Go-ipfs: HTTP API root

[jbenet]

HTTP API root (e.g. http://localhost:5001/) should show a listing with links to:

• /webui
• show locally installed, trusted apps. (right now only webui)
• list the URL to the api: /api/v0/<command>?arg=<args>&<flags>

thanks @dominictarr

[whyrusleeping]

wood be kewl

[jbenet]

Yes indeed. Wanted this recently.
On Fri, Jan 1, 2016 at 20:34 Jeromy Johnson [email protected]
wrote:

wood be kewl

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[dignifiedquire]

We could alternatively send / directly to the webui and upgrade the landing screen of the webui (which I already talked about with @whyrusleeping) to show this information.
For cases where people are offline it would be nice if we could package the current version of the webui with the binary, so it always works out of the box without delays.

[jbenet]

we need a gateway root separate from the webui. it will be exposed to users who do not have access to the webui. And it should have information about what IPFS is, download links, and more. already have a list of stuff to appear there.

[dignifiedquire]

Why do they need to be separate, as long it's packaged with the binary it would work for everybody

[jbenet]

• the webui is _one_ application. it happens to be privileged but i want people to experiment with building their own and not prop ours up as _the only_ one.
• the webui does not ship with ipfs for a reason: it teaches developers when they download it and they get to understand the app distribution model there. (i've had dozens of people come up to me and tell me the most impressive thing that sold them on ipfs was going to a hash, downloading, and running a now-local webapp).
• end-user distributions can bundle it and whatever else they want, but that's not the core of ipfs
• "the gateway" is a different module altogether and should be independent. it should have a landing page that describes what it is and proves it's working without having to download anything else.
• also, "the gateway"_will not exist_ in browser implementations (js-ipfs, proper in browser impls, and even extensions possibly).

[dignifiedquire]

Okay, thanks for the explanation. This does make a lot of sense.

[flyingzumwalt]

👍 Please do this. Currently the base url doesn't return anything. It confuses the heck out of people who are trying IPFS for the first (or second or tenth) time.

[whyrusleeping]

@flyingzumwalt do we want any special design for this page? Or would you be happy with a \

[flyingzumwalt]

If it hadn't been for @jbenet's comments in this thread I would have said
it should redirect to web UI. A list of links will be better than nothing,
but really this page should get a proper design ASAP, since it's a main way
that many people will encounter IPFS for the first time.

I've always hated the default landing page on tomcat and it would be
embarrassing if we repeated that flub.
On Wed, Mar 8, 2017 at 5:20 PM Jeromy Johnson [e-mail]
wrote:

@flyingzumwalt https://github.com/flyingzumwalt do we want any special
design for this page? Or would you be happy with a

of links?

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[whyrusleeping]

Alright, well lets get that designed. Its trivial from my end to throw a given page up there.

[whyrusleeping]

@flyingzumwalt how should we proceed with designing this?

[michaelavila]

@momack2 this issue requires help from a visual designer. Who should we reach out to for that help?

[meiqimichelle]

This would be something design guild members @ericronne (visual design) and @olizilla (front end design) would probs like to chat with you about @michaelavila 🎉

[michaelavila]

@ericronne @olizilla

What is the process for coming up with these designs? Can we discuss and iterate in this issue as needed? Is there another process in place?