IPFS Meshkit0

IPFS Meshkit0 is a universal SDK for decentralized storage on Node.js, React Native, Flutter, and Capacitor. Install @ipfs-meshkit/meshkit for Agentic and Web3 AI (ERC-8004) ecosystem with storage APIs, optional local Kubo startup, and failover, without wiring up Kubo RPC yourself.

Typical use case

A developer building an invoice app can:

1. Store invoices in a local DB, or
2. Upload them to decentralized storage via Meshkit (upload, retrieve, pin)

On Node.js, Meshkit can start a local Kubo daemon for you. On mobile, point at a Kubo node on your PC or VPS.

Packages

Package	Description
@ipfs-meshkit/meshkit	Primary entry — storage + local Kubo lifecycle (Node.js)
@ipfs-meshkit/core	Kubo RPC client with multi-node failover
@ipfs-meshkit/node	Start/stop a local Kubo daemon (startIPFSNode)
@ipfs-meshkit/capacitor	Capacitor adapter for Ionic / hybrid apps
@ipfs-meshkit/react-native	React Native adapter (re-exports core + polyfill entry)

Prerequisites

Install Kubo (ipfs on your PATH). Meshkit can spawn the daemon on Node.js; mobile apps still need a reachable Kubo endpoint (LAN IP or VPS).

Development

npm install
npm run build

Usage

npm install @ipfs-meshkit/meshkit

Node.js — automatic local Kubo

import { readFile, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
import { init, stopIPFSNode } from '@ipfs-meshkit/meshkit';

const { meshkit, localNode } = await init({ localNode: true });

const pdf = await readFile('./invoice.pdf');
const cid = await meshkit.upload(pdf);
await meshkit.pin(cid);

const retrieved = await meshkit.retrieve(cid);
await writeFile('./invoice-copy.pdf', retrieved);

if (localNode?.managed) {
  await stopIPFSNode(localNode);
}

Node.js — server bootstrap

import { startIPFSNode, stopIPFSNode, init } from '@ipfs-meshkit/meshkit';

const kubo = await startIPFSNode();
const { meshkit } = await init({ nodes: [kubo.url] });

// ... your HTTP server ...

process.on('SIGTERM', async () => {
  if (kubo.managed) {
    await stopIPFSNode(kubo);
  }
  process.exit(0);
});

startIPFSNode reuses an existing daemon on 127.0.0.1:5001 when one is already healthy.

Remote nodes + failover

import { init } from '@ipfs-meshkit/meshkit';

const { meshkit } = await init({
  localNode: true,
  nodes: [
    'https://node2.yourinfra.com:5001',
    'https://node3.yourinfra.com:5001',
  ],
});

console.log('Active nodes:', meshkit.activeNodes);

Each upload, retrieve, and pin call tries nodes in priority order. If every node fails, a MeshkitError is thrown.

Low-level client

For a single node without failover, use @ipfs-meshkit/core directly:

import { createMeshkitClient } from '@ipfs-meshkit/core';

const client = createMeshkitClient({ apiUrl: 'http://127.0.0.1:5001' });
const cid = await client.upload(await readFile('./invoice.pdf'));

React Native

npm install @ipfs-meshkit/react-native react-native-get-random-values \
  react-native-url-polyfill react-native-fetch-api web-streams-polyfill fast-text-encoding

import '@ipfs-meshkit/react-native/polyfills';
import { Meshkit } from '@ipfs-meshkit/react-native';

const mk = await Meshkit.init({
  nodes: ['http://192.168.1.42:5001'],
});

const cid = await mk.upload(new Uint8Array([1, 2, 3]));

On Android, allow cleartext HTTP for local dev (android:usesCleartextTraffic="true"). On iOS, enable local networking in Info.plist if using http:// on LAN.