Upload your file/folder with ethfs-cli

Introduction

In this tutorial, we will demonstrate how to upload files or folders to an EVM compatiable chain using the ethfs-cli tool. Find the list of the currently supported chains here.

For the content to be uploaded, let's assume that

• there is a folder to be uploaded; (e.g., dist)

• there are two files in the folder. (e.g., hello.txt and img/1.jpeg)

Step 1: Install ethfs-cli

If you have not already done so, you can install ethfs-cli using the following command:

npm i -g ethfs-cli

Step 2: Create a FlatDirectory Contract

A FlatDirectory contract serves as a container that needs to be created before uploading files.

The following command creates a FlatDirectory on the default chain (Ethereum Mainnet) using the private key 0x112233...

$ ethfs-cli create -p 0x112233...

If you intend to create it on other chains that support EVM, you need to add the chain ID using the -c flag, for example, 11155111 for Sepolia.

$ ethfs-cli create -p 0x112233... -c 11155111

You will get a FlatDirectory address after the transaction is confirmed:

$ ethfs-cli create -p 0x112233... -c 11155111
chainId = 11155111
providerUrl = https://rpc.sepolia.org
FlatDirectory Address: 0x2f7696D4284358A2E8fDb4DF772dAd60c2c8fbAd

Step 3: Upload Files

In this section, you will upload the files/folder into the FlatDirectory that you just created using the following command:

ethfs-cli upload -f <directory|file> -a <address> -c <chain-id> -p <private-key> -t <upload-type>

Notice that you have the option to specify the file upload type: 1 for calldata, 2 for EIP-4844 blob. The default type is 2 which requires network support for EIP-4844.

For example:

$ ethfs-cli upload -f dist -a 0x2f7696D4284358A2E8fDb4DF772dAd60c2c8fbAd -c 11155111 -p 0x112233... -t 2
providerUrl = https://rpc.sepolia.org
chainId = 11155111
address: 0x2f7696D4284358A2E8fDb4DF772dAd60c2c8fbAd

Start upload File.......

img/1.jpeg, chunkId: 0
hello.txt, chunkId: 0
Transaction Id: 0x809411aeb708023a33dadf17791d994dc3b4b2db1a6bbd36792bbedb68646978
File img/1.jpeg chunkId: 0 uploaded!
Transaction Id: 0x7cea7ea7e4898e03bee4fbc031799689dbe215bd6dd36733721150a099680be7
File hello.txt chunkId: 0 uploaded!

Total Cost: 0.001492087764775451 ETH
Total File Count: 2
Total File Size: 52.6513671875 KB

Step 4: Download Your File!

Now you should be able to download the file you just uploaded.

ethfs-cli download -a <address> -c <chain-id> -f <file>

Run the command to download the file.

ethfs-cli download -a 0x2f7696D4284358A2E8fDb4DF772dAd60c2c8fbAd -c 11155111 -f img/1.jpeg

Now, your file has been saved locally.

Step 5: Access Your File via web3://

Of course, you can also easily access the file you just uploaded using the web3:// protocol. For example,

web3://0x2f7696D4284358A2E8fDb4DF772dAd60c2c8fbAd:3333/hello.txt

or,

web3://0x2f7696D4284358A2E8fDb4DF772dAd60c2c8fbAd:3333/img/1.jpeg

To gain further insights into web3:// protocol, you can visit web3url.io.

Optional: Using Your Own RPC Endpoint

You can also specify your own RPC for better performance by -r flag in the above steps.

For example when create FlatDirectory contract:

$ ethfs-cli create -p 0x112233... -c 11155111 -r http://...rpc.io

When uploading files:

ethfs-cli upload -f /Users/.../dist -a 0x2f7696D4284358A2E8fDb4DF772dAd60c2c8fbAd -c 11155111 -p 0x112233... -r https://...rpc.io