The JavaScript implementation of the libp2p Networking Stack

Background

libp2p is the product of a long and arduous quest to understand the evolution of the Internet networking stack. In order to build P2P applications, devs have long had to make custom ad-hoc solutions to fit their needs, sometimes making some hard assumptions about their runtimes and the state of the network at the time of their development. Today, looking back more than 20 years, we see a clear pattern in the types of mechanisms built around the Internet Protocol, IP, which can be found throughout many layers of the OSI layer system, libp2p distils these mechanisms into flat categories and defines clear interfaces that once exposed, enable other protocols and applications to use and swap them, enabling upgradability and adaptability for the runtime, without breaking the API.

We are in the process of writing better documentation, blog posts, tutorials and a formal specification. Today you can find:

• libp2p.io
• docs.libp2p.io
• Specification (WIP)
• Discussion Forums
• Talks
  • libp2p <3 ethereum at DEVCON2
• Articles
  • The overview of libp2p

To sum up, libp2p is a "network stack" -- a protocol suite -- that cleanly separates concerns, and enables sophisticated applications to only use the protocols they absolutely need, without giving up interoperability and upgradability. libp2p grew out of IPFS, but it is built so that lots of people can use it, for lots of different projects.

Roadmap

The js-libp2p roadmap can be found here: https://github.com/libp2p/js-libp2p/blob/main/ROADMAP.md

It represents current projects the js-libp2p maintainers are focused on and provides an estimation of completion targets.

Usage

Configuration

For all the information on how you can configure libp2p see CONFIGURATION.md.

Limits

For help configuring your node to resist malicious network peers, see LIMITS.md

Getting started

If you are starting your journey with js-libp2p, read the GETTING_STARTED.md guide.

Tutorials and Examples

You can find multiple examples on the examples repo that will guide you through using libp2p for several scenarios.

Development

Clone and install dependencies:

> git clone https://github.com/libp2p/js-libp2p.git
> cd js-libp2p
> npm install
> npm run build

Tests

Run unit tests

# run all the unit tests
> npm test

# run just Node.js tests
> npm run test:node

# run just Browser tests (Chrome)
> npm run test:chrome

Packages

List of packages currently in existence for libp2p

This table is generated using the module package-table with package-table --data=package-list.json.

Used by

And many others...

Contribute

The libp2p implementation in JavaScript is a work in progress. As such, there are a few things you can do right now to help out:

• Go through the modules and check out existing issues. This would be especially useful for modules in active development. Some knowledge of IPFS/libp2p may be required, as well as the infrastructure behind it - for instance, you may need to read up on p2p and more complex operations like muxing to be able to help technically.
• Perform code reviews. More eyes will help a) speed the project along b) ensure quality and c) reduce possible future bugs.
• Add tests. There can never be enough tests.

API Docs

• https://libp2p.github.io/js-libp2p/modules/libp2p.html

License

Licensed under either of

• Apache 2.0, (LICENSE-APACHE / http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)
• MIT (LICENSE-MIT / http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)

Contribution

Unless you explicitly state otherwise, any contribution intentionally submitted for inclusion in the work by you, as defined in the Apache-2.0 license, shall be dual licensed as above, without any additional terms or conditions.