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ipfs / ipfs-companion

Browser extension that simplifies access to IPFS resources on the web
https://docs.ipfs.tech/install/ipfs-companion/
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Allow setting "IPFS Node type" to none #1045

Open Winterhuman opened 2 years ago

Winterhuman commented 2 years ago

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe. Some users may not want to run an external nor internal IPFS node in their browser, this may be due to resource constraints, bandwidth restrictions, etc.

Describe the solution you'd like Allow users to set "IPFS Node type" to none so ipfs:// and ipns:// addresses will simply redirect to *.{ipfs,ipns}.gateway.tld depending on the Gateway URL set in the settings. This allows src="ipfs://Qmfoo" to work without needing to run a node which benefits more minimal setups, it could also be useful as a fallback option if the internal node is found to of failed in some way.

Describe alternatives you've considered Alternative names for the none type, maybe redirect or Gateway URL to make it more descriptive?

Additional context I mainly got this idea after a user in the IPFS Matrix room was initially confused as to why it was required for you to run a node, they downloaded the extension and assumed that was all that was needed for ipfs:// links to work, but, it did not.

lidel commented 2 years ago

Sounds sensible, but without a working IPFS node we have to disable most of the features and GUI. It will be essentially the current global "off" state, but with redirect to public gateway enabled. Perhaps we could have a second "global" toggle that controls the ipfs:// support? "Toggle ipfs:// support"

2022-01-14_15-56

I am happy to review PR if someone has time to do this, but most likely needs to wait until @meandavejustice includes this mode of operation in MV3 rewrite.