Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. A user equipment (UE) may receive configuration information from a base station that indicates a set of resources for the UE to establish sidelink communications with another UE in a wireless network. The UE may transmit a first set of reference signals using a first set of beams to determine a set of neighboring candidate UEs for a sidelink connection. The UE may then transmit a second set of reference signals on a second set of beams to the neighboring candidate UEs, and may select a second UE located in the determined neighboring set using various beam scanning procedures. The UE may identify a transmit beam associated with the second UE, and may establish the sidelink connection using the identified transmit beam.