Quick Start
Quick Start

Quick Start

Get started with the Pinarkive API in four steps. You'll create an account, get an API key, upload a file, and receive a content identifier (CID) to access your file.

Base URL

All API requests use this base URL:

https://api.pinarkive.com/api/v3

Authentication

All requests require an API key. Send it in the header:

Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY

Or use the alternative header:

X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY

Step 1 — Create account

Sign up at pinarkive.com (opens in a new tab) or your Pinarkive dashboard. Confirm your email if required.

Step 2 — Generate API key

  1. Log in to the Pinarkive dashboard (opens in a new tab).
  2. Go to Settings or API Keys.
  3. Create a new API key and assign the scope files:write (and files:read if you want to list uploads).
  4. Copy the key and store it securely. You won't be able to see it again.

You can also generate keys via the API: POST /api/v3/tokens/generate (see Authentication and Tokens).

Step 3 — Upload a file

Send a single file with a POST request to /files using multipart form data.

Request

curl -X POST https://api.pinarkive.com/api/v3/files \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -F "file=@example.png"

Use either Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY or X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY. Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your key and example.png with your file path.

Step 4 — Get CID / file identifier

The API responds with the IPFS content identifier and metadata.

Response

{
  "cid": "bafybeigdyrzt5sfp7udm7hu76uh7y26nf3efuylqabf3oclgtqy55fbzdi",
  "clusterId": "cl0-global",
  "expiresAt": null
}
FieldDescription
cidIPFS content identifier — use this to access or share the file
clusterIdCluster where the file was pinned
expiresAtExpiration time if a timelock was set; otherwise null

View your file: Open the URL in a browser or use it in your app:

https://gateway.pinarkive.com/ipfs/<cid>

Replace <cid> with the cid value from the response.

Next steps

IntroductionIntroduction