Introducing the Hub - a collection of tools to build and scale decentralized apps.

Today, we're announcing the Textile Hub, a collection of libraries and services that connect and extend IPFS, Libp2p, and Filecoin so that you can build apps, secure data, and delight users. This release includes brand new services, exciting Bucket updates, a new ThreadsDB release, and a simple pathway to future Filecoin support.

Simplicity

Our goal is to make it easy for developers to experiment quickly and then scale  successful experiments efficiently. The Hub is an open-source portal to the protocols we love and offers simple developer tools to access hosted ThreadsDB and IPFS nodes (and soon, Filecoin). What's even more exciting is that developers then pass on that access to their users. The Hub provides interoperable data storage options, so apps can persist data of end-users while not locking users into the system.

• ThreadsDB is a database built on IPFS that feels like MongoDB. It has been carefully designed with performance in mind, helping consumer applications move data across the decentralized web more effectively. ThreadsDB enables p2p communication as well as trustless 3rd party services that can persist, serve, and relay data among users.
• Buckets are dynamic directories that developers can create and then persist on remote IPFS peers and collaboratively edit with their team.
• The Hub is the first provider of an easy-to-use set of Thread services available through js-threads and js-textile. The Hub gives developers (and their app users) instant access to remote IFPS nodes for persistence and networking.

More!

This release is packed with so many new and improved features it's impossible to list them all. Here are a few of our favorites.

• All new Buckets get subdomains <bucket>.textile.space. The subdomain is the IPNS address of the Bucket. Buckets support multiple protocols, including HTTP, Libp2p, IPFS, IPNS, ThreadsDB, and soon... we'll add Filecoin! 🤩
• Buckets are integrated with IPNS out of the box. Get your latest Bucket content from any IPFS peer and setup DNSLinks for your custom domain. 🤯
• The Hub CLI is simplified. Developers + Organizations, Buckets, Threads, App Keys.🌈
• Buckets are now available to your app users through js-textile. 🎛️
• Improved persistence and follower services available in Threads with js-threads and js-textile. 😎
• We've upgraded everything to IPFS 0.5.x! 🥳

Getting started

So what should you do with the Hub, Threads, and Buckets today?

• Add p2p protocols to your existing app to create new value for your users.
• Build encrypted, p2p, chat apps that work over ThreadsDB to ensure messages are sent and received no matter who is online, when.
• Build Keybase or Slack integrations for things like team data storage in Textile Buckets.
• Build decentralized apps for docs, forms, notes, photos, spreadsheets, time tracking, presentations... you name it!
• Build a desktop app to sync data or communicate with family!

Jump in over on docs.textile.io and let us know what you think!