OBJECT.md

Object API

• ipfs.object.new([template,] [options])
  • Parameters
  • Options
  • Returns
  • Example
• ipfs.object.put(obj, [options])
  • Parameters
  • Options
  • Returns
  • Example
• ipfs.object.get(cid, [options])
  • Parameters
  • Options
  • Returns
  • Example
• ipfs.object.data(cid, [options])
  • Parameters
  • Options
  • Returns
  • Example
• ipfs.object.links(cid, [options])
  • Parameters
  • Options
  • Returns
  • Example
• ipfs.object.stat(cid, [options])
  • Parameters
  • Options
  • Returns
  • Example
• ipfs.object.patch.addLink(cid, link, [options])
  • Parameters
  • Options
  • Returns
  • Example
  • Notes
• ipfs.object.patch.rmLink(cid, link, [options])
  • Parameters
  • Options
  • Returns
  • Example
• ipfs.object.patch.appendData(cid, data, [options])
  • Parameters
  • Options
  • Returns
  • Example
• ipfs.object.patch.setData(multihash, data, [options])
  • Parameters
  • Options
  • Returns
  • Example

ipfs.object.new([template,] [options])

Create a new MerkleDAG node, using a specific layout. Caveat: So far, only UnixFS object layouts are supported.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
template	String	If defined, must be a string unixfs-dir and if that is passed, the created node will be an empty unixfs style directory

Options

An optional object which may have the following keys:

Name	Type	Default	Description
recursive	boolean	false	Resolve until the result is not an IPNS name
nocache	boolean	cache	Do not use cached entries
timeout	Number	undefined	A timeout in ms
signal	AbortSignal	undefined	Can be used to cancel any long running requests started as a result of this call

Returns

Type	Description
Promise<CID>	A CID instance

Example

const cid = await ipfs.object.new('unixfs-dir')
console.log(cid.toString())
// Logs:
// QmUNLLsPACCz1vLxQVkXqqLX5R1X345qqfHbsf67hvA3Nn

A great source of examples can be found in the tests for this API.

ipfs.object.put(obj, [options])

Store a MerkleDAG node.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
obj	Object{ Data: <data>, Links: [] }, Buffer or DAGNode	The MerkleDAG Node to be stored

Options

An optional object which may have the following keys:

Name	Type	Default	Description
enc	String	undefined	The encoding of the Buffer (json, yml, etc), if passed a Buffer
timeout	Number	undefined	A timeout in ms
signal	AbortSignal	undefined	Can be used to cancel any long running requests started as a result of this call

Returns

Type	Description
Promise<CID>	A CID instance

Example

const obj = {
  Data: Buffer.from('Some data'),
  Links: []
}

const cid = await ipfs.object.put(obj)
console.log(cid.toString())
// Logs:
// QmPb5f92FxKPYdT3QNBd1GKiL4tZUXUrzF4Hkpdr3Gf1gK

A great source of examples can be found in the tests for this API.

ipfs.object.get(cid, [options])

Fetch a MerkleDAG node

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
cid	CID	The returned DAGNode will correspond to this CID

Options

An optional object which may have the following keys:

Name	Type	Default	Description
timeout	Number	undefined	A timeout in ms
signal	AbortSignal	undefined	Can be used to cancel any long running requests started as a result of this call

Returns

Type	Description
Promise<DAGNode>	A MerkleDAG node of the type DAGNode

Example

const multihash = 'QmPb5f92FxKPYdT3QNBd1GKiL4tZUXUrzF4Hkpdr3Gf1gK'

const node = await ipfs.object.get(multihash)
console.log(node.data)
// Logs:
// some data

A great source of examples can be found in the tests for this API.

ipfs.object.data(cid, [options])

Returns the Data field of an object

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
cid	CID	The returned data will be from the DAGNode that corresponds to this CID

Options

An optional object which may have the following keys:

Name	Type	Default	Description
timeout	Number	undefined	A timeout in ms
signal	AbortSignal	undefined	Can be used to cancel any long running requests started as a result of this call

Returns

Type	Description
Promise<Buffer>	An Promise that resolves to Buffer objects with the data that the MerkleDAG node contained

Example

const cid = 'QmPb5f92FxKPYdT3QNBd1GKiL4tZUXUrzF4Hkpdr3Gf1gK'

const data = await ipfs.object.data(cid)
console.log(data.toString())
// Logs:
// some data

A great source of examples can be found in the tests for this API.

ipfs.object.links(cid, [options])

Returns the Links field of an object

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
cid	CID	The returned DAGLinks will be from the DAGNode that corresponds to this CID

Options

An optional object which may have the following keys:

Name	Type	Default	Description
timeout	Number	undefined	A timeout in ms
signal	AbortSignal	undefined	Can be used to cancel any long running requests started as a result of this call

Returns

Type	Description
Promise<Array>	An Array of DAGLink objects

Example

const multihash = 'Qmc5XkteJdb337s7VwFBAGtiaoj2QCEzyxtNRy3iMudc3E'

const links = await ipfs.object.links(multihash)
const hashes = links.map((link) => link.Hash.toString())
console.log(hashes)
// Logs:
// [
//   'QmZbj5ruYneZb8FuR9wnLqJCpCXMQudhSdWhdhp5U1oPWJ',
//   'QmSo73bmN47gBxMNqbdV6rZ4KJiqaArqJ1nu5TvFhqqj1R'
// ]

A great source of examples can be found in the tests for this API.

ipfs.object.stat(cid, [options])

Returns stats about an Object

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
cid	CID	The returned stats will be from the DAGNode that corresponds to this CID

Options

An optional object which may have the following keys:

Name	Type	Default	Description
timeout	Number	undefined	A timeout in ms
signal	AbortSignal	undefined	Can be used to cancel any long running requests started as a result of this call

Returns

Type	Description
Promise<Object>	An object representing the stats of the Object

the returned object has the following format:

{
  Hash: 'QmPTkMuuL6PD8L2SwTwbcs1NPg14U8mRzerB1ZrrBrkSDD',
  NumLinks: 0,
  BlockSize: 10,
  LinksSize: 2,
  DataSize: 8,
  CumulativeSize: 10
}

Example

const multihash = 'QmPTkMuuL6PD8L2SwTwbcs1NPg14U8mRzerB1ZrrBrkSDD'

const stats = await ipfs.object.stat(multihash, {timeout: '10s'})
console.log(stats)
// Logs:
// {
//   Hash: 'QmPTkMuuL6PD8L2SwTwbcs1NPg14U8mRzerB1ZrrBrkSDD',
//   NumLinks: 0,
//   BlockSize: 10,
//   LinksSize: 2,
//   DataSize: 8,
//   CumulativeSize: 10
// }

A great source of examples can be found in the tests for this API.

ipfs.object.patch.addLink(cid, link, [options])

Add a Link to an existing MerkleDAG Object

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
cid	CID	Add a link to the DAGNode that corresponds to this CID
link	DAGLink	The link to add

Options

An optional object which may have the following keys:

Name	Type	Default	Description
timeout	Number	undefined	A timeout in ms
signal	AbortSignal	undefined	Can be used to cancel any long running requests started as a result of this call

Returns

Type	Description
Promise<CID>	An instance of CID representing the new DAG node that was created due to the operation

Example

// cid is CID of the DAG node created by adding a link
const cid = await ipfs.object.patch.addLink(node, {
  name: 'some-link'
  size: 10
  cid: new CID('QmPTkMuuL6PD8L2SwTwbcs1NPg14U8mRzerB1ZrrBrkSDD')
})

A great source of examples can be found in the tests for this API.

Notes

The DAGLink to be added can also be passed as an object containing: name, cid and size properties:

const link = {
  name: 'Qmef7ScwzJUCg1zUSrCmPAz45m8uP5jU7SLgt2EffjBmbL',
  size: 37,
  cid: new CID('Qmef7ScwzJUCg1zUSrCmPAz45m8uP5jU7SLgt2EffjBmbL')
};

or

const link = new DAGLink(name, size, multihash)

ipfs.object.patch.rmLink(cid, link, [options])

Remove a Link from an existing MerkleDAG Object

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
cid	CID	Remove a link to the DAGNode that corresponds to this CID
link	DAGLink	The DAGLink to remove

Options

An optional object which may have the following keys:

Name	Type	Default	Description
timeout	Number	undefined	A timeout in ms
signal	AbortSignal	undefined	Can be used to cancel any long running requests started as a result of this call

Returns

Type	Description
Promise<CID>	An instance of CID representing the new DAG node that was created due to the operation

Example

// cid is CID of the DAG node created by removing a link
const cid = await ipfs.object.patch.rmLink(node, {
  name: 'some-link'
  size: 10
  cid: new CID('QmPTkMuuL6PD8L2SwTwbcs1NPg14U8mRzerB1ZrrBrkSDD')
})

A great source of examples can be found in the tests for this API.

### Notes

link is the link to be removed on the node that is identified by the multihash, can be passed as:

• DAGLink

  const link = new DAGLink(name, size, multihash)

• Object containing a name property

  const link = {
    name: 'Qmef7ScwzJUCg1zUSrCmPAz45m8uP5jU7SLgt2EffjBmbL'
  };

ipfs.object.patch.appendData(cid, data, [options])

Append Data to the Data field of an existing node

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
cid	CID	Add data to the DAGNode that corresponds to this CID
data	Buffer	The data to append to the .Data field of the node

Options

An optional object which may have the following keys:

Name	Type	Default	Description
timeout	Number	undefined	A timeout in ms
signal	AbortSignal	undefined	Can be used to cancel any long running requests started as a result of this call

Returns

Type	Description
Promise<CID>	An instance of CID representing the new DAG node that was created due to the operation

Example

const cid = await ipfs.object.patch.appendData(multihash, Buffer.from('more data'))

A great source of examples can be found in the tests for this API.

ipfs.object.patch.setData(multihash, data, [options])

Overwrite the Data field of a DAGNode with new Data

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
cid	CID	Replace data of the DAGNode that corresponds to this CID
data	Buffer	The data to overwrite with

Options

An optional object which may have the following keys:

Name	Type	Default	Description
timeout	Number	undefined	A timeout in ms
signal	AbortSignal	undefined	Can be used to cancel any long running requests started as a result of this call

Returns

Type	Description
Promise<CID>	An instance of CID representing the new DAG node that was created due to the operation

Example

const cid = '/ipfs/Qmfoo'
const updatedCid = await ipfs.object.patch.setData(cid, Buffer.from('more data'))

A great source of examples can be found in the tests for this API.