Node API

startIPFSNode, stopIPFSNode, setupGracefulShutdown — low-level daemon control.

`startIPFSNode`

import { startIPFSNode } from '@ipfs-meshkit/meshkit';

const handle = await startIPFSNode(options?: StartIPFSNodeOptions): Promise<IPFSNodeHandle>

Start or attach to a local Kubo daemon. Called automatically when you pass localNode to init(). Use directly when you need explicit lifecycle control.

`StartIPFSNodeOptions`

Property	Type	Default	Description
`host`	`string`	`"127.0.0.1"`	Kubo RPC API host.
`port`	`number`	`5001`	Kubo RPC API port.
`gatewayPort`	`number`	`8080`	HTTP gateway port.
`repo`	`string`	`./.ipfs`	Filesystem path for the Kubo repo (`IPFS_PATH`).
`init`	`boolean`	`true`	Pass `--init` so a missing repo is initialized automatically.
`readyTimeoutMs`	`number`	`30000`	Max ms to wait for the RPC API to become healthy.
`ipfsBinary`	`string`	`"ipfs"`	Kubo binary name or absolute path.

`IPFSNodeHandle`

Property	Type	Description
`url`	`string`	Kubo RPC URL, e.g. `http://127.0.0.1:5001`.
`repo`	`string \| undefined`	Repo path when Meshkit spawned the daemon.
`managed`	`boolean`	`true` if Meshkit spawned the daemon; `false` if attached to existing.
`stop()`	`() => Promise<void>`	Stop the daemon (only meaningful when `managed: true`).

`stopIPFSNode`

import { stopIPFSNode } from '@ipfs-meshkit/meshkit';

await stopIPFSNode(handle: IPFSNodeHandle): Promise<void>

Stop a managed Kubo daemon. No-op if handle.managed is false.

`setupGracefulShutdown`

import { setupGracefulShutdown } from '@ipfs-meshkit/meshkit';

setupGracefulShutdown(
  localNode: IPFSNodeHandle | undefined,
  options?: GracefulShutdownOptions,
): void

Register SIGINT and SIGTERM handlers that stop a managed Kubo daemon cleanly. Safe to call multiple times — handlers are registered once; the latest localNode and options win.

`GracefulShutdownOptions`

Property	Type	Default	Description
`onShutdown`	`() => void \| Promise<void>`	—	Runs before Kubo stops. Close HTTP servers, DB pools, etc.
`exit`	`boolean`	`true`	Exit the process after shutdown.
`exitCode`	`number`	`0`	Process exit code.

Example

import { init, setupGracefulShutdown } from '@ipfs-meshkit/meshkit';

const { meshkit, localNode } = await init({ localNode: true });

setupGracefulShutdown(localNode, {
  onShutdown: async () => {
    await httpServer.close();
  },
  exitCode: 0,
});

startIPFSNode

StartIPFSNodeOptions

IPFSNodeHandle

stopIPFSNode

setupGracefulShutdown

GracefulShutdownOptions