Private IPFS

IPFS has traditionally been a fully public network, so anything you pin can be accessed by anyone if they have the CID. While this is a benefit for a majority of blockchain applications, there are still cases where true privacy is needed. This is why Pinata has built Private IPFS, a new service that allows you to keep content private and only share when authorized.

Private vs Public Network

Everything in the SDK and API have been separated by two networks: public and private. This means files and groups will be in separate resources and will be accessed by designating the network in either the SDK method or API route.

Uploading

// Uploads a file to Public IPFS
const publicUpload = await pinata.upload.public.file(file)

// Uploads a file to Private IPFS
const privateUpload = await pinata.upload.private.file(file)

Listing and Querying

// List public files
const files = await pinata.files.public.list()

// List private files
const files = await pinata.files.private.list()

Groups

// Create a public group
const group = await pinata.groups.public.create({
	name: "My Public Group",
});

// Create a private group
const group = await pinata.groups.private.create({
	name: "My Private Group",
});

Accessing Private Files

With Public IPFS you can simply access a file through an IPFS Gateway with a CID. Since Private IPFS does not announce to the public IPFS network the only way you can access them is with a temporary access link. This can be generated with either the SDK or the API and set to expire after a designated number of seconds.

const url = await pinata.gateways.private.createAccessLink({
	cid: "bafkreib4pqtikzdjlj4zigobmd63lig7u6oxlug24snlr6atjlmlza45dq", // CID of the file to access
	expires: 30, // Number of seconds the link is valid for
});

Example Apps

Pinata has built several example apps and tutorials you can reference to see how Private IPFS enables token gated experiences in blockchain and crpto contexts.