README.md

April 9, 2026 · View on GitHub

Kubo: IPFS Implementation in Go

The first implementation of IPFS.

What is Kubo?

Kubo was the first IPFS implementation and is the most widely used one today. It takes an opinionated approach to content-addressing (CIDs, DAGs) that maximizes interoperability: UnixFS for files and directories, HTTP Gateways for web browsers, Bitswap and HTTP for verifiable data transfer.

Features:

Runs an IPFS node as a network service (LAN mDNS and WAN Amino DHT)
Command-line interface (ipfs --help)
WebUI for node management
HTTP Gateway for trusted and trustless content retrieval
HTTP RPC API to control the daemon
HTTP Routing V1 client and server for delegated routing
FUSE mounts for mounting /ipfs, /ipns, and /mfs as local filesystems (experimental)
Content blocking for public node operators

Other IPFS implementations: Helia (JavaScript), more...

Quick Taste

After installing Kubo, verify it works:

$ ipfs init
generating ED25519 keypair...done
peer identity: 12D3KooWGcSLQdLDBi2BvoP8WnpdHvhWPbxpGcqkf93rL2XMZK7R

$ ipfs daemon &
Daemon is ready

$ echo "hello IPFS" | ipfs add -q --cid-version 1
bafkreicouv3sksjuzxb3rbb6rziy6duakk2aikegsmtqtz5rsuppjorxsa

$ ipfs cat bafkreicouv3sksjuzxb3rbb6rziy6duakk2aikegsmtqtz5rsuppjorxsa
hello IPFS

Verify this CID is provided by your node to the IPFS network: https://check.ipfs.network/?cid=bafkreicouv3sksjuzxb3rbb6rziy6duakk2aikegsmtqtz5rsuppjorxsa

See ipfs add --help for all import options. Ready for more? Follow the command-line quick start.

Install

Follow the official installation guide, or choose: prebuilt binary | Docker | package manager | from source.

Prefer a GUI? Try IPFS Desktop and/or IPFS Companion.

Minimal System Requirements

Kubo runs on most Linux, macOS, and Windows systems. For optimal performance, we recommend at least 6 GB of RAM and 2 CPU cores (more is ideal, as Kubo is highly parallel).

Important

Larger pinsets require additional memory, with an estimated ~1 GiB of RAM per 20 million items for reproviding to the Amino DHT.

Caution

Systems with less than the recommended memory may experience instability, frequent OOM errors or restarts, and missing data announcement (reprovider window), which can make data fully or partially inaccessible to other peers. Running Kubo on underprovisioned hardware is at your own risk.

Official Prebuilt Binaries

Download from https://dist.ipfs.tech#kubo or GitHub Releases.

Docker

Official images are published at https://hub.docker.com/r/ipfs/kubo/:

🟢 Release Images

Use these for production deployments.

latest and release always point at the latest stable release
vN.N.N points at a specific release tag

$ docker pull ipfs/kubo:latest
$ docker run --rm -it --net=host ipfs/kubo:latest

To customize your node, pass config via -e or mount scripts in /container-init.d.

🟠 Developer Preview Images

For internal testing, not intended for production.

master-latest points at HEAD of master
master-YYYY-DD-MM-GITSHA points at a specific commit

🔴 Internal Staging Images

For testing arbitrary commits and experimental patches (force push to staging branch).

staging-latest points at HEAD of staging
staging-YYYY-DD-MM-GITSHA points at a specific commit

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/ipfs/kubo.git
cd kubo
make build    # creates cmd/ipfs/ipfs
make install  # installs to $GOPATH/bin/ipfs

See the Developer Guide for details, Windows instructions, and troubleshooting.

Package Managers

Kubo is available in community-maintained packages across many operating systems, Linux distributions, and package managers. See Repology for the full list:

Warning

These packages are maintained by third-party volunteers. The IPFS Project and Kubo maintainers are not responsible for their contents or supply chain security. For increased security, build from source.

Linux

Distribution	Install	Version
Ubuntu	PPA: `sudo apt install ipfs-kubo`
Arch	`pacman -S kubo`
Fedora	COPR: `dnf install kubo`
Nix	`nix-env -i kubo`
Gentoo	`emerge -a net-p2p/kubo`
openSUSE	`zypper install kubo`
Solus	`sudo eopkg install kubo`
Guix	`guix install kubo`
other	See Repology for the full list

~~Snap~~ no longer supported (#8688)

macOS

Manager	Install	Version
Homebrew	`brew install ipfs`
MacPorts	`sudo port install ipfs`
Nix	`nix-env -i kubo`
other	See Repology for the full list

Windows

Manager	Install	Version
Scoop	`scoop install kubo`
other	See Repology for the full list

~~Chocolatey~~ no longer supported (#9341)

Documentation

Topic	Description
Configuration	All config options reference
Environment variables	Runtime settings via env vars
Experimental features	Opt-in features in development
HTTP Gateway	Path, subdomain, and trustless gateway setup
HTTP RPC clients	Client libraries for Go, JS
Delegated routing	Multi-router and HTTP routing
Metrics & monitoring	Prometheus metrics
FUSE mounts	Mount `/ipfs`, `/ipns`, `/mfs` as local filesystems
Content blocking	Denylist for public nodes
Customizing	Unsure if use Plugins, Boxo, or fork?
Debug guide	CPU profiles, memory analysis, tracing
Changelogs	Release notes for each version
All documentation	Full list of docs