Stop Misusing IPFS: 5 Real Mistakes (and How to Actually Avoid Them)

IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) is a powerful protocol that flips everything you know about working with files. Instead of referring to data by location, it refers to data by content. That shift enables decentralized distribution, content integrity, and long-term resilience — especially when used as a foundation for IPFS storage in production environments.

But with that new model comes a new set of responsibilities. If you treat IPFS like a traditional file system or cloud bucket, you’ll run into issues fast — from broken content to security blind spots and performance bottlenecks.

This article breaks down the five most common mistakes developers make with IPFS, particularly when using platforms like Filebase, and how to avoid them with confidence.

🧠 Section 1: Understand the Core Model First

1. Misunderstanding Content Addressing

The biggest shift in mindset when moving to IPFS is understanding content addressing. In traditional systems, a file lives at a path or URL. In IPFS, the file is the address — or more specifically, its CID.

Every change to the file creates a completely new CID. Add a space, update a timestamp, tweak an image — boom, new address. And that breaks any link to the previous version unless you explicitly manage it.

How to avoid it:

• Adopt strong naming and versioning conventions.
• Treat CIDs as immutable. Don't expect to overwrite or "update" them.
• Use tools like the Filebase dashboard to keep file versions organized and human-friendly — especially when juggling multiple assets with frequent updates.

IPFS gives you integrity and deduplication, but it demands clarity around versioning. Once you internalize that, things start to click.

2. Neglecting Pinning and Persistence

Just because you added a file to IPFS doesn't mean it's still there.

IPFS is a peer-to-peer protocol. It doesn’t store files permanently unless someone explicitly pins them. If no one pins your content, it can disappear once the original node hosting it goes offline or clears cache.

This is where a lot of users get burned. They upload something, share the CID, then later wonder why the link stopped working.

How to avoid it:

• Always pin content that needs to stay online. No exceptions.
• Use automated pinning via services like Filebase, which handles it for you on upload.
• Periodically audit your pinned content. Set policies around retention, expiry, and lifecycle management to avoid stale data and runaway costs.

IPFS gives you decentralization. Pinning gives you control.

🔐 Section 2: Operational Realities in Production

3. Overlooking Data Privacy and Security

IPFS is not encrypted by default.

Anyone with the CID can retrieve the content. That’s part of its power — but also its danger. If you upload sensitive data without encryption, you're effectively publishing it to the entire network with zero access control.

How to avoid it:

• Always encrypt sensitive content before uploading to IPFS.
• Integrate encryption tools like Lit Protocol for granular access control and identity-based decryption.
• Filebase supports encrypted storage workflows, making it easier to store encrypted content and retrieve it securely.

Think of IPFS as a global bulletin board: you can’t stop people from seeing what you post — but you can post it in code only the right people can read.

4. Not Using Gateways Efficiently

IPFS Gateways connect the IPFS protocol to the web. They let you access content via https:// URLs, even if your browser doesn’t speak IPFS.

The mistake is assuming all gateways are the same. They’re not. Public gateways are free, but they’re also shared infrastructure — meaning higher latency, rate limiting, unreliable uptime, and limited performance guarantees.

How to avoid it:

• Use dedicated IPFS gateways for your app or product. Filebase offers high-performance gateways that dramatically improve speed and reliability.
• Configure custom domains to point to those gateways for cleaner URLs, better branding, and improved SEO.
• If you’re serving assets to users — images, video, metadata — treat your gateway like you would a CDN. Optimize accordingly.

Fast content matters. Gateways are where theory meets UX.

5. Ignoring Bandwidth and Storage Analytics

Most devs get focused on just “getting files up” to IPFS. But what happens next — who’s accessing them, how often, and how much data is moving — is equally important.

Without analytics, you're flying blind. It’s easy to overspend, miss performance trends, or fail to understand user behavior.

How to avoid it:

• Choose an IPFS provider that gives you detailed usage insights. Filebase offers bandwidth, storage, and access to gateway activity streams & analytics that help you plan and optimize.
• Monitor traffic patterns: which assets are hot? Which are stale?
• Use that data to decide what to keep, what to move to cold storage, and where to allocate budget as usage grows.

Visibility turns decentralized storage into manageable infrastructure.

⚙️ How Filebase Fixes All of This

Filebase is more than just a pinning service. It’s built to handle the operational reality of IPFS — the kind of stuff that gets messy when you scale.

Here’s how it solves the problems above:

• Persistent Pinning: Automated pinning keeps your content alive and available — without constant maintenance.
• Works With Encryption: Supports workflows with tools like Lit Protocol for secure, private data distribution.
• High-Performance Gateways: Fast IPFS gateways with custom domain support for production-grade delivery.
• Comprehensive Analytics: See exactly how much storage, bandwidth, and traffic your IPFS content is using — and take action on it.

It’s the missing piece that makes IPFS practical for real teams, real users, and real scale.

Final Take

IPFS is a shift in mindset, not just a shift in tooling.

To get it right:

• Think in CIDs, not file paths.
• Pin what matters.
• Encrypt what’s sensitive.
• Optimize how you serve files.
• Watch your usage like you would with any cloud infra.

Used well, IPFS gives you decentralized content distribution with zero vendor lock-in. Used poorly, it gives you broken links and unexpected surprises.

Filebase helps you stay on the right side of that line. It brings the best parts of IPFS into a framework you can actually build on.

🚀 Build decentralized. Operate like production.

Want to Learn More?

If you’re building with IPFS and need persistent, reliable IPFS storage—start with Filebase.

👉 Explore IPFS Pinning with Filebase