# ipfs-unixfs-importer

> JavaScript implementation of the UnixFs importer used by IPFS

Latest version **17.1.1** (published 2026-09-07) · Apache-2.0 OR MIT license · 0 weekly downloads

## Install

```sh
npm install ipfs-unixfs-importer
pnpm add ipfs-unixfs-importer
yarn add ipfs-unixfs-importer
bun add ipfs-unixfs-importer
```

## Health

**Score 75/100 (B)** — status: active.

Positive: has types; esm support; no vulnerabilities; has provenance; recently updated; high maintenance score; high quality score.

Warnings: low downloads.

## Facts

| | |
|---|---|
| Version | 17.1.1 |
| Published | 2026-09-07 |
| First published | 2018-11-14 |
| Weekly downloads | 0 |
| License | Apache-2.0 OR MIT |
| TypeScript types | bundled |
| Module format | ESM |
| Dependencies | 15 |
| Unpacked size | 735.6 KB |
| Known vulnerabilities | 0 |
| Install scripts | no |
| Provenance | attested (GitHub Actions) |
| GitHub stars | 94 |
| Maintainers | achingbrain, ipfs-npm-publisher-bot, npm-service-account-ipfs |
| Keywords | IPFS |

## Links

- npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/ipfs-unixfs-importer
- Repository: https://github.com/ipfs/js-ipfs-unixfs
- Homepage: https://github.com/ipfs/js-ipfs-unixfs/tree/main/packages/ipfs-unixfs-importer#readme
- Issues: https://github.com/ipfs/js-ipfs-unixfs/issues
- npm.io page: https://npm.io/package/ipfs-unixfs-importer

## Dependencies (15)

- [it-all](https://npm.io/package/it-all.md) ^3.0.11
- [it-batch](https://npm.io/package/it-batch.md) ^3.0.11
- [it-first](https://npm.io/package/it-first.md) ^3.0.11
- [rabin-wasm](https://npm.io/package/rabin-wasm.md) ^0.1.5
- [ipfs-unixfs](https://npm.io/package/ipfs-unixfs.md) ^13.0.0
- [uint8arrays](https://npm.io/package/uint8arrays.md) ^6.1.1
- [@ipld/dag-pb](https://npm.io/package/@ipld/dag-pb.md) ^4.2.0
- [multiformats](https://npm.io/package/multiformats.md) ^14.0.0
- [hamt-sharding](https://npm.io/package/hamt-sharding.md) ^3.0.8
- [uint8arraylist](https://npm.io/package/uint8arraylist.md) ^3.0.2
- [blockstore-core](https://npm.io/package/blockstore-core.md) ^7.0.1
- [progress-events](https://npm.io/package/progress-events.md) ^1.1.0
- [it-parallel-batch](https://npm.io/package/it-parallel-batch.md) ^3.0.11
- [interface-blockstore](https://npm.io/package/interface-blockstore.md) ^7.0.1
- [@multiformats/murmur3](https://npm.io/package/@multiformats/murmur3.md) ^2.2.5

## Recent versions

- 17.1.1 (latest) — 2026-09-07
- 9.0.7-rc.7 (next) — 2022-04-12
- 17.1.0 — 2026-09-03
- 17.0.1 — 2026-05-12
- 17.0.0 — 2026-05-12
- 16.1.5 — 2026-04-16
- 16.1.4 — 2026-03-11
- 16.1.3 — 2026-03-11
- 16.1.2 — 2026-03-09
- 16.1.1 — 2026-02-27
- 16.1.0 — 2026-02-16
- 16.0.3 — 2026-02-06
- 16.0.2 — 2026-01-10
- 16.0.1 — 2025-10-03
- 16.0.0 — 2025-10-03
- … 139 more at https://npm.io/package/ipfs-unixfs-importer/versions

## README

# ipfs-unixfs-importer

[![ipfs.tech](https://img.shields.io/badge/project-IPFS-blue.svg?style=flat-square)](https://ipfs.tech)
[![Discuss](https://img.shields.io/discourse/https/discuss.ipfs.tech/posts.svg?style=flat-square)](https://discuss.ipfs.tech)
[![codecov](https://img.shields.io/codecov/c/github/ipfs/js-ipfs-unixfs.svg?style=flat-square)](https://codecov.io/gh/ipfs/js-ipfs-unixfs)
[![CI](https://img.shields.io/github/actions/workflow/status/ipfs/js-ipfs-unixfs/js-test-and-release.yml?branch=main\&style=flat-square)](https://github.com/ipfs/js-ipfs-unixfs/actions/workflows/js-test-and-release.yml?query=branch%3Amain)

> JavaScript implementation of the UnixFs importer used by IPFS

# About

<!--

!IMPORTANT!

Everything in this README between "# About" and "# Install" is automatically
generated and will be overwritten the next time the doc generator is run.

To make changes to this section, please update the @packageDocumentation section
of src/index.js or src/index.ts

To experiment with formatting, please run "npm run docs" from the root of this
repo and examine the changes made.

-->

## Example

Let's create a little directory to import:

```console
> cd /tmp
> mkdir foo
> echo 'hello' > foo/bar
> echo 'world' > foo/quux
```

And write the importing logic:

```TypeScript
import { importer } from 'ipfs-unixfs-importer'
import { MemoryBlockstore } from 'blockstore-core/memory'
import * as fs from 'node:fs'

// Where the blocks will be stored
const blockstore = new MemoryBlockstore()

// Import path /tmp/foo/
const source = [{
  path: '/tmp/foo/bar',
  content: fs.createReadStream('/tmp/foo/bar')
}, {
  path: '/tmp/foo/quxx',
  content: fs.createReadStream('/tmp/foo/quux')
}]

for await (const entry of importer(source, blockstore)) {
  console.info(entry)
}
```

When run, metadata about DAGNodes in the created tree is printed until the root:

```
{
  cid: CID, // see https://github.com/multiformats/js-cid
  path: 'tmp/foo/bar',
  unixfs: UnixFS // see https://github.com/ipfs/js-ipfs-unixfs
}
{
  cid: CID, // see https://github.com/multiformats/js-cid
  path: 'tmp/foo/quxx',
  unixfs: UnixFS // see https://github.com/ipfs/js-ipfs-unixfs
}
{
  cid: CID, // see https://github.com/multiformats/js-cid
  path: 'tmp/foo',
  unixfs: UnixFS // see https://github.com/ipfs/js-ipfs-unixfs
}
{
  cid: CID, // see https://github.com/multiformats/js-cid
  path: 'tmp',
  unixfs: UnixFS // see https://github.com/ipfs/js-ipfs-unixfs
}
```

# Install

```console
$ npm i ipfs-unixfs-importer
```

## Browser `<script>` tag

Loading this module through a script tag will make its exports available as `IpfsUnixfsImporter` in the global namespace.

```html
<script src="https://unpkg.com/ipfs-unixfs-importer/dist/index.min.js"></script>
```

# API Docs

- <https://ipfs.github.io/js-ipfs-unixfs/modules/ipfs-unixfs-importer.html>

# License

Licensed under either of

- Apache 2.0, ([LICENSE-APACHE](https://github.com/ipfs/js-ipfs-unixfs/blob/main/packages/ipfs-unixfs-importer/LICENSE-APACHE) / <http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0>)
- MIT ([LICENSE-MIT](https://github.com/ipfs/js-ipfs-unixfs/blob/main/packages/ipfs-unixfs-importer/LICENSE-MIT) / <http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT>)

# Contribute

Contributions welcome! Please check out [the issues](https://github.com/ipfs/js-ipfs-unixfs/issues).

Also see our [contributing document](https://github.com/ipfs/community/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING_JS.md) for more information on how we work, and about contributing in general.

Please be aware that all interactions related to this repo are subject to the IPFS [Code of Conduct](https://github.com/ipfs/community/blob/master/code-of-conduct.md).

Unless you explicitly state otherwise, any contribution intentionally submitted for inclusion in the work by you, as defined in the Apache-2.0 license, shall be dual licensed as above, without any additional terms or conditions.

[![](https://cdn.rawgit.com/jbenet/contribute-ipfs-gif/master/img/contribute.gif)](https://github.com/ipfs/community/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md)

---
_Source: https://npm.io/package/ipfs-unixfs-importer · Machine-readable twin of the npm.io package page. Health data is recomputed on every publish._