Storacha Backup

Backup and restore uses UCAN-delegated access to Storacha decentralized storage with IPNS recovery manifests.

Auth Flow

The library uses UCAN-only authentication for Storacha — no key+proof credential login.

Key Functions

import {
  createStorachaClient,
  parseDelegation,
  storeDelegation,
  loadStoredDelegation,
  clearStoredDelegation,
} from 'p2pass';

• parseDelegation(proofString) — Parse multibase, base64, or CAR bytes
• createStorachaClient(principal, delegation) — Create authenticated client
• storeDelegation(base64, registryDb?, spaceDid?) — Store in registry or localStorage
• loadStoredDelegation(registryDb?) — Load stored delegation
• clearStoredDelegation(registryDb?) — Clear delegation(s)

Backup & Restore

The OrbitDBStorachaBridge handles block-level backup and restore:

import { OrbitDBStorachaBridge } from 'orbitdb-storacha-bridge';

const bridge = new OrbitDBStorachaBridge({ ucanClient: client });
bridge.spaceDID = currentSpace.did();

// Backup
const result = await bridge.backup(orbitdb, database.address);

// Restore
const result = await bridge.restoreFromSpace(orbitdb, {
  timeout: 120000,
  preferredDatabaseName: 'my-db',
  restartAfterRestore: true,
  verifyIntegrity: true,
});

IPNS Recovery Manifest

After backup, an IPNS manifest is published containing:

• registryAddress — OrbitDB registry address
• delegation — UCAN delegation string
• ownerDid — The user's Ed25519 DID
• archiveCID — IPFS CID of the encrypted key archive

import {
  createManifest,
  publishManifest,
  resolveManifest,
  uploadArchiveToIPFS,
  fetchArchiveFromIPFS,
} from 'p2pass';

Storage Hierarchy

1. Registry DB (preferred) — OrbitDB keyvalue database, replicated across devices
2. localStorage (fallback) — Used before registry is available
   • p2p_passkeys_registry_address — Registry OrbitDB address
   • p2p_passkeys_owner_did — Owner DID for local-first recovery
   • p2p_passkeys_worker_archive — Encrypted Ed25519 archive for bootstrap

Key Files

• src/lib/ucan/storacha-auth.js — UCAN client creation and delegation storage
• src/lib/backup/registry-backup.js — Registry DB backup/restore
• src/lib/recovery/manifest.js — IPNS manifest publish/resolve
• src/lib/recovery/ipns-key.js — Deterministic IPNS keypair derivation