Midwest Blockathon - Pinata Docs

Welcome to the Pinata Midwest Blockathon cheat sheet! This doc will have everything you need to know about:

Getting Started with Pinata
Challenge and Prizes
Tutorials and Guides

What is Pinata?

Pinata makes decentralized file uploads easy for developers who need fast and zero-setup soltuions. Our primary product, the IPFS API and SDK, makes it as simple as one line of code to upload a file:

const { cid } = await pinata.upload.public.file(file)

// bafkreib4pqtikzdjlj4zigobmd63lig7u6oxlug24snlr6atjlmlza45dq

Retreiving files is just as easy!

const { data, contentType } = await pinata.gateways.public.get(
  "bafkreib4pqtikzdjlj4zigobmd63lig7u6oxlug24snlr6atjlmlza45dq"
)

Built on years of experience with IPFS, Pinata has scaled companies to serve high volumes of requests and bandwidth, as well as developers who are just starting out. We want to help build the future of the web through decentralizedd applications!

Pinata Challenge

Build the best use case of Pinata’s APIs or SDKs in combination with blockchain. Pinata will judge based on:

Real world usefulness of the app
How integral Pinata was to building the app
Extensive use of Pinata features
Pure creativity used in the final product

Prizes

1st Place: $1000

2nd Place: $400

Quickstart

Sign Up for a Free Account!

Almost all of our features are on the free account, but if you find yourself limited and need a paid account contact [email protected]

Next.Js

Quickstart

React

Quickstart

Node.js

Quickstart

Svelte

Quickstart

Astro

Quickstart

Remix

Quickstart

Getting Started with Pinata

1. Get API key and Gateway URL

Inside the Pinata App select “API Keys” from the sidebar, then click “New Key” in the top right. We would recommend starting with Admin privileges and unlimited uses to start. You will receive a pinata_api_key, pinata_api_secret, and a JWT. The JWT is the most common authentication method and what we’ll be using below.

Next you will want to grab your Gateway domain by clicking the Gateways tab in the sidebar. You should see it listed in the format fun-llama-300.mypinata.cloud and you will want to copy it exactly like that.

2. Install and Setup SDK

In the root of your project run the install command with your package manager of choice.

npm i pinata

Import and initialize the SDK in your codebase with the API key and Gateway from the previous step

import { PinataSDK } from "pinata";

const pinata = new PinataSDK({
  pinataJwt: "PINATA_JWT",
  pinataGateway: "example-gateway.mypinata.cloud",
});

The PINATA_JWT is a secret key, be sure to initialize the SDK in a secure environment and practice basic variable security practices. If you need to upload from a client environment, consider using signed JWTs

3. Upload a File

Use the upload method to upload a File object.

import { PinataSDK } from "pinata";

const pinata = new PinataSDK({
  pinataJwt: process.env.PINATA_JWT!,
  pinataGateway: "example-gateway.mypinata.cloud",
});

async function main() {
  try {
    const file = new File(["hello"], "Testing.txt", { type: "text/plain" });
    const upload = await pinata.upload.public.file(file);
    console.log(upload);
  } catch (error) {
    console.log(error);
  }
}

await main();

You should get a response object like the one below

{
    id: "349f1bb2-5d59-4cab-9966-e94c028a05b7",
    name: "file.txt",
    cid: "bafybeihgxdzljxb26q6nf3r3eifqeedsvt2eubqtskghpme66cgjyw4fra",
    size: 4682779,
    number_of_files: 1,
    mime_type: "text/plain",
    group_id: null
}

The unique thing about IPFS is the CID (IpfsHash) or Content Identifier. Its a unique hash based on the content ofthe file.

4. Retrieve a File through a Gateway

Use the cid of a file to fetch it through a Gateway or create a URL

import { PinataSDK } from "pinata";

const pinata = new PinataSDK({
  pinataJwt: process.env.PINATA_JWT!,
  pinataGateway: "example-gateway.mypinata.cloud",
});

async function main() {
  try {
    const data = await pinata.gateways.public.get(
      "bafkreibm6jg3ux5qumhcn2b3flc3tyu6dmlb4xa7u5bf44yegnrjhc4yeq"
    );
    console.log(data)

    const url = await pinata.gateways.public.convert(
      "bafkreib4pqtikzdjlj4zigobmd63lig7u6oxlug24snlr6atjlmlza45dq",
    )
    console.log(url)
  } catch (error) {
    console.log(error);
  }
}

main();

Example Apps

Built specially for UGA Hacks, thedappbook is an example of a fullstack decentralized application.

thedappbook

One big wall of posts using Ethereum and IPFS through Pinata

Contracts

Smart contract handles creating posts and records data to the blockchain, including the author’s wallet address, the offchain IPFS URI, and the timestamp of the post.

Client

Client allows a user to connect their wallet and write on the wall. Each post has a message and an optional image which are both uploaded to Pinata as a json file. Returned is an IPFS URL that is stored on the contract to optimize space

Server

Server provides an API endpoint where the client can get a temporary Pinata API key to handle uploads so our admin API key is not exposed on the client.

Tutorials

How to Mint NFTs with Foundry, Viem, and Pinata

How to Mint an NFT on Base

How to Use Pinata with Cursor, Zed, and other LLMs

Making Private NFTs

How to Build an NFT Indexer with Ponder and Pinata

How to Build a Fullstack Mobile App with Expo

Need Help?

We got troops on the ground! 🫡 Come find us at our table, shoot us an email, or chat with us on Discord!

Steve Simkins

Head of Developer Relations, Resident Hillbilly

Email: [email protected]

Kyle Tut

CEO, Vibe Dreamer

Email: No email, v exclusive, find the cowboy hat to chat

API Documentation

Uploads

Files

Groups

Pin by CID

Swaps

API Keys

Signatures

Gateways

​What is Pinata?

​Pinata Challenge

​Prizes

1st Place: $1000

2nd Place: $400

​Quickstart

Sign Up for a Free Account!

Next.Js

React

Node.js

Svelte

Astro

Remix

​Example Apps

thedappbook

Contracts

Client

Server

​Tutorials

How to Mint NFTs with Foundry, Viem, and Pinata

How to Mint an NFT on Base

How to Use Pinata with Cursor, Zed, and other LLMs

Making Private NFTs

How to Build an NFT Indexer with Ponder and Pinata

How to Build a Fullstack Mobile App with Expo

More Tutorials

​Need Help?

Steve Simkins

Kyle Tut

What is Pinata?

Pinata Challenge

Prizes

Quickstart

Example Apps

Tutorials

Need Help?