All terms
A content addressed file system used to store data that blockchains point at.
The InterPlanetary File System addresses files by a hash of their contents rather than by location. Ask for a specific hash and any node holding that file can serve it, and you can verify it is the right file because the hash matches.
That solves a real problem: a normal URL can quietly serve different content tomorrow, while an IPFS address cannot. It does not solve permanence, because someone still has to keep the file hosted, which is called pinning.
NFT metadata frequently lives on IPFS. If nobody pins it, the link resolves to nothing even though the token still exists.
That putting a file on IPFS makes it permanent. IPFS addresses content by its hash; somebody still has to keep hosting it. If every node holding your file stops pinning it, the address stays valid and the file is gone.
Common questions
Is IPFS permanent?
Why do NFTs use IPFS?
Where this comes up on the site
The guides that actually use this word, rather than a list of everything we have written.
Where to go next
More web3 terms
Want this explained out loud?
Some of these land faster in conversation than in writing. Sessions are one to one and you can ask anything, including the things that feel too obvious to ask.