Install kubo with Homebrew, apk, Nix, pacman, zypper, scoop, MacPorts

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• ipfs

Project history

Kubo originated as the first implementation of IPFS, the content-addressed, peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol. The repository describes Kubo as an opinionated implementation that prioritizes interoperability through CIDs, DAGs, UnixFS, HTTP gateways, Bitswap, and verifiable retrieval over HTTP.

The 2022 rename from Go-IPFS to Kubo was part of a broader IPFS ecosystem cleanup: IPFS stewards wanted the name IPFS to refer to protocols and conventions rather than to a single Go implementation. Kubo v0.14.0 changed the published artifact name, Docker image name, and libp2p user agent while dual-publishing old names to reduce breakage.

Adoption history

Kubo became the standard CLI path for users who wanted more granular control than IPFS Desktop. Official docs describe it as the first and most widely used IPFS implementation, and its packaging spans direct distribution from dist.ipfs.tech, Docker images, Homebrew, Linux distributions, Nix, Scoop, and other package managers.

Because Kubo exposes both a daemon and CLI, it also became infrastructure for applications that need local IPFS storage, pinning, gateways, RPC control, and DHT participation. Its release process documentation describes a regular release cadence with staged testing across unit, interop, integration, IPFS apps, production environments, and community testers.

How it is used

Users typically initialize a repository with `ipfs init`, start a node with `ipfs daemon`, add content with `ipfs add`, retrieve content with `ipfs cat`, and manage node behavior through the Kubo CLI or HTTP RPC API. Configuration and identity material live in the IPFS repository, commonly `$IPFS_PATH`, with the config file used for networking, datastore, gateway, API, and identity settings.

Why package nerds care

Kubo is package-nerd significant because it is both a user CLI and a network node implementation for a protocol stack. Package managers are not merely distributing a helper binary; they are distributing a long-running peer-to-peer daemon with repository migrations, DHT behavior, gateway semantics, RPC compatibility, and a compatibility story that survived the go-ipfs-to-kubo rename.

Timeline

• 2015: IPFS's first implementation emerged as the Go implementation later known as go-ipfs.
• 2022: Kubo v0.14.0 renamed Go-IPFS to Kubo and dual-published old and new artifact names.
• 2025: Kubo v0.39 stopped publishing the deprecated go-ipfs name as a normal release artifact.
• 2020s: The project documents a regular release process with staged testing and QA across IPFS apps and production environments.

Related projects

• Kubo is related to the IPFS protocol specifications, libp2p, UnixFS, Bitswap, IPFS Desktop, IPFS WebUI, Helia, HTTP gateways, delegated routing, and the wider multiformats ecosystem.

Sources

• https://docs.ipfs.tech/install/command-line/
• https://docs.ipfs.tech/reference/kubo/cli/
• https://github.com/ipfs/kubo
• https://github.com/ipfs/kubo/blob/master/docs/changelogs/v0.14.md
• https://github.com/ipfs/kubo/blob/master/docs/changelogs/v0.39.md
• https://github.com/ipfs/kubo/blob/master/docs/releases.md