ipfs/kubo · error

invalid IPNS name: %w

Error message

invalid IPNS name: %w

What it means

`ipfs ipns put` parses the given name argument with ipns.NameFromString after stripping the /ipns/ prefix. If the remaining string is not a valid IPNS name (expected to be a peer ID / public key form), the command wraps the parse error with this message.

Source

Thrown at core/commands/name/name.go:473

			}
			delegatedPublishers := cfg.DelegatedPublishersWithAutoConf()
			if len(delegatedPublishers) == 0 {
				return errors.New("no delegated publishers configured: add Ipns.DelegatedPublishers or use --allow-offline for local-only publishing")
			}
			// For allow-delegated mode, we proceed even if offline
			// since we're using HTTP publishing via delegated publishers
		}

		// Parse the IPNS name argument
		nameArg := req.Arguments[0]
		if !strings.HasPrefix(nameArg, "/ipns/") {
			nameArg = "/ipns/" + nameArg
		}
		// Extract the name part after /ipns/
		namePart := strings.TrimPrefix(nameArg, "/ipns/")
		name, err := ipns.NameFromString(namePart)
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("invalid IPNS name: %w", err)
		}

		// Read raw record bytes from file/stdin
		file, err := cmdenv.GetFileArg(req.Files.Entries())
		if err != nil {
			return err
		}
		defer file.Close()

		// Read record data (limit to 1 MiB for memory safety)
		data, err := io.ReadAll(io.LimitReader(file, 1<<20))
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("failed to read record: %w", err)
		}
		if len(data) == 0 {
			return errors.New("record is empty")
		}

View on GitHub (pinned to 329838acdf)

Solutions

1. Pass the exact peer ID (public key) name the record was signed for, e.g. 12D3KooW... or its /ipns/ form
2. Verify the name with `ipfs key list` or `ipfs id` and copy it unmodified
3. If targeting a DNSLink name, note that ipns put requires a key-based name

Example fix

// before
ipfs ipns put /ipns/mydomain.example record.bin
// error: invalid IPNS name: ...
// after
ipfs ipns put /ipns/12D3KooWExamplePeerID... record.bin

namePart := strings.TrimPrefix(arg, "/ipns/")
if _, err := ipns.NameFromString(namePart); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("not a valid key-based IPNS name: %w", err)
}

if _, err := ipns.NameFromString(strings.TrimPrefix(arg, "/ipns/")); err != nil {
    // surface a clear message: DNSLink names are not accepted by ipns put
}

When it happens

Trigger: `ipfs ipns put <name> ...` where <name> is not a valid libp2p public-key-based IPNS name — malformed peer ID, wrong multihash/multibase, or a path like /ipns/example.com that is a DNSLink name rather than a key name.

Common situations: Passing a DNS name (DNSLink) to ipns put, a typo'd or truncated peer ID, or a CID-based name that the ipns.Name parser does not accept.

Related errors

• invalid peer id
• cannot import key with name 'self'
• DHT timeout value must be >= 0
• ttl (%s) must not be greater than lifetime (%s)
• cannot create new key: %w

AI-assisted analysis of ipfs/kubo@329838acdf (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b56b4587cc6d7aa3. Report an issue: GitHub.