mcp-ipfs

This MCP server wraps the storacha.network w3 CLI commands to manage Storacha spaces and data via MCP clients. It exposes a set of MCP tools that map to w3 commands for authentication, space management, data operations, sharing, delegations, proofs, keys and tokens, and advanced storage actions. Clients can connect to the MCP endpoint and invoke the provided tools (e.g., w3_login, w3_space_ls, w3_up, w3_open, w3_delegation_create, w3_key_create, w3_plan_get) through the MCP protocol to perform tasks against storacha.network without needing to run w3 commands locally.

To use it, configure a client to point at the MCP server (the example uses an NPX or Docker setup). The NPX flow runs the MCP server as a package, while the Docker flow runs the prebuilt image with the proper environment variable for login. The tools cover authentication, space management, data uploads/downloads, sharing links, delegations, proofs, and billing information, providing a comprehensive bridge between MCP clients and storacha.network via the w3 CLI.

Prerequisites:

• Node.js 22.0.0 or higher
• npm (comes with Node.js)
• A configured Storacha/w3 login flow (see prerequisites in the README)

Install steps:

1. Clone the repository and install dependencies:

git clone https://github.com/alexbakers/mcp-ipfs.git
cd mcp-ipfs
npm install

2. Build the TypeScript code:

npm run build

3. Run the server locally (after setting the required environment variable):

export W3_LOGIN_EMAIL="your-email@example.com"
node dist/index.js

4. Alternatively, run with NPX (as described in the README) or via Docker as shown in the examples.

Notes and tips:

• The server relies on the w3 CLI, so ensure @web3-storage/w3cli is installed and you are logged in with the W3_LOGIN_EMAIL environment variable set (W3_LOGIN_EMAIL).
• Some w3 commands require absolute filesystem paths. When using NPX, supply absolute host paths. When using Docker, mount host directories and use the container paths inside the container.
• If you modify configuration, include the W3_LOGIN_EMAIL environment variable in the MCP config as shown in the examples.
• The project provides a build step that outputs to dist/index.js; ensure you run the build before starting the server in production.
• For NPX-based usage, you may leverage the provided example MCP config in the README to run ipfs via npx mcp-ipfs with an appropriate W3_LOGIN_EMAIL.