This is a 'boilerplate' repository. It's intended to be forked to start new projects. However, it can also be run as a stand-alone Circuit Relay, for supporting the PSF network.
## Boilerplate
This repository has been forked from the [koa-api-boilerplate](https://github.com/christroutner/koa-api-boilerplate). It has all the same features as that boilerplate:
This boilerplate extends that code to provide the basic features required to be a 'service provider' on the [IPFS](https://ipfs.io) network. This is a core concept in the [web3 Cash Stack](https://cashstack.info). These basic features include:
This code repository was refactored from CommonJS format to ECMA Script Modules (ESM) format because js-ipfs made the same change, and this repository depends heavily on that one. A CommonJS format version of this code repository is maintained in the [`cjs` branch](https://github.com/Permissionless-Software-Foundation/ipfs-service-provider/tree/cjs). This is useful for projects that can not make use of ESM yet, like [Electron.js](https://www.electronjs.org/) and [P2WDB](https://p2wdb.com).
This 'production' environment for this boilerplate sets up a series of Docker containers, orchestrated with Docker Compose. This boilerplate code can be run without modification, in order to set up a [Circuit Relay](https://docs.libp2p.io/concepts/circuit-relay/) and support the PSF network. You can get paid a [bounty](https://github.com/Permissionless-Software-Foundation/bounties) for doing so, in PSF tokens. See the section below on setting up a Production Docker Container.
A development environment will allow you modify the code on-the-fly and contribute to the code base of this repository. [PM2](https://www.npmjs.com/package/pm2) is recommended for running this code base as an IPFS Circuit Relay.
- There is a memory leak in the version of js-ipfs. The app is currently configured to shut down every 8 hours to flush memory. It relies on a process manager like pm2, Docker, or systemd to restart the app after it shuts down, in order to ensure continuous operation.
- The PSF network operates as a private network. It does not connect or interact with the wider PSF network, relying instead on gateways to bridge the two networks, when they need to share content. This improves the performance and experience for everyone in the PSF network. To join the network, you'll need to add the [swarm.key](./swarm.key) file to the IPFS data folder.
- [Instructions on setting up IPFS private networks.](https://github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/blob/master/docs/experimental-features.md#private-networks)
- For external installations, the swarm.key file will typically go in `~/.ipfs/swarm.key`
- For production Docker containers, the key would go in `ipfs-service-provider/production/data/go-ipfs/data/swarm.key`
The file layout of this repository differs from the koa-api-boilerplate. Instead, it follows the file layout of [Clean Architecture](troutsblog.com/blog/clean-architecture).
