IPFS API via NodeJS

A client library for the IPFS API.

Usage

Note: non browserify users

If you're NOT using browserify, then use the included standalone file ipfsapi.min.js. This exports a ipfsAPI constructor on window.

Installing

Install Via NPM:

$ npm install --save ipfs-api

Initialize with:

//load module
var ipfs_api = require('ipfs-api');

//connect to ipfs daemon API server
var ipfs = ipfs_api('localhost', '5001'); //leaving out the arguments will default to these values

CORS Error Note

If are using this module in a browser with something like browserify, then you will get an error saying that the origin is not allowed. This would be a CORS ("Cross Origin Resource Sharing") failure. The ipfs server rejects requests from unknown domains by default. You can whitelist the domain that you are calling from by exporting API_ORIGIN and restarting the daemon, like:

export API_ORIGIN="http://localhost:8080"
ipfs daemon

Level 1 Commands

Level 1 commands are simple commands

Add

Add a file (where file is any data) to ipfs returning the hash and name. The name value will only be set if you are actually sending a file. A single or array of files can be used.

Usage

ipfs.add(files, function(err, res) {
    if(err || !res) return console.error(err)
    
    res.forEach(function(file) {
        console.log(file.Hash)
        console.log(file.Name)
    })
})

files can be a mixed array of filenames or buffers of data. A single value is also acceptable.

Example

var files = ["../files/hello.txt", new Buffer("ipfs!")]
var files = "../files/hello.txt"

Curl

curl 'http://localhost:5001/api/v0/add?stream-cannels=true' \
-H 'content-type: multipart/form-data; boundary=a831rwxi1a3gzaorw1w2z49dlsor' \
-H 'Connection: keep-alive' \
--data-binary $'--a831rwxi1a3gzaorw1w2z49dlsor\r\nContent-Type: application/octet-stream\r\nContent-Disposition: file; name="file"; filename="Hello.txt"\r\n\r\nhello--a831rwxi1a3gzaorw1w2z49dlsor--' --compressed

Response

[{
    Hash: string,
    Name: string
}, ...]

The name value will only be set for actual files

cat

Retrieve the contents of a single, or array of hashes

Usage

ipfs.cat(hashs, function(err, res) {
    if(err || !res) return console.error(err)
    
    if(res.readable) {
        // Returned as a stream
        res.pipe(process.stdout)
    } else {
        // Returned as a string
        console.log(res)
    }
})

Curl

curl "http://localhost:5001/api/v0/cat?arg=<hash>&stream-channels=true"

Response

The response is either a readable stream, or a string.

ls

Get the node structure of a hash, included in it is a hash and array to links.

Usage

ipfs.ls(hashs, function(err, res) {
    if(err || !res) return console.error(err)
    
    res.Objects.forEach(function(node) {
        console.log(node.Hash)
        console.log("Links [%d]", node.Links.length)
        node.Links.forEach(function(link, i) {
            console.log("[%d]", i, link)
        })
    })
})

Curl

curl "http://localhost:5001/api/v0/ls?arg=<hash>&stream-channels=true"

Response

{
    Objects: [
        { 
            Hash: string,
            Links: [{
                Name: string,
                Hash: string,
                Size: number
            }, ...]
        },
        ....
    ]
}

version

commands

Level 2 Commands

Level 2 commands are simply named spaced wrapped commands

Config

Update

Mount

Diag

Block

Object

Curl

curl 'http://localhost:5001/api/v0/object/get?arg=QmYEqnfCZp7a39Gxrgyv3qRS4MoCTGjegKV6zroU3Rvr52&stream-channels=true' --compressed

Response

{
    Links: [{
        Name: string,
        Hash: string,
        Size: number
    }, ...],
    Data: string

Data is base64 encoded

Swarm

Pin

Gateway