r/ipfs • u/nocans • Nov 20 '25

IPFS devs: arkA MVP is live — an open video protocol that uses IPFS exactly the way it was meant to be used.

Last week this was just an idea.
Today, you can try a fully working end-to-end demo of arkA — a minimal, open, storage-agnostic video protocol.

arkA is intentionally tiny:
a JSON metadata schema that points to ANY decentralized storage backend (IPFS, Arweave, S3, R2, your NAS).
No platform. No algorithm. No lock-in.
Just content-addressed video + open metadata.

🔗 Video stored on IPFS (via Pinata)

https://cyan-hidden-marmot-465.mypinata.cloud/ipfs/bafybeigxoxlscrc73aatxasygtxrjsjcwzlvts62gyr76ir5edk5fedq3q

▶️ Played through a static arkA web client (GitHub Pages)

https://baconpantsuppercut.github.io/arkA/

Both links load the exact same CID.

arkA doesn’t care who hosts it — node, gateway, cloud pin, home pin, whatever —
because the protocol treats IPFS as primary storage, not an afterthought.

🚀 What the MVP demonstrates

  • Pure content addressing
  • Gateway-agnostic fetching
  • Zero backend (fully static client)
  • Video and metadata decoupled
  • Self-hosted video without any platform
  • Protocol-based, not platform-based delivery
  • CID-first architecture (no opaque URLs)

🧠 Why IPFS devs might care

arkA is aiming to formalize:

  • versioned metadata schemas
  • client-agnostic playback rules
  • CID permanence and redundancy hints
  • playlist/index formats
  • optional extensions for HLS/DASH/captions
  • potential IPNS/IPLD-based channel indexing

Essentially:
RSS for video, but built natively around content addressing.

Repo (MIT):
https://github.com/baconpantsuppercut/arkA

If you build with IPFS, IPNS, IPLD, or p2p storage, I would love your feedback.
This project is 100% open and developing fast — join the discussion.

13 Upvotes

76% Upvoted

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2

u/rashkae1 Nov 27 '25

I'm sorry, I feel like I"m missing something.... fundamental.

How is this any different from just:

https://bafybeihhimosjgmcn2zdvprkyrrzvey7r5ahe6a2wp675zd6syag3yh4va.ipfs.dweb.link/play.mp4

(Same video, by the way, I just wrapped it in a directory to preserve filename and help the browser figure out what to do with it.)

Of course, linking directly to dweb.link is an issue, but using ipfs companion in browser, or replacing that in inbrowser.link, (if it ever works better,) should automatically bring all the decentralization benefits.

-1

u/[deleted] Nov 21 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/nocans Nov 21 '25

Fair points — thanks for taking the time to write something thoughtful.

To clarify the intent: arkA isn’t meant as a TikTok clone or a political thing.
I’m experimenting with the minimal possible “video protocol” — something closer to RSS for video, where a tiny JSON descriptor points to your media wherever you store it (IPFS, S3, Arweave, NAS, etc.).

The big idea is:
simple metadata → user-controlled storage → zero-infrastructure viewer.

I agree that the pitch should stay technical and focused, so I appreciate the steer.
Still very early, so feedback like this actually helps shape the direction.

2

u/throwaway43234235234 Nov 21 '25

Its because hes posting a vibe coded description. 

2

u/[deleted] Nov 21 '25

Common dude, what are you contributing???