How to Use IPFS With Brave
Brave announced their integration of IPFS to enable their users to “seamlessly browse the decentralized web”. This integration allows users to “access content directly from IPFS by resolving ipfs:// URIs via…a full IPFS node in one click.” This is a big moment!
But, how do you store and host content on IPFS to serve to all of these new IPFS users? In this blog, we will show you how to upload content to IPFS through Pinata and view it using your Brave browser. Let’s get started!
The first thing you will want to do is head over to pinata.cloud. Pinata is a “pinning service” that will pin content on IPFS for you. If you don’t have an account, simply sign up for one by clicking the blue Sign Up button in the upper right corner.
Once signed up, head over to the Pinata Upload feature as shown by the arrow above.
Once on the Pinata Upload page, you can upload a file to the IPFS network by clicking the Browse button as shown by the arrow above and selecting a file from your computer. The IPFS network allows you to upload any file type, ranging from a simple image all the way to videos and 3D models. If you’re working with an uncommon file type, you may also want to check the option for “Preserve Filename” so your filename and type are preserved through the IPFS upload process.
With your file selected, you can then name your pin. In this case, we named the file COLORS. Next, click Upload!
Once your file has been successfully uploaded, you can head over to the Pin Explorer as highlighted by the arrow above. The Pin Explorer is where you can manage all of your files or “pins” on the IPFS network.
On the Pin Explorer, click on the ellipsis button highlighted by the arrow above.
A pop-up will show up. Simply click the Copy Hash as highlighted above by the arrow. This will copy the IPFS CID or hash to your clipboard. Now, head over to a new tab on your Brave browser.
Brave has produced a great tutorial explaining how to use and interact with your own in-browser IPFS node. We highly recommend watching the video above. However, it is not necessary for this tutorial.
Once in the Brave browser, type in ipfs:// in the URI bar as highlighted by the arrow above.
Next, simply past in the IPFS CID or hash that is in your clipboard. In this case, the URI now reads ipfs://QmcAsakTRfHrQSkENWhcrFQvQWgXHdhCzEQA8EVygD3LfN
Press enter!
Brave will now load the IPFS content into your browser as shown above! Let’s try another example.
Jack Dorsey recently tweeted an IPFS link about decentralized social media. Here is that link: https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmdFrru4PyHzXGZztEPnYToBR3QovD7fkC1HSyty22LzfD
To view the paper in Brave without https://ipfs.io/ipfs/, you can just grab the hash: QmdFrru4PyHzXGZztEPnYToBR3QovD7fkC1HSyty22LzfD
Going back to the Brave URI, type in ipfs://QmdFrru4PyHzXGZztEPnYToBR3QovD7fkC1HSyty22LzfD and you will be able to view the pdf. Simple!
In a future blog, we will be explaining some more technical bits of how to configure your Brave node.
Happy Pinning!
