IPFN idea described with basic usage.
Before reading about implementation details, please see self-describing encoding, in particular multiaddr and cid.
Multiformats CID eq. bafybeigdyrzt5sfp7udm7hu76uh7y26nf3efuylqabf3oclgtqy55fbzdi contains following data:
- multibase code:
bname:base32 - multicodec code:
0x70name:dag-pb - multihash code:
18name:sha2-256bits:256
Calls to IPFN happen through multiaddr.
We can call our function on a remote node eq.
/dns4/ipfn.instance.remote/tcp/7111/ipfn/zFunc…54oA/tcp/8080/http/foo/bar
Or on local node:
/ipfn/zFunc…54oA/tcp/8080/http/foo/bar
Using a HTTP Gateway through browser:
https://zFunc…54oA.ipfn.localhost/tcp/8080/http/foo/bar
The design is created with WASM execution environment in mind but not in any way limited by it.
Most software can be compiled to WASM – architecture like amd64 that is considered secure for sandboxing.
Functions are addressed by ipfn protocol code and CID eq. /ipfn/zFunc…54oA.
Codec determines format of the function but can also be a hint on how to resolve raw data required to execute the function.
Standard codec – one of dag-pb. dag-cbor used by IPFS.
Note: Here is 460+ well known codecs table.
Magic happens by encoding the execution environment in CID codec part or inside IPFS-resolved DAG.
Docker will expose TCP port. IPFN will implement TCP and HTTP.
This eliminates needs for generating new protocols for the end-user.
It takes use of existing TCP based protocols.
Instead of thinking about IPFN address resolving to a function, it can resolve to a bootstrap which spins up docker container.
Stateful systems can be easily created by creating unique content ID for a function.
This content ID can be a cryptographic public key which we can use to securely communicate with it.
Single content ID can be used to expose a single endpoint of a container for a single person by encoding this data in execution context.
Gateways are not a core component but are crucial in how IPFN actually becomes useful.
In simple words they provide access to insides of functions, existing either inside or outside of a function.
GraphQL application that provides /query endpoint would be considered inside gateway.
Generated code that provides HTTP (or any other) interface for your Go or JavaScript functions would be considered inside gateway.
If you want to use HTTP or any other arbitrary maybe not even TCP based protocol (RF, IoT)
you can create your own public gateway that provides access to IPFN world.
IPFN can be expected to be exposed as HTTP/2.0 on /ipfn/… path.
Focus is on V8 (Browser) and WASM — support of Docker through extension.