ipfs/ipfs-companion

Detect IPFS Desktop and Provide Additional Node Controls

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#350 opened on Jan 4, 2018

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Description

Some of user journeys introduce presence of IPFS Desktop (previously known as Station). It is a standalone Electron app that can do a lot more than we can do in WebExtension.

WebExtensions provide Native messaging API, which may be used for communication with external executable installed on user's system.

TL;DR

The idea is to detect presence of IPFS Desktop and provide user with additional controls.

MVP: show controls for starting/stopping go-ipfs daemon

Tasks

  • Research if APIs in Chrome and Firefox are close enough that we can maintain single codebase 🤞
  • Add necessary files to IPFS Desktop installer
  • Add native messaging support to Companion
  • Add controls for starting / stopping daemon installed with IPFS Desktop (aka "Ability to Launch IPFS" )
  • Documentation explaining how to add other hooks/controls over Native messaging bridge

References

Contributor guide

Tech stack
javascript
Domain
frontenddeveloper experience
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
5
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
over 1 week
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
mostly clear
Prerequisites
Browser extension developmentNative messaging APIIPFS Desktop knowledge
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
20
Research direction
Investigate the Native messaging API compatibility between Chrome and Firefox using MDN documentation. Add necessary files to IPFS Desktop installer. Implement native messaging support in Companion and add UI controls for starting/stopping the go ipfs daemon. Document the process for adding more hooks, referencing the PoC at https://github.com/whyrusleeping/ipfs webext and the existing issue ipfs/in web browsers#12.