal/discovery/discovery.go
+++ b/internal/discovery/discovery.go
@@ -49,6 +49,9 @@ func (nd *NodeDiscovery) Shutdown(ctx context.Context) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// MessageHandler processes a specific UDP message type
+type MessageHandler func(payload string, remoteAddr *net.UDPAddr)
+
 // handleUDPMessage processes incoming UDP messages
 func (nd *NodeDiscovery) handleUDPMessage(message string, remoteAddr *net.UDPAddr) {
 	nd.logger.WithFields(log.Fields{
@@ -58,13 +61,39 @@ func (nd *NodeDiscovery) handleUDPMessage(message string, remoteAddr *net.UDPAdd
 
 	message = strings.TrimSpace(message)
 
-	if strings.HasPrefix(message, "CLUSTER_HEARTBEAT:") {
-		hostname := strings.TrimPrefix(message, "CLUSTER_HEARTBEAT:")
-		nd.updateNodeFromHeartbeat(remoteAddr.IP.String(), remoteAddr.Port, hostname)
-	} else if strings.HasPrefix(message, "NODE_UPDATE:") {
-		nd.handleNodeUpdate(remoteAddr.IP.String(), message)
-	} else if !strings.HasPrefix(message, "RAW:") {
-		nd.logger.WithField("message", message).Debug("Received unknown UDP message")
+	// Extract topic by splitting on first ":"
+	parts := strings.SplitN(message, ":", 2)
+	if len(parts) < 2 {
+		nd.logger.WithField("message", message).Debug("Invalid message format - missing ':' separator")
+		return
+	}
+
+	topic := parts[0]
+	payload := parts[1]
+
+	// Handler map for different message types
+	handlers := map[string]MessageHandler{
+		"cluster/heartbeat": func(payload string, remoteAddr *net.UDPAddr) {
+			nd.updateNodeFromHeartbeat(remoteAddr.IP.String(), remoteAddr.Port, payload)
+		},
+		"node/update": func(payload string, remoteAddr *net.UDPAddr) {
+			// Reconstruct full message for handleNodeUpdate which expects "node/update:hostname:{json}"
+			fullMessage := "node/update:" + payload
+			nd.handleNodeUpdate(remoteAddr.IP.String(), fullMessage)
+		},
+		"raw": func(payload string, remoteAddr *net.UDPAddr) {
+			nd.logger.WithField("message", "raw:"+payload).Debug("Received raw message")
+		},
+		"cluster/event": func(payload string, remoteAddr *net.UDPAddr) {
+			nd.logger.WithField("message", "cluster/event:"+payload).Debug("Received cluster/event message")
+		},
+	}
+
+	// Look up and execute handler
+	if handler, exists := handlers[topic]; exists {
+		handler(payload, remoteAddr)
+	} else {
+		nd.logger.WithField("topic", topic).Debug("Received unknown UDP message type")
 	}
 }
 
@@ -138,9 +167,9 @@ func (nd *NodeDiscovery) updateNodeFromHeartbeat(sourceIP string, sourcePort int
 	}
 }
 
-// handleNodeUpdate processes NODE_UPDATE messages
+// handleNodeUpdate processes NODE_UPDATE and node/update messages
 func (nd *NodeDiscovery) handleNodeUpdate(sourceIP, message string) {
-	// Message format: "NODE_UPDATE:hostname:{json}"
+	// Message format: "NODE_UPDATE:hostname:{json}" or "node/update:hostname:{json}"
 	parts := strings.SplitN(message, ":", 3)
 	if len(parts) < 3 {
 		nd.logger.WithField("message", message).Warn("Invalid NODE_UPDATE message format")
diff --git a/internal/websocket/websocket.go b/internal/websocket/websocket.go
index e0e98a2..5f099e4 100644
--- a/internal/websocket/websocket.go
+++ b/internal/websocket/websocket.go
@@ -134,13 +134,13 @@ func (wss *WebSocketServer) sendCurrentClusterState(conn *websocket.Conn) {
 	}
 
 	message := struct {
-		Type        string                 `json:"type"`
+		Topic       string                 `json:"topic"`
 		Members     []client.ClusterMember `json:"members"`
 		PrimaryNode string                 `json:"primaryNode"`
 		TotalNodes  int                    `json:"totalNodes"`
 		Timestamp   string                 `json:"timestamp"`
 	}{
-		Type:        "cluster_update",
+		Topic:       "cluster/update",
 		Members:     clusterData,
 		PrimaryNode: wss.nodeDiscovery.GetPrimaryNode(),
 		TotalNodes:  len(nodes),
@@ -227,13 +227,13 @@ func (wss *WebSocketServer) broadcastClusterUpdate() {
 	}
 
 	message := struct {
-		Type        string                 `json:"type"`
+		Topic       string                 `json:"topic"`
 		Members     []client.ClusterMember `json:"members"`
 		PrimaryNode string                 `json:"primaryNode"`
 		TotalNodes  int                    `json:"totalNodes"`
 		Timestamp   string                 `json:"timestamp"`
 	}{
-		Type:        "cluster_update",
+		Topic:       "cluster/update",
 		Members:     clusterData,
 		PrimaryNode: wss.nodeDiscovery.GetPrimaryNode(),
 		TotalNodes:  len(wss.nodeDiscovery.GetNodes()),
@@ -287,12 +287,12 @@ func (wss *WebSocketServer) broadcastNodeDiscovery(nodeIP, action string) {
 	}
 
 	message := struct {
-		Type      string `json:"type"`
+		Topic     string `json:"topic"`
 		Action    string `json:"action"`
 		NodeIP    string `json:"nodeIp"`
 		Timestamp string `json:"timestamp"`
 	}{
-		Type:      "node_discovery",
+		Topic:     "node/discovery",
 		Action:    action,
 		NodeIP:    nodeIP,
 		Timestamp: time.Now().Format(time.RFC3339),
@@ -330,14 +330,14 @@ func (wss *WebSocketServer) BroadcastFirmwareUploadStatus(nodeIP, status, filena
 	}
 
 	message := struct {
-		Type      string `json:"type"`
+		Topic     string `json:"topic"`
 		NodeIP    string `json:"nodeIp"`
 		Status    string `json:"status"`
 		Filename  string `json:"filename"`
 		FileSize  int    `json:"fileSize"`
 		Timestamp string `json:"timestamp"`
 	}{
-		Type:      "firmware_upload_status",
+		Topic:     "firmware/upload/status",
 		NodeIP:    nodeIP,
 		Status:    status,
 		Filename:  filename,
@@ -385,7 +385,7 @@ func (wss *WebSocketServer) BroadcastRolloutProgress(rolloutID, nodeIP, status s
 	}
 
 	message := struct {
-		Type      string `json:"type"`
+		Topic     string `json:"topic"`
 		RolloutID string `json:"rolloutId"`
 		NodeIP    string `json:"nodeIp"`
 		Status    string `json:"status"`
@@ -394,7 +394,7 @@ func (wss *WebSocketServer) BroadcastRolloutProgress(rolloutID, nodeIP, status s
 		Progress  int    `json:"progress"`
 		Timestamp string `json:"timestamp"`
 	}{
-		Type:      "rollout_progress",
+		Topic:     "rollout/progress",
 		RolloutID: rolloutID,
 		NodeIP:    nodeIP,
 		Status:    status,