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Issue with Peer-discovery When Initializing with Custom Service (pure browser environment)
Description:
In a pure browser environment, initializing IPFS nodes based on Helia with even an empty services configuration (e.g., libp2p: { services: {} }) disrupts the node's ability to discover peer nodes automatically. However, removing the services option entirely restores peer discovery capabilities. Given the dependencies of OrbitDB on specific libp2p configurations involving the services option (specifically pubsub with gossipsub), it is crucial to enable services.
Steps to Reproduce:
- Initialize a Helia-based IPFS node in a clean browser environment with the following configuration:
// index.js
import { IDBBlockstore } from 'blockstore-idb';
import { IDBDatastore } from 'datastore-idb';
import { createHelia } from 'helia';
const instantiateHeliaNode = async () => {
const datastore = new IDBDatastore('/datastore2');
const blockstore = new IDBBlockstore('/blockstore2');
await datastore.open();
await blockstore.open();
const heliaInstance = await createHelia({
libp2p: {
services: {}
},
peerStore: {
persistence: false,
threshold: 5
},
keychain: { pass: 'very-strong-password' },
datastore: datastore,
blockstore: blockstore
});
return heliaInstance;
};
document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", async () => {
const helia = window.helia = await instantiateHeliaNode();
// monitor
console.log('Helia node created with ID:', helia.libp2p.peerId.toString())
setInterval(async () => {
const peers = await helia.libp2p.peerStore.all();
console.log(`Total number of store peers: ${peers.length}`);
console.log('Connected peers count:', helia.libp2p.getPeers().length);
}, 3000);
});
<!-- index.html -->
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8" /> <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge" /> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
<script type="module" crossorigin src="./index.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
<h1>IPFS in the Browser via Helia</h1>
</body>
</html>
- Observe the node's inability to discover peers (It may take several minutes or more).
- Remove or delete the
servicesconfiguration and reinitialize the node in a clean browser environment (e.g., a new incognito window):
// In the index.js file:
const heliaInstance = await createHelia({
// libp2p: {
// services: {}
// },
peerStore: {
persistence: false,
threshold: 5
},
keychain: {
pass: 'very-strong-password'
},
datastore: datastore,
blockstore: blockstore
});
- Observe that the node can now discover peers.
Expected Behavior:
The node should be able to discover peers automatically, even when the services option is used, provided it is configured correctly or even if it is empty.
Actual Behavior:
The node fails to discover peers when the services option is included in the configuration. Removing this option restores peer discovery functionality.
Environment:
- Browser Version: Google Chrome 123.0.6312, Microsoft Edge 123.2420
- Operating System: Windows 2022
- Helia Version: 4.2.1
- Libp2p Version: 1.3.3
Additional Information: Despite reviewing the documentation on service-related configurations (libp2p interface documentation and source code), I am still unsure how to resolve this issue.
Use the Service option to start Helia:
Start Helia without using the Service option:
