Kubo: IPFS Implementation in GO

Install Kubo (previously known as "go-ipfs") from NPM

Table of Contents

• Install
• Usage
• Development
  • Publish a new version
    • Authentication (npm Trusted Publishing)
• Contribute
• License

Install

Install the latest Kubo (go-ipfs) binary:

# Install globally
> npm install -g kubo
> ipfs version
ipfs version v0.23.0

# Install locally
> npm install kubo
> ./node_modules/.bin/ipfs
ipfs version v0.23.0

Usage

This module downloads Kubo (go-ipfs) binaries from GitHub releases into your project.

It will download the kubo version that matches the npm version of this module. So depending on kubo@0.23.0 will install kubo v0.23.0 for your current system architecture, in to your project at node_modules/kubo/kubo/ipfs and additional symlink to it at node_modules/kubo/bin/ipfs.

On Windows, ipfs.exe file is used, and if the symlink can't be created under a regular user, a copy of ipfs.exe is created instead.

After downloading you can find out the path of the installed binary by calling the path function exported by this module:

import { path } from 'kubo'

console.info('kubo is installed at', path())

If the binary has not been downloaded yet, path() fetches it on the first call and returns once it is ready, so it works whether or not the install script ran (see Installing without lifecycle scripts). Pass path({ autoDownload: false }) to resolve only an existing binary and throw when it is missing.

Caching

Downloaded archives (the .tar.gz and its .sha512) are cached in an OS-specific directory, keyed by version, OS, and architecture, so the binary is fetched once and reused across every project on the machine:

• Linux: ~/.cache/npm-kubo (or $XDG_CACHE_HOME/npm-kubo)
• macOS: ~/Library/Caches/npm-kubo
• Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\npm-kubo\Cache

Set NPM_KUBO_CACHE to an absolute path to override it. On a cache hit nothing is fetched over the network: the download URL is derived from the version, OS, and architecture.

Caching in GitHub Actions

actions/setup-node with cache: npm only persists npm's own cache (~/.npm), not the directory above, so cache it explicitly. Point NPM_KUBO_CACHE at an absolute, stable path and restore it with actions/cache before installing, keyed on the kubo version:

env:
  NPM_KUBO_CACHE: ${{ github.workspace }}/.kubo-cache
steps:
  - uses: actions/checkout@v4
  # read the pinned kubo version so the cache key follows it, no manual bump
  - id: kubo
    run: echo "version=$(jq -r '.packages["node_modules/kubo"].version' package-lock.json)" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
  - uses: actions/cache@v4
    with:
      path: ${{ github.workspace }}/.kubo-cache
      key: ${{ runner.os }}-${{ runner.arch }}-kubo-${{ steps.kubo.outputs.version }}
      restore-keys: ${{ runner.os }}-${{ runner.arch }}-kubo-
  - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
    with: { node-version: 24, cache: npm }
  - run: npm ci

From npm v12 on, install scripts are opt-in, so the postinstall download is skipped and the binary is fetched on first use instead (see Installing without lifecycle scripts). actions/cache still saves the directory at the end of the job, so the first run that uses the binary warms the cache for later runs.

Overriding with KUBO_BINARY env

If the KUBO_BINARY env variable is set at runtime this will override the path of the binary used.

This must point to the file, not the directory containing the file.

Overriding the download source

Binaries are fetched from https://github.com/ipfs/kubo/releases. To use a mirror, set KUBO_RELEASES_URL (or the kubo.releasesUrl field in your package.json) to a base that serves the same files, <base>/download/<version>/<asset>. This works with GitHub releases and any HTTP server that mirrors them.

The old KUBO_DIST_URL and GO_IPFS_DIST_URL env vars and the kubo.distUrl config still work. They keep using the older dist.ipfs.tech layout and print a warning, so switch to KUBO_RELEASES_URL when you can.

Installing without lifecycle scripts

Some setups skip lifecycle scripts on install: npm install --ignore-scripts, the npm v12 default, pnpm, and hardened CI. This package downloads the binary from its postinstall script, and when that script does not run the binary is downloaded on first use instead, either from path() or from the ipfs CLI shim. The download is cached, so it happens once.

To control it:

• set KUBO_BINARY to point at an existing binary and skip the download entirely
• call path({ autoDownload: false }) to handle a missing binary yourself

Development

Warning: bin/ipfs is a small shim that gets replaced by a symlink to the downloaded binary after install, or the first time the binary is used. The symlink then shows up as a change in git. Do not commit it, or you would commit and publish a large binary. A pre-commit hook restores the shim, but better safe than sorry.

Publish a new version

Publishing is automated. The Release to npm workflow runs hourly and checks the latest ipfs/kubo release. It only proceeds once that release has every binary npm-kubo serves attached, so a kubo version that is tagged but still uploading its release assets is skipped and picked up on a later run. When a complete release is found, it:

• bumps version in package.json via npm version
• publishes to npm as kubo@<version> with a sigstore provenance attestation
• pushes the version commit and tag back to master

The workflow tags full kubo releases as latest and pre-releases (any version containing -, e.g. 0.41.0-rc2) as next.

Maintainers can also trigger a run manually from the Actions tab via workflow_dispatch.

Authentication (npm Trusted Publishing)

The workflow authenticates to npm via Trusted Publishing over GitHub OIDC, not a long-lived NPM_AUTH_TOKEN. To (re)configure trust on npmjs.com, a maintainer with publish rights should:

1. Go to the kubo package settings on npmjs.com → Trusted Publishers → Add trusted publisher → GitHub Actions.
2. Set organization ipfs, repository npm-kubo, workflow filename main.yml. Leave the environment field blank.

Contribute

Feel free to join in. All welcome. Open an issue!

This repository falls under the IPFS Code of Conduct.

License

MIT