ipfs-core allow content read while node is booting

[streamich]

When using ipfs-core in a browser it takes seconds to wait for await create() call to instantiate an IPFS node, connect to peers, etc..

However, during that time the locally cached content from IndexDB could be already used, at least in read-only mode. Is there a way to at least do reads, maybe writes, towards the IndexDB cache while the node is booting up?

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[streamich]

Would be great if create() call returned "repo" as soon as storage is initialized, for example:

await create({
  onRepo: repo => {
    // Repo is ready...
  },
});

[streamich]

Also, would be good to support "offline" mode in ipfs-core, at least read requests can be served from the local block store.

[achingbrain]

js-IPFS is in the process of being deprecated, the replacement is Helia - please see the State of IPFS in JS post for a bit of background and the migration guide for how to port your app over.

With Helia (and js-IPFS tbh) you can pass start: false to the create factory which essentially makes it offline - you can then access the repo/blockstore etc and call node.start() at your leisure to make it online.