FAQ

IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) is a peer-to-peer, content-addressed distributed file system. Unlike traditional HTTP where content is located by URL (server address), IPFS locates content by its CID (Content Identifier) — a cryptographic hash of the data itself.

This means the same file stored on multiple nodes always has the same CID, enabling redundancy, resilience, and verifiable integrity without a central server.

A CID (Content Identifier) is a unique fingerprint derived from the cryptographic hash of a file's contents. It looks like bafkreih5aznjvttude6c3wbvqeebb6rlx7kibuzn7i56aklrbb2a5v53em.

• Two identical files always produce the same CID.
• Changing even a single byte produces a completely different CID.
• You can use the CID to verify a retrieved file has not been tampered with.

IPFS is a decentralised network. Once a file is published and picked up by other nodes, you cannot force those other nodes to remove it. What the DELETE and unpin endpoints do is:

1. Remove the record from your account metadata.
2. Unpin the file from the gateway node so it becomes eligible for local garbage collection.

If no other node holds a copy, the file will eventually disappear from the network after garbage collection runs. Files that were widely fetched may persist on third-party caching nodes indefinitely.

Rate limits are enforced per API key to protect service quality for all users:

When a limit is exceeded the API responds with 429 Too Many Requests and sets a Retry-After header with the number of seconds to wait.

The default maximum upload size is 100 MB per file. Attempting to upload a larger file will return a 400 Bad Request. If your use case requires larger uploads, contact support to discuss custom limits.

The API accepts any file format — IPFS is content-agnostic. The gateway validates that the uploaded content is a real file with a non-empty body but does not restrict by extension or MIME type.

Use the key renewal flow: navigate to /docs/authentication for step-by-step instructions, or call POST /api/v1/users/renew/challenge with your email to receive a verification code, then complete the renewal with POST /api/v1/users/renew. Your new key is returned in the response.

In IPFS, pinning tells a node to keep a copy of a file and never garbage-collect it. Without pinning, nodes may discard infrequently accessed content to free space.

All files uploaded through this gateway are pinned by default. You can explicitly unpin a file using the POST /api/v1/files/{cid}/unpin endpoint if you no longer need guaranteed availability.