Pin to Octopin from Kubo and IPFS Desktop with the Pinning Service API

Octopin now speaks the standard IPFS Pinning Service API. In practice that means you can pin to Octopin straight from the IPFS tools you already use: the ipfs command line (Kubo), IPFS Desktop, and any script that can send an HTTP request. No dashboard clicking required.

What is the Pinning Service API?

Every pinning provider used to have its own API, so every tool needed a custom integration per provider. The IPFS project fixed that with one shared spec for the basics: pin this CID, list my pins, remove this pin. Kubo and IPFS Desktop have it built in. Any provider that implements the spec works with them, and you can switch providers by changing one URL and one key.

What you can do with it

• Pin from your own node. Add files to your local IPFS node and push them to Octopin with one command, so they stay online when your laptop is off.
• Right-click pinning in IPFS Desktop. Pick any file or folder in the Files tab and tick Octopin.
• Automate. Pin from CI, mint scripts or a build step with a plain HTTP call.
• Stay portable. The same commands work with any spec-compatible provider, so you are never locked in.

Step 1: create an API key

Sign in to Octopin, go to Settings and create a key under api keys. Give it a name you will recognise later, like "laptop" or "ci", and copy it right away. It is only shown once. If a key ever leaks, revoke it in the same place and it stops working immediately.

Step 2a: connect Kubo

Register Octopin once:

ipfs pin remote service add octopin https://api.octopin.app/psa <your-api-key>

Then pin anything by CID:

ipfs pin remote add --service=octopin --name=my-collection <CID>

Kubo waits until the pin is done. For big folders add --background and check on it later with ipfs pin remote ls --service=octopin --status=queued,pinning,pinned.

Step 2b: connect IPFS Desktop

1. Open Settings and scroll to Pinning services.
2. Click Add service, then Custom.
3. Nickname octopin, API endpoint https://api.octopin.app/psa, and your API key as the secret access token.
4. In the Files tab, open the menu on a file or folder, choose Set pinning and tick octopin.

Step 2c: use it from a script

curl -X POST https://api.octopin.app/psa/pins \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OCTOPIN_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"cid":"<CID>","name":"metadata"}'

The same key can also upload new files with POST https://upload.octopin.app/api/upload. All the options are in the API docs.

Good to know

• API keys and uploads work on every plan. Pinning existing CIDs needs a paid plan, from $5/mo.
• Pins added through the API are normal Octopin pins: they show up in your dashboard, count toward the same quota and get the same unlimited bandwidth.
• Octopin fetches pinned content from the public IPFS network. If the content only lives on your node, keep the node online until the pin shows as pinned.

Questions or something not working with your tool? Tell us on Discord or through the contact page.