We've come a long way, but this project is still in Alpha, lots of development is happening, API might change, beware of the Dragons 🐉..
Want to get started? Check our examples folder.
libp2p is the product of a long and arduous quest to understand the evolution of the Internet networking stack. In order to build P2P applications, devs have long had to make custom ad-hoc solutions to fit their needs, sometimes making some hard assumptions about their runtimes and the state of the network at the time of their development. Today, looking back more than 20 years, we see a clear pattern in the types of mechanisms built around the Internet Protocol, IP, which can be found throughout many layers of the OSI layer system, libp2p distils these mechanisms into flat categories and defines clear interfaces that once exposed, enable other protocols and applications to use and swap them, enabling upgradability and adaptability for the runtime, without breaking the API.
We are in the process of writing better documentation, blog posts, tutorials and a formal specification. Today you can find:
- libp2p.io
- docs.libp2p.io
- Specification (WIP)
- Discussion Forums
- Talks
- Articles
To sum up, libp2p is a "network stack" -- a protocol suite -- that cleanly separates concerns, and enables sophisticated applications to only use the protocols they absolutely need, without giving up interoperability and upgradeability. libp2p grew out of IPFS, but it is built so that lots of people can use it, for lots of different projects.
With its modular nature, libp2p can be found being used in different projects with different sets of features, while preserving the same top level API. js-libp2p is only a skeleton and should not be installed directly, if you are looking for a prebundled libp2p stack, please check:
- libp2p-ipfs-nodejs - The libp2p build used by js-ipfs when run in Node.js
- libp2p-ipfs-browser - The libp2p build used by js-ipfs when run in a Browser (that supports WebRTC)
If you have developed a libp2p bundle, please consider submitting it to this list so that it can be found easily by the users of libp2p.
Again, as noted above, this module is only a skeleton and should not be used directly other than libp2p bundle implementors that want to extend its code.
npm install --save libp2pIMPORTANT NOTE: We are currently on the way of migrating all our libp2p modules to use async await and async iterators, instead of callbacks and pull-streams. As a consequence, when you start a new libp2p project, we must check which versions of the modules you should use. For now, it is required to use the modules using callbacks with libp2p, while we are working on getting the remaining modules ready for a full migration. For more details, you can have a look at libp2p/js-libp2p#266.
You can find multiple examples on the examples folder that will guide you through using libp2p for several scenarios.
The libp2p module acts as a glue for every libp2p module that you can use to create your own libp2p bundle. Creating your own libp2p bundle gives you a lot of freedom when it comes to customize it with features and default setup. We recommend creating your own libp2p bundle for the app you are developing that takes into account your needs (e.g. for a browser working version of libp2p that acts as the network layer of IPFS, we have built one that leverages the Browser transports).
Example:
// Creating a bundle that adds:
// transport: websockets + tcp
// stream-muxing: spdy & mplex
// crypto-channel: secio
// discovery: multicast-dns
const Libp2p = require('libp2p')
const TCP = require('libp2p-tcp')
const WS = require('libp2p-websockets')
const SPDY = require('libp2p-spdy')
const MPLEX = require('libp2p-mplex')
const SECIO = require('libp2p-secio')
const MulticastDNS = require('libp2p-mdns')
const DHT = require('libp2p-kad-dht')
const GossipSub = require('libp2p-gossipsub')
const defaultsDeep = require('@nodeutils/defaults-deep')
const Protector = require('libp2p/src/pnet')
const DelegatedPeerRouter = require('libp2p-delegated-peer-routing')
const DelegatedContentRouter = require('libp2p-delegated-content-routing')
class Node extends Libp2p {
constructor (_options) {
const peerInfo = _options.peerInfo
const defaults = {
// The libp2p modules for this libp2p bundle
modules: {
transport: [
TCP,
new WS() // It can take instances too!
],
streamMuxer: [
SPDY,
MPLEX
],
connEncryption: [
SECIO
],
/** Encryption for private networks. Needs additional private key to work **/
// connProtector: new Protector(/*protector specific opts*/),
/** Enable custom content routers, such as delegated routing **/
// contentRouting: [
// new DelegatedContentRouter(peerInfo.id)
// ],
/** Enable custom peer routers, such as delegated routing **/
// peerRouting: [
// new DelegatedPeerRouter()
// ],
peerDiscovery: [
MulticastDNS
],
dht: DHT, // DHT enables PeerRouting, ContentRouting and DHT itself components
pubsub: GossipSub
},
// libp2p config options (typically found on a config.json)
config: { // The config object is the part of the config that can go into a file, config.json.
peerDiscovery: {
autoDial: true, // Auto connect to discovered peers (limited by ConnectionManager minPeers)
mdns: { // mdns options
interval: 1000, // ms
enabled: true
},
webrtcStar: { // webrtc-star options
interval: 1000, // ms
enabled: false
}
// .. other discovery module options.
},
relay: { // Circuit Relay options
enabled: true,
hop: {
enabled: false,
active: false
}
},
dht: {
kBucketSize: 20,
enabled: true,
randomWalk: {
enabled: true, // Allows to disable discovery (enabled by default)
interval: 300e3,
timeout: 10e3
}
},
pubsub: {
enabled: true,
emitSelf: true, // whether the node should emit to self on publish, in the event of the topic being subscribed
signMessages: true, // if messages should be signed
strictSigning: true // if message signing should be required
}
}
}
// overload any defaults of your bundle using https://github.com/nodeutils/defaults-deep
super(defaultsDeep(_options, defaults))
}
}
// Now all the nodes you create, will have TCP, WebSockets, SPDY, MPLEX, SECIO and MulticastDNS support.IMPORTANT NOTE: All the methods listed in the API section that take a callback are also now Promisified. Libp2p is migrating away from callbacks to async/await, and in a future release (that will be announced in advance), callback support will be removed entirely. You can follow progress of the async/await endeavor at ipfs/js-ipfs#1670.
Behaves exactly like
new Libp2p(options), but doesn't require a PeerInfo. One will be generated instead
const { createLibp2p } = require('libp2p')
createLibp2p(options, (err, libp2p) => {
if (err) throw err
libp2p.start((err) => {
if (err) throw err
})
})options: Object of libp2p configuration optionscallback: Function with signaturefunction (Error, Libp2p) {}
Creates an instance of Libp2p with a custom
PeerInfoprovided viaoptions.peerInfo.
Required keys in the options object:
peerInfo: instance of PeerInfo that contains the PeerId, Keys and multiaddrs of the libp2p Node.modules.transport: An array that must include at least 1 transport, such aslibp2p-tcp.
Start the libp2p Node.
callback following signature function (err) {}, where err is an Error in case starting the node fails.
Stop the libp2p Node.
callback following signature function (err) {}, where err is an Error in case stopping the node fails.
Dials to another peer in the network, establishes the connection.
peer: can be an instance of PeerInfo, PeerId, multiaddr, or a multiaddr stringcallbackfollowing signaturefunction (err, conn) {}, whereerris an Error in of failure to dial the connection andconnis a Connection instance in case of a protocol selected, if not it is undefined.
Dials to another peer in the network and selects a protocol to talk with that peer.
peer: can be an instance of PeerInfo, PeerId, multiaddr, or a multiaddr stringprotocol: String that defines the protocol (e.g '/ipfs/bitswap/1.1.0')callback: Function with signaturefunction (err, conn) {}, whereconnis a Connection object
callback following signature function (err, conn) {}, where err is an Error in of failure to dial the connection and conn is a Connection instance in case of a protocol selected, if not it is undefined.
Behaves like
.dialand.dialProtocolbut calls back with a Connection State Machine
peer: can be an instance of PeerInfo, PeerId, multiaddr, or a multiaddr stringprotocol: an optional String that defines the protocol (e.g '/ipfs/bitswap/1.1.0')callback: following signaturefunction (err, connFSM) {}, whereconnFSMis a Connection State Machine
Closes an open connection with a peer, graciously.
callback following signature function (err) {}, where err is an Error in case stopping the node fails.
Looks up for multiaddrs of a peer in the DHT
id: instance of PeerIdoptions: object of optionsoptions.maxTimeout: Number milliseconds
key: Bufferoptions: object of optionsoptions.maxTimeout: Number millisecondsoptions.maxNumProvidersmaximum number of providers to find
key: Buffer
Handle new protocol
protocol: String that defines the protocol (e.g '/ipfs/bitswap/1.1.0')handlerFunc: following signaturefunction (protocol, conn) {}, whereconnis a Connection objectmatchFunc: Function for matching on protocol (exact matching, semver, etc). Default to exact match.
Stop handling protocol
protocol: String that defines the protocol (e.g '/ipfs/bitswap/1.1.0')
Libp2p has started, along with all its services.
Libp2p has stopped, along with all its services.
An error has occurred
err: instance ofError
Peer has been discovered.
If autoDial is true, applications should not attempt to connect to the peer
unless they are performing a specific action. See peer discovery and auto dial for more information.
peer: instance of PeerInfo
We have a new muxed connection to a peer
peer: instance of PeerInfo
We have closed a connection to a peer
peer: instance of PeerInfo
We created a new connection to a peer
peer: instance of PeerInfo
We closed a connection to a peer
peer: instance of PeerInfo
Check if libp2p is started
Ping a node in the network
PeerBook instance of the node
PeerInfo instance of the node
Same API as IPFS PubSub, defined in the CORE API Spec. Just replace
ipfsbylibp2pand you are golden.
DHT methods also exposed for the time being
key: Buffervalue: Buffer
key: Bufferoptions: object of optionsoptions.maxTimeout: Number milliseconds
key: BuffernVals: Numberoptions: object of optionsoptions.maxTimeout: Number milliseconds
Every time any stat value changes, this object emits an update event.
Should return a stats snapshot, which is an object containing the following keys and respective values:
Returns an object containing the following keys:
- dataSent
- dataReceived
Each one of them contains an object that has a key for each interval (60000, 300000 and 900000 milliseconds).
Each one of these values is an exponential moving-average instance.
Returns an array containing the tags (string) for each observed transport.
Should return a stats snapshot, which is an object containing the following keys and respective values:
Returns an object containing the following keys:
dataSent dataReceived
Each one of them contains an object that has a key for each interval (60000, 300000 and 900000 milliseconds).
Each one of these values is an exponential moving-average instance.
Returns an array containing the tags (string) for each observed protocol.
Should return a stats snapshot, which is an object containing the following keys and respective values:
Returns an object containing the following keys:
- dataSent
- dataReceived
Each one of them contains an object that has a key for each interval (60000, 300000 and 900000 milliseconds).
Each one of these values is an exponential moving-average instance.
Returns an array containing the peerIDs (B58-encoded string) for each observed peer.
Should return a stats snapshot, which is an object containing the following keys and respective values:
Returns an object containing the following keys:
- dataSent
- dataReceived
Each one of them contains an object that has a key for each interval (60000, 300000 and 900000 milliseconds).
Each one of these values is an exponential moving-average instance.
Stats are not updated in real-time. Instead, measurements are buffered and stats are updated at an interval. The maximum interval can be defined through the Switch constructor option stats.computeThrottleTimeout, defined in milliseconds.
Libp2p provides support for connection protection, such as for private networks. You can enforce network protection by setting the environment variable LIBP2P_FORCE_PNET=1. When this variable is on, if no protector is set via options.connProtector, Libp2p will throw an error upon creation.
Some available network protectors:
Clone and install dependencies:
> git clone https://github.com/libp2p/js-libp2p.git
> cd js-libp2p
> npm install# run all the unit tsts
> npm test
# run just Node.js tests
> npm run test:node
# run just Browser tests (Chrome)
> npm run test:browserList of packages currently in existence for libp2p
This table is generated using the module
package-tablewithpackage-table --data=package-list.json.
The libp2p implementation in JavaScript is a work in progress. As such, there are a few things you can do right now to help out:
- Go through the modules and check out existing issues. This would be especially useful for modules in active development. Some knowledge of IPFS/libp2p may be required, as well as the infrastructure behind it - for instance, you may need to read up on p2p and more complex operations like muxing to be able to help technically.
- Perform code reviews. Most of this has been developed by @diasdavid, which means that more eyes will help a) speed the project along b) ensure quality and c) reduce possible future bugs.
- Add tests. There can never be enough tests.
MIT © Protocol Labs