go-orbitdb

A Go implementation of OrbitDB, the serverless, peer-to-peer database built on IPFS and libp2p.

It is a port of @orbitdb/core 4 and interoperates with it: identities, log entries, manifests, access controllers and the sync protocol are byte-for-byte compatible, so Go and JavaScript peers open and replicate the same databases. This is checked on every push against a live @orbitdb/core 4.0.0 node (see Compatibility).

node, _ := ipfs.New(ctx, ipfs.Options{Repo: "./blocks"})
odb, _ := orbitdb.New(ctx, orbitdb.Options{IPFS: node, Directory: "./orbitdb"})
defer odb.Stop()

kv, _ := odb.OpenKeyValue(ctx, "settings")
kv.Put(ctx, "theme", "dark")
fmt.Println(kv.Address()) // /orbitdb/zdpu... — share it with peers

Install

go get github.com/orbitdb/go-orbitdb

Go 1.26 or later.

What's included

@orbitdb/core	Go package	Notes
createOrbitDB, open	orbitdb	Open, typed OpenEvents / OpenKeyValue / OpenKeyValueIndexed / OpenDocuments, OpenAs[T]
Events, KeyValue, KeyValueIndexed, Documents	databases	custom types via UseDatabaseType
Log, Entry, Heads, Clock, conflict resolution	oplog	append, join, traverse, range iterator, entry/payload encryption hooks
Sync	syncutils	gossipsub updates + /orbitdb/heads/<address> exchange
IPFS and OrbitDB access controllers	accesscontrollers	grant / revoke, custom types via UseAccessController
Identities, publickey provider	identities	custom providers via providers.UseIdentityProvider
KeyStore	keystore	secp256k1 via go-libp2p; reads JS keystores
Memory, LRU, Level, IPFS block, Composed storage	storage
@orbitdb/simple-encryption	encryption	AES-GCM + PBKDF2, same ciphertext format
Helia	ipfs	go-libp2p host, gossipsub and a boxo bitswap block service

Usage

Databases

events, _ := odb.OpenEvents(ctx, "log")
hash, _ := events.Add(ctx, map[string]any{"msg": "hello"})
all, _ := events.All(ctx) // oldest first

type Post struct {
	ID    string `json:"_id"` // documents are keyed by "_id" unless configured otherwise
	Title string `json:"title"`
}
docs, _ := odb.OpenDocuments(ctx, "posts")
docs.Put(ctx, Post{ID: "p1", Title: "first"}) // structs are stored through their JSON form
matches, _ := docs.Query(ctx, func(d map[string]any) bool { return d["title"] == "first" })

kvi, _ := odb.OpenKeyValueIndexed(ctx, "settings-indexed") // reads from a local index

Values are anything dag-cbor can hold: nil, booleans, numbers, strings, []byte, CIDs, slices and string-keyed maps, or structs (encoded via encoding/json). Reads return map[string]any, []any, int64, float64, string, []byte, bool or nil. As in JavaScript, a float with an integral value is stored as an integer.

Replication

Open the same address on another peer:

db, _ := odb.OpenKeyValue(ctx, "/orbitdb/zdpu...")
sub := db.Events().Subscribe()
for ev := range sub.Events() {
	if ev.Type == databases.EventUpdate {
		fmt.Println("update:", ev.Entry.Payload)
	}
}

The manifest, access controller, heads, missing ancestors and writer identities are fetched from connected peers over bitswap. Peers find each other however you connect their libp2p hosts (node.Connect, or your own discovery); there is no DHT or delegated routing by default.

To talk to a JavaScript peer, give its Helia node TCP (or another transport both sides share), Noise, Yamux, gossipsub and bitswap.

Access control

By default only the creator may write. Pass an access controller when creating a database:

// Anyone may write.
orbitdb.WithAccessController(accesscontrollers.IPFS(accesscontrollers.IPFSOptions{Write: []string{"*"}}))

// Writers listed in a database of their own, changeable later.
db, _ := odb.OpenEvents(ctx, "team", orbitdb.WithAccessController(accesscontrollers.OrbitDB(accesscontrollers.OrbitDBOptions{})))
db.AccessController().(*accesscontrollers.OrbitDBAccessController).Grant(ctx, "write", otherIdentityID)

Every entry, local or from a peer, is checked against the access controller and its signature before it joins the log. The controllers also require the key that signed an entry to be the key of the identity the entry names.

Encryption

password := []byte("correct horse battery staple")
data, _ := encryption.NewSimple(password)
replication, _ := encryption.NewSimple(password)
db, _ := odb.OpenKeyValue(ctx, "secret", orbitdb.WithEncryption(oplog.Encryption{Data: data, Replication: replication}))

encryption.Simple reads and writes the format of @orbitdb/simple-encryption and uses a fresh random nonce for every message. Any oplog.Encrypter works.

Persistence

ipfs.Options.Repo keeps blocks (log entries, identities, manifests) in LevelDB; orbitdb.Options.Directory holds the keystore and each database's heads and index. With both set, databases survive restarts. Without Repo, blocks live in memory.

Demo

go run ./cmd/orbitdb-demo --dir /tmp/a
# in a second terminal, with the multiaddr and address the first printed:
go run ./cmd/orbitdb-demo --dir /tmp/b --peer /ip4/127.0.0.1/tcp/.../p2p/12D3... --db /orbitdb/zdpu...
> put greeting hello

Compatibility

Two kinds of tests pin the Go implementation to @orbitdb/core 4.0.0:

• Golden vectors. tools/jsvectors runs scenarios on @orbitdb/core with the keys of its own test fixture keystore and records every identity, entry block, hash, traversal order, iterator range, manifest, access controller and encrypted block. Signatures are deterministic (RFC 6979), so the Go tests replay the same scenarios and require identical bytes: multi-writer joins, references, same-clock ties, every payload type and both encryption hooks included. CI regenerates the vectors to prove they are what @orbitdb/core produces.
• Live interop. interop starts a JavaScript OrbitDB peer on Helia and replicates with it both ways: JS-created and Go-created databases, concurrent writers converging to identical logs, documents, write permissions, OrbitDB access controller grants and encrypted databases.

go test -race ./...                                             # unit + vector tests
(cd interop/js-peer && npm ci) && go test -tags interop ./interop/  # needs Node.js 22
(cd tools/jsvectors && npm ci && npm run check)                 # vectors are reproducible

Differences from the JavaScript API

• Every call takes a context.Context; iteration uses iter.Seq2.
• Missing keys and documents return errors wrapping databases.ErrNotFound instead of undefined.
• Events are delivered on channels (db.Events().Subscribe()); emitting never blocks and never drops.
• Iterator Amount of zero means "all" (JavaScript uses -1).
• Documents keys are strings; a numeric key written by a JavaScript peer is looked up by its decimal form.

License

MIT