ipfs-gate

A standalone, Hive-payment-gated IPFS pinning service. Think of it as nGate for IPFS hosting — anyone can run one, anyone can use one, payment and identity are handled via the Hive blockchain.

⚠️ Proof of concept — not for real use. IPFS-Gate, along with its sister projects v4call and nGate, are proof-of-concept builds by independent builders — not production software. They are not safe to use and not recommended for general users. They are provided for developers who want to review the code and are willing to take the risks of an early, quickly-built concept. Treat everything as a demo, not a service.

What it does

A user encrypts a file in their browser, pays a small fee (CNOOBS for v0.1, multi-currency later), and uploads the ciphertext to an ipfs-gate. The gate pins it to its local Kubo IPFS node for a configurable TTL. Anyone with the CID and the right decryption key can retrieve and decrypt.

Three things make ipfs-gate distinctive:

1. Hive identity + payment — uploads are gated on Hive signatures and on-chain payments. No accounts to sign up for, no credit cards, no email verification.
2. Standalone service — ipfs-gate doesn't know or care about v4call (or any other app). v4call is just the first client; other apps can use the same ipfs-gate.
3. Operator-owned + libre — each operator runs their own server. No central service, no SaaS dependency. MIT licensed.

The architecture in one diagram

[Sender browser]                                [ipfs-gate server]
  - Encrypts file in browser                      - Verifies Hive payment
  - Pays via Hive Keychain    ──HTTPS upload──►   - Pins to local Kubo
  - Gets back a CID                               - Returns CID

[Recipient browser]                             [ipfs-gate gateway]
  - Receives CID + key envelope                   - Serves ciphertext bytes
  - Fetches ciphertext         ──HTTPS GET───►    - (just an IPFS gateway)
  - Decrypts in browser

For v0.1, the integrating client is v4call. The v4call server routes a tiny envelope (CID + per-recipient encrypted decryption keys) over its existing Socket.io transport. The actual file bytes never touch v4call's infrastructure.

Status

• v0.1.3 — in production at https://ipfs.completenoobs.com/ (concept build; see the proof-of-concept warning above). First end-to-end paid encrypted upload landed 2026-05-25.
• First-client (v4call) integration — complete and extended: multi-format attachments, DM attachments, public/plaintext upload-and-share, an uploads-management tab, and a Pinata bring-your-own storage backend (all client-side in v4call).
• Current build direction — "Private Encrypted Hosting v1": a claim/order model with a backstop safety-net, claim-based pricing, release authority, and proof-of-receipt. See roadmap_status.md "Current direction" + the design docs below.

Use cases (current and prospective)

• Encrypted file attachments in v4call rooms (v0.1)
• Async voice/video messages between v4call users (v0.2+, inherits ipfs-gate transport)
• Cross-server file transfer between federated v4call peers (v0.2+)
• Any third-party app needing Hive-paid IPFS pinning — ipfs-gate is app-agnostic
• Paid public file sharing — operator can offer unencrypted public hosting as a tier
• Future: Filecoin-tier cold storage via adapter pattern (v0.5+)

Stack (all libre, all permissive)

• Node.js + Express — HTTP server
• Kubo (go-ipfs) — IPFS daemon
• better-sqlite3 — quota + payment ledger DB
• Nginx — reverse proxy, HTTPS termination
• Docker — deployment
• Hive — identity + payment
• Hive Keychain — browser-side payment authorization

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

Project context

• Repository: https://github.com/CompleteNoobs/ipfs-gate (will be created)
• Author: CompleteNoobs (completenoobs.com)
• Sister project: v4call — decentralised paid video/voice/text platform on Hive (first ipfs-gate client)
• Related project: nGate (Nostr identity-gated relay; same architectural philosophy)

Documentation

• roadmap_status.md — current progress, locked decisions, staged build plan
• CLAUDE.md — project context for AI coding assistants (and humans wanting a deep-dive)
• PRICING-V1-DESIGN-NOTES.md — current pricing model (claim-based, MB-hour)
• ipfs-gate-cohosting-backstop.md — current co-hosting / backstop / refund / moderation model
• IPFS-Gate-Scale-Plan.md — scaling path (Kubernetes)
• Archive.PRICING-V0.3-DESIGN-NOTES.md — ⚠️ archived / superseded (history only; do not build from it)