Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. A user equipment (UE) may perform cell discovery in a window by monitoring for and receiving synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) from a network entity. The UE may receive an indication of a numerical quantity of beams in a set of beams associated with SSB transmission during a discovery window. The UE may map a set of SSB transmissions within the discovery window to a set of SSB candidates within the discovery window using the receive indication of the numerical quantity of beams. The UE may select, for each SSB candidate of the set of SSB candidates, a beam from the set of beams for monitoring each SSB candidate. The UE may monitor the SSB candidates in accordance with the beam selected for each SSB candidate. The UE may then receive one or more SSBs in accordance with the monitoring.