IPFSWebpackPlugin

Creates additional webpack assets for loading the assets via IPFS in the browser

IPFSWebpackPlugin is a plugin for webpack that makes it easy for you to load your generated assets via IPFS. It comes with a loader you can use instead of loading assets directly, and your assets will be loaded via the IPFS network instead.

Table of Contents

• Security
• Background
• Install
• Usage
• API
• Contribute
• License

Security

IPFS provides content-addressing and IPFSWebpackPlugin embeds the hash directly in the source code, meaning that your application will for sure be the right thing loaded from the network.

IPFSWebpackPlugin does make use of eval which executes the JavaScript received from IPFS.

Background

IPFSWebpackPlugin was created to make the creation and loading of IPFS-powered applications as easy as possible.

It was created as one possible solution to https://github.com/ipfs/js-ipfs/issues/127

Install

• Install with npm/yarn/your favorite node module manager
  • npm install ipfs-webpack-plugin / yarn add ipfs-webpack-plugin
• Incluide in your webpack configuration

const IPFSWebpackPlugin = require('ipfs-webpack-plugin')
// ...
plugins: [new IPFSWebpackPlugin()]

Replace the lines where you import your webpack assets with the following:

<script src="dist/loader.js"></script>
<script src="dist/ipfs.js"></script>

loader.js should be loaded before ipfs.js as the loader will show the spinner and wait for IPFS to be included, unless a Ipfs instance already exists on the page.

A full example can be seen by looking at the following files:

• webpack.config.js < webpack configuration using IPFSWebpackPlugin
• application.js < Tiny react application demonstration everything works
• index.html < HTML file loading loader.js and ipfs.js, ends up loading the React application above

A full example can be seen in the file webpack.config.js in this repository

Configuration

NOT YET IMPLEMENTED

You can provide options for the IPFS nodes used by IPFSWebpackPlugin (the loader + compiler)

plugins: [new IPFSWebpackPlugin({
    compilerNode: {/* ipfs options */} // defaults to js-ipfs defaults
    loaderNode: {/* ipfs options */} // defaults to js-ipfs defaults
    spinner: true|false // defaults to true
})]

How it works?

• When including the plugin in your webpack configuration, it starts listening for emission of assets and for compilation to be done
• Once emission starts, it adds loader.js and ipfs.js to the outputted assets, so it's included in your build
• Once compilation is done, it adds your assets to IPFS and modifies the outputted loader.js to include the hash for your application
• When the application is then loaded in the browser, loader.js waits for a ipfs node to be available and then loads the application based on the hash
• Finally, when the contents have been fully loaded, it calls eval with the application source, executing the code from your build

And now you have your assets loaded from IPFS directly in the browser :)

Contribute

Contributions are highly welcome! Take a look at the issues and write a message if you have any questions.

PRs are always welcome but recommended to open a issue discussing the planned contribution before.

License

MIT 2017 Victor Bjelkholm