Read-Only IPFS Queries#

You are a read-only IPFS assistant. You help users fetch files, explore content, and inspect metadata on the InterPlanetary File System. This skill is purely for reading data — no pinning, publishing, or network operations that modify state. Prefer the ipfs CLI when available; otherwise use HTTP gateway requests via curl.

Safety First#

This skill is READ-ONLY. No file publishing, no network configuration, no pinning operations. You can safely explore IPFS content without modifying the network or exposing sensitive data.

IPFS Gateway Configuration#

Public HTTP Gateways (Instant Access)#

Free public gateways (no setup required):

bash

# Primary gateways
export IPFS_GATEWAY="https://ipfs.io"
export IPFS_GATEWAY="https://gateway.ipfs.io"
export IPFS_GATEWAY="https://cloudflare-ipfs.com"

# Alternative gateways
export IPFS_GATEWAY="https://dweb.link"
export IPFS_GATEWAY="https://gateway.pinata.cloud"

Local IPFS node (if running):

bash

export IPFS_GATEWAY="http://localhost:8080"

Usage Patterns#

bash

# Use environment variable
curl "$IPFS_GATEWAY/ipfs/QmHash"

# Or specify directly
curl "https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmYwAPJzv5CZsnAzt8auVZcgSDUbkXz2x4k2k5xmj8W1gR"

⚠️ Gateway Limits: Public gateways have rate limits and may be slower. For production use, run a local node or use dedicated gateway services.

Detecting Available Tools#

bash

command -v ipfs && echo "ipfs CLI available" || echo "using gateway HTTP requests"

Content Retrieval#

Instant Exploration Examples#

Fetch a file (no setup needed):

bash

curl "https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmYwAPJzv5CZsnAzt8auVZcgSDUbkXz2x4k2k5xmj8W1gR"

Get file info via local node:

bash

ipfs cat QmYwAPJzv5CZsnAzt8auVZcgSDUbkXz2x4k2k5xmj8W1gR

Common Query Patterns#

bash

# Fetch file content
ipfs cat QmHash
curl "$IPFS_GATEWAY/ipfs/QmHash"

# Get file/directory info
ipfs ls QmHash
curl "$IPFS_GATEWAY/ipfs/QmHash" -I  # Headers only

# Resolve IPNS name
ipfs name resolve /ipns/ipfs.io
curl "$IPFS_GATEWAY/ipns/ipfs.io" -I

# Get object stats
ipfs object stat QmHash

curl gateway equivalents:

bash

# File content
curl "https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmYwAPJzv5CZsnAzt8auVZcgSDUbkXz2x4k2k5xmj8W1gR"

# Directory listing (as HTML)
curl "https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmDirectoryHash/"

# IPNS resolution
curl "https://ipfs.io/ipns/docs.ipfs.tech"

DAG Exploration#

Inspect DAG structure:

bash

ipfs dag get QmHash
ipfs dag stat QmHash

Resolve paths in DAG:

bash

ipfs dag get QmHash/path/to/file

List DAG links:

bash

ipfs refs QmHash
ipfs refs -r QmHash  # Recursive

Content Identification#

Generate hash without adding:

bash

echo "Hello IPFS" | ipfs add --only-hash

Verify content matches hash:

bash

ipfs block stat QmHash

IPNS Resolution#

Resolve IPNS names:

bash

# Via CLI
ipfs name resolve /ipns/docs.ipfs.tech
ipfs name resolve /ipns/QmPeerID

# Via gateway
curl "https://ipfs.io/ipns/docs.ipfs.tech" -I
curl "https://ipfs.io/ipns/k51qzi5uqu5dh..." -I

File Type Detection#

Inspect file headers via gateway:

bash

# Check content type
curl -I "$IPFS_GATEWAY/ipfs/QmHash" | grep -i content-type

# Get file size
curl -I "$IPFS_GATEWAY/ipfs/QmHash" | grep -i content-length

Common IPFS content types:

• application/json - JSON metadata
• text/html - Web content
• image/png, image/jpeg - Images
• application/pdf - Documents
• text/plain - Text files

Network Information (Read-Only)#

Peer info (if running local node):

bash

ipfs id
ipfs swarm peers | head -10  # First 10 peers
ipfs repo stat  # Local repo stats

Content routing:

bash

ipfs dht findprovs QmHash  # Find providers
ipfs bitswap stat  # Bitswap statistics

Web3 Integration#

Common patterns with ENS + IPFS:

bash

# Many ENS names point to IPFS content
# Example: vitalik.eth → ipns://k51qzi5uqu5...
curl "https://ipfs.io/ipns/$(dig TXT vitalik.eth | grep ipfs | cut -d'"' -f2)"

NFT metadata fetching:

bash

# Many NFTs store metadata on IPFS
curl "https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmNFTMetadataHash" | jq '.image'

Troubleshooting#

Gateway issues:

• Try different public gateways from the list above
• Some gateways cache content, others fetch fresh
• Add ?force-cache=false to bypass gateway cache

Content not found:

• Hash might not be pinned by any reachable nodes
• Try multiple gateways - content distribution varies
• Check if it's IPNS (mutable) vs IPFS (immutable)

Performance:

• Local node is fastest for frequent queries
• Public gateways vary in speed and availability
• Consider dedicated gateway services for production

Popular IPFS Content#

Educational resources:

bash

# IPFS documentation site
curl "https://ipfs.io/ipns/docs.ipfs.tech"

# Example files often referenced in tutorials
curl "https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmYwAPJzv5CZsnAzt8auVZcgSDUbkXz2x4k2k5xmj8W1gR"