feat: support GetClosesPeers (IPIP-476) and ExposeRoutingAPI by default (#10954)

This allows Kubo to respond to the GetClosestPeers() http routing v1 endpoint
as spec'ed here: https://github.com/ipfs/specs/pull/476

It is based on work from https://github.com/ipfs/boxo/pull/1021

We let IpfsNode implmement the contentRouter.Client interface with the new
method.  We use our WAN-DHT to get the closest peers. 

Additionally, Routing V1 HTTP API is exposed by default which enables light clients in browsers to use Kubo Gateway as delegated routing backend

Co-authored-by: Marcin Rataj <lidel@lidel.org>

config/gateway.go

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ const (
 	DefaultInlineDNSLink         = false
 	DefaultDeserializedResponses = true
 	DefaultDisableHTMLErrors     = false
-	DefaultExposeRoutingAPI      = false
+	DefaultExposeRoutingAPI      = true
 	DefaultDiagnosticServiceURL  = "https://check.ipfs.network"
 
 	// Gateway limit defaults from boxo

core/corehttp/routing.go

@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ package corehttp
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
 	"net"
 	"net/http"
 	"time"
@@ -13,6 +15,9 @@ import (
 	"github.com/ipfs/boxo/routing/http/types/iter"
 	cid "github.com/ipfs/go-cid"
 	core "github.com/ipfs/kubo/core"
+	dht "github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p-kad-dht"
+	"github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p-kad-dht/dual"
+	"github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p-kad-dht/fullrt"
 	"github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p/core/peer"
 	"github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p/core/routing"
 )
@@ -96,6 +101,60 @@ func (r *contentRouter) PutIPNS(ctx context.Context, name ipns.Name, record *ipn
 	return r.n.Routing.PutValue(ctx, string(name.RoutingKey()), raw)
 }
 
+func (r *contentRouter) GetClosestPeers(ctx context.Context, key cid.Cid) (iter.ResultIter[*types.PeerRecord], error) {
+	// Per the spec, if the peer ID is empty, we should use self.
+	if key == cid.Undef {
+		return nil, errors.New("GetClosestPeers key is undefined")
+	}
+
+	keyStr := string(key.Hash())
+	var peers []peer.ID
+	var err error
+
+	if r.n.DHTClient == nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("GetClosestPeers not supported: DHT is not available")
+	}
+
+	switch dhtClient := r.n.DHTClient.(type) {
+	case *dual.DHT:
+		// Only use WAN DHT for public HTTP Routing API.
+		// LAN DHT contains private network peers that should not be exposed publicly.
+		if dhtClient.WAN == nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("GetClosestPeers not supported: WAN DHT is not available")
+		}
+		peers, err = dhtClient.WAN.GetClosestPeers(ctx, keyStr)
+	case *fullrt.FullRT:
+		peers, err = dhtClient.GetClosestPeers(ctx, keyStr)
+	case *dht.IpfsDHT:
+		peers, err = dhtClient.GetClosestPeers(ctx, keyStr)
+	default:
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("GetClosestPeers not supported for DHT type %T", r.n.DHTClient)
+	}
+
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	// We have some DHT-closest peers. Find addresses for them.
+	// The addresses should be in the peerstore.
+	records := make([]*types.PeerRecord, 0, len(peers))
+	for _, p := range peers {
+		addrs := r.n.Peerstore.Addrs(p)
+		rAddrs := make([]types.Multiaddr, len(addrs))
+		for i, addr := range addrs {
+			rAddrs[i] = types.Multiaddr{Multiaddr: addr}
+		}
+		record := types.PeerRecord{
+			ID:     &p,
+			Schema: types.SchemaPeer,
+			Addrs:  rAddrs,
+		}
+		records = append(records, &record)
+	}
+
+	return iter.ToResultIter(iter.FromSlice(records)), nil
+}
+
 type peerChanIter struct {
 	ch     <-chan peer.AddrInfo
 	cancel context.CancelFunc

docs/changelogs/v0.39.md

@@ -168,6 +168,10 @@ The `go-ipfs` name was deprecated in 2022 and renamed to `kubo`. Starting with t
 
 All users should migrate to the `kubo` name in their scripts and configurations.
 
+#### Routing V1 HTTP API now exposed by default
+
+The [Routing V1 HTTP API](https://specs.ipfs.tech/routing/http-routing-v1/) is now exposed by default at `http://127.0.0.1:8080/routing/v1`. This allows light clients in browsers to use Kubo Gateway as a delegated routing backend instead of running a full DHT client. Support for [IPIP-476: Delegated Routing DHT Closest Peers API](https://github.com/ipfs/specs/pull/476) is included. Can be disabled via [`Gateway.ExposeRoutingAPI`](https://github.com/ipfs/kubo/blob/master/docs/config.md#gatewayexposeroutingapi).
+
 ### 📦️ Important dependency updates
 
 - update `go-libp2p` to [v0.45.0](https://github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p/releases/tag/v0.45.0) (incl. [v0.44.0](https://github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p/releases/tag/v0.44.0)) with self-healing UPnP port mappings and go-log/slog interop fixes

docs/config.md

@@ -1128,7 +1128,7 @@ Kubo will filter out routing results which are not actionable, for example, all
 graphsync providers will be skipped. If you need a generic pass-through, see
 standalone router implementation named [someguy](https://github.com/ipfs/someguy).
 
-Default: `false`
+Default: `true`
 
 Type: `flag`
 

docs/examples/kubo-as-a-library/go.mod

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ go 1.25
 replace github.com/ipfs/kubo => ./../../..
 
 require (
-	github.com/ipfs/boxo v0.35.2
+	github.com/ipfs/boxo v0.35.3-0.20251118170232-e71f50ea2263
 	github.com/ipfs/kubo v0.0.0-00010101000000-000000000000
 	github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p v0.45.0
 	github.com/multiformats/go-multiaddr v0.16.1

docs/examples/kubo-as-a-library/go.sum

@@ -291,8 +291,8 @@ github.com/ipfs-shipyard/nopfs/ipfs v0.25.0 h1:OqNqsGZPX8zh3eFMO8Lf8EHRRnSGBMqcd
 github.com/ipfs-shipyard/nopfs/ipfs v0.25.0/go.mod h1:BxhUdtBgOXg1B+gAPEplkg/GpyTZY+kCMSfsJvvydqU=
 github.com/ipfs/bbloom v0.0.4 h1:Gi+8EGJ2y5qiD5FbsbpX/TMNcJw8gSqr7eyjHa4Fhvs=
 github.com/ipfs/bbloom v0.0.4/go.mod h1:cS9YprKXpoZ9lT0n/Mw/a6/aFV6DTjTLYHeA+gyqMG0=
-github.com/ipfs/boxo v0.35.2 h1:0QZJJh6qrak28abENOi5OA8NjBnZM4p52SxeuIDqNf8=
-github.com/ipfs/boxo v0.35.2/go.mod h1:bZn02OFWwJtY8dDW9XLHaki59EC5o+TGDECXEbe1w8U=
+github.com/ipfs/boxo v0.35.3-0.20251118170232-e71f50ea2263 h1:7sSi4euS5Rb+RwQZOXrd/fURpC9kgbESD4DPykaLy0I=
+github.com/ipfs/boxo v0.35.3-0.20251118170232-e71f50ea2263/go.mod h1:bZn02OFWwJtY8dDW9XLHaki59EC5o+TGDECXEbe1w8U=
 github.com/ipfs/go-bitfield v1.1.0 h1:fh7FIo8bSwaJEh6DdTWbCeZ1eqOaOkKFI74SCnsWbGA=
 github.com/ipfs/go-bitfield v1.1.0/go.mod h1:paqf1wjq/D2BBmzfTVFlJQ9IlFOZpg422HL0HqsGWHU=
 github.com/ipfs/go-block-format v0.0.3/go.mod h1:4LmD4ZUw0mhO+JSKdpWwrzATiEfM7WWgQ8H5l6P8MVk=

go.mod

@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/hashicorp/go-version v1.7.0
 	github.com/ipfs-shipyard/nopfs v0.0.14
 	github.com/ipfs-shipyard/nopfs/ipfs v0.25.0
-	github.com/ipfs/boxo v0.35.2
+	github.com/ipfs/boxo v0.35.3-0.20251118170232-e71f50ea2263
 	github.com/ipfs/go-block-format v0.2.3
 	github.com/ipfs/go-cid v0.5.0
 	github.com/ipfs/go-cidutil v0.1.0

go.sum

@@ -358,8 +358,8 @@ github.com/ipfs-shipyard/nopfs/ipfs v0.25.0 h1:OqNqsGZPX8zh3eFMO8Lf8EHRRnSGBMqcd
 github.com/ipfs-shipyard/nopfs/ipfs v0.25.0/go.mod h1:BxhUdtBgOXg1B+gAPEplkg/GpyTZY+kCMSfsJvvydqU=
 github.com/ipfs/bbloom v0.0.4 h1:Gi+8EGJ2y5qiD5FbsbpX/TMNcJw8gSqr7eyjHa4Fhvs=
 github.com/ipfs/bbloom v0.0.4/go.mod h1:cS9YprKXpoZ9lT0n/Mw/a6/aFV6DTjTLYHeA+gyqMG0=
-github.com/ipfs/boxo v0.35.2 h1:0QZJJh6qrak28abENOi5OA8NjBnZM4p52SxeuIDqNf8=
-github.com/ipfs/boxo v0.35.2/go.mod h1:bZn02OFWwJtY8dDW9XLHaki59EC5o+TGDECXEbe1w8U=
+github.com/ipfs/boxo v0.35.3-0.20251118170232-e71f50ea2263 h1:7sSi4euS5Rb+RwQZOXrd/fURpC9kgbESD4DPykaLy0I=
+github.com/ipfs/boxo v0.35.3-0.20251118170232-e71f50ea2263/go.mod h1:bZn02OFWwJtY8dDW9XLHaki59EC5o+TGDECXEbe1w8U=
 github.com/ipfs/go-bitfield v1.1.0 h1:fh7FIo8bSwaJEh6DdTWbCeZ1eqOaOkKFI74SCnsWbGA=
 github.com/ipfs/go-bitfield v1.1.0/go.mod h1:paqf1wjq/D2BBmzfTVFlJQ9IlFOZpg422HL0HqsGWHU=
 github.com/ipfs/go-block-format v0.0.3/go.mod h1:4LmD4ZUw0mhO+JSKdpWwrzATiEfM7WWgQ8H5l6P8MVk=

test/cli/delegated_routing_v1_http_server_test.go

@@ -2,9 +2,13 @@ package cli
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/google/uuid"
+	"github.com/ipfs/boxo/autoconf"
 	"github.com/ipfs/boxo/ipns"
 	"github.com/ipfs/boxo/routing/http/client"
 	"github.com/ipfs/boxo/routing/http/types"
@@ -14,8 +18,14 @@ import (
 	"github.com/ipfs/kubo/test/cli/harness"
 	"github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p/core/peer"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
 
+// swarmPeersOutput is used to parse the JSON output of 'ipfs swarm peers --enc=json'
+type swarmPeersOutput struct {
+	Peers []struct{} `json:"Peers"`
+}
+
 func TestRoutingV1Server(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 
@@ -143,4 +153,132 @@ func TestRoutingV1Server(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.NoError(t, err)
 		assert.Equal(t, "/ipfs/"+cidStr, value.String())
 	})
+
+	t.Run("GetClosestPeers returns error when DHT is disabled", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Parallel()
+
+		// Test various routing types that don't support DHT
+		routingTypes := []string{"none", "delegated", "custom"}
+		for _, routingType := range routingTypes {
+			t.Run("routing_type="+routingType, func(t *testing.T) {
+				t.Parallel()
+
+				// Create node with specified routing type (DHT disabled)
+				node := harness.NewT(t).NewNode().Init()
+				node.UpdateConfig(func(cfg *config.Config) {
+					cfg.Gateway.ExposeRoutingAPI = config.True
+					cfg.Routing.Type = config.NewOptionalString(routingType)
+
+					// For custom routing type, we need to provide minimal valid config
+					// otherwise daemon startup will fail
+					if routingType == "custom" {
+						// Configure a minimal HTTP router (no DHT)
+						cfg.Routing.Routers = map[string]config.RouterParser{
+							"http-only": {
+								Router: config.Router{
+									Type: config.RouterTypeHTTP,
+									Parameters: config.HTTPRouterParams{
+										Endpoint: "https://delegated-ipfs.dev",
+									},
+								},
+							},
+						}
+						cfg.Routing.Methods = map[config.MethodName]config.Method{
+							config.MethodNameProvide:       {RouterName: "http-only"},
+							config.MethodNameFindProviders: {RouterName: "http-only"},
+							config.MethodNameFindPeers:     {RouterName: "http-only"},
+							config.MethodNameGetIPNS:       {RouterName: "http-only"},
+							config.MethodNamePutIPNS:       {RouterName: "http-only"},
+						}
+					}
+
+					// For delegated routing type, ensure we have at least one HTTP router
+					// to avoid daemon startup failure
+					if routingType == "delegated" {
+						// Use a minimal delegated router configuration
+						cfg.Routing.DelegatedRouters = []string{"https://delegated-ipfs.dev"}
+						// Delegated routing doesn't support providing, must be disabled
+						cfg.Provide.Enabled = config.False
+					}
+				})
+				node.StartDaemon()
+
+				c, err := client.New(node.GatewayURL())
+				require.NoError(t, err)
+
+				// Try to get closest peers - should fail gracefully with an error
+				testCid, err := cid.Decode("QmUNLLsPACCz1vLxQVkXqqLX5R1X345qqfHbsf67hvA3Nn")
+				require.NoError(t, err)
+
+				_, err = c.GetClosestPeers(context.Background(), testCid)
+				require.Error(t, err)
+				// All these routing types should indicate DHT is not available
+				// The exact error message may vary based on implementation details
+				errStr := err.Error()
+				assert.True(t,
+					strings.Contains(errStr, "not supported") ||
+						strings.Contains(errStr, "not available") ||
+						strings.Contains(errStr, "500"),
+					"Expected error indicating DHT not available for routing type %s, got: %s", routingType, errStr)
+			})
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("GetClosestPeers returns peers for self", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Parallel()
+
+		routingTypes := []string{"auto", "autoclient", "dht", "dhtclient"}
+		for _, routingType := range routingTypes {
+			t.Run("routing_type="+routingType, func(t *testing.T) {
+				t.Parallel()
+
+				// Single node with DHT and real bootstrap peers
+				node := harness.NewT(t).NewNode().Init()
+				node.UpdateConfig(func(cfg *config.Config) {
+					cfg.Gateway.ExposeRoutingAPI = config.True
+					cfg.Routing.Type = config.NewOptionalString(routingType)
+					// Set real bootstrap peers from boxo/autoconf
+					cfg.Bootstrap = autoconf.FallbackBootstrapPeers
+				})
+				node.StartDaemon()
+
+				// Wait for node to connect to bootstrap peers and populate WAN DHT routing table
+				minPeers := len(autoconf.FallbackBootstrapPeers)
+				require.EventuallyWithT(t, func(t *assert.CollectT) {
+					res := node.RunIPFS("swarm", "peers", "--enc=json")
+					var output swarmPeersOutput
+					err := json.Unmarshal(res.Stdout.Bytes(), &output)
+					assert.NoError(t, err)
+					peerCount := len(output.Peers)
+					// Wait until we have at least minPeers connected
+					assert.GreaterOrEqual(t, peerCount, minPeers,
+						"waiting for at least %d bootstrap peers, currently have %d", minPeers, peerCount)
+				}, 30*time.Second, time.Second)
+
+				c, err := client.New(node.GatewayURL())
+				require.NoError(t, err)
+
+				// Query for closest peers to our own peer ID
+				key := peer.ToCid(node.PeerID())
+
+				ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 60*time.Second)
+				defer cancel()
+				resultsIter, err := c.GetClosestPeers(ctx, key)
+				require.NoError(t, err)
+
+				records, err := iter.ReadAllResults(resultsIter)
+				require.NoError(t, err)
+
+				// Verify we got some peers back from WAN DHT
+				assert.NotEmpty(t, records, "should return some peers close to own peerid")
+
+				// Verify structure of returned records
+				for _, record := range records {
+					assert.Equal(t, types.SchemaPeer, record.Schema)
+					assert.NotNil(t, record.ID)
+					assert.NotEmpty(t, record.Addrs, "peer record should have addresses")
+				}
+			})
+		}
+	})
 }

test/cli/testutils/httprouting/mock_http_content_router.go

@@ -19,13 +19,14 @@ import (
 // (https://specs.ipfs.tech/routing/http-routing-v1/) server implementation
 // based on github.com/ipfs/boxo/routing/http/server
 type MockHTTPContentRouter struct {
-	m                   sync.Mutex
-	provideBitswapCalls int
-	findProvidersCalls  int
-	findPeersCalls      int
-	providers           map[cid.Cid][]types.Record
-	peers               map[peer.ID][]*types.PeerRecord
-	Debug               bool
+	m                    sync.Mutex
+	provideBitswapCalls  int
+	findProvidersCalls   int
+	findPeersCalls       int
+	getClosestPeersCalls int
+	providers            map[cid.Cid][]types.Record
+	peers                map[peer.ID][]*types.PeerRecord
+	Debug                bool
 }
 
 func (r *MockHTTPContentRouter) FindProviders(ctx context.Context, key cid.Cid, limit int) (iter.ResultIter[types.Record], error) {
@@ -115,3 +116,30 @@ func (r *MockHTTPContentRouter) AddProvider(key cid.Cid, record types.Record) {
 		r.peers[*pid] = append(r.peers[*pid], peerRecord)
 	}
 }
+
+func (r *MockHTTPContentRouter) GetClosestPeers(ctx context.Context, key cid.Cid) (iter.ResultIter[*types.PeerRecord], error) {
+	r.m.Lock()
+	defer r.m.Unlock()
+	r.getClosestPeersCalls++
+
+	if r.peers == nil {
+		r.peers = make(map[peer.ID][]*types.PeerRecord)
+	}
+	pid, err := peer.FromCid(key)
+	if err != nil {
+		return iter.FromSlice([]iter.Result[*types.PeerRecord]{}), nil
+	}
+	records, found := r.peers[pid]
+	if !found {
+		return iter.FromSlice([]iter.Result[*types.PeerRecord]{}), nil
+	}
+
+	results := make([]iter.Result[*types.PeerRecord], len(records))
+	for i, rec := range records {
+		results[i] = iter.Result[*types.PeerRecord]{Val: rec}
+		if r.Debug {
+			fmt.Printf("MockHTTPContentRouter.GetPeers(%s) result: %+v\n", pid.String(), rec)
+		}
+	}
+	return iter.FromSlice(results), nil
+}

test/dependencies/go.mod

@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/huin/goupnp v1.3.0 // indirect
 	github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.1.0 // indirect
 	github.com/ipfs/bbloom v0.0.4 // indirect
-	github.com/ipfs/boxo v0.35.2 // indirect
+	github.com/ipfs/boxo v0.35.3-0.20251118170232-e71f50ea2263 // indirect
 	github.com/ipfs/go-bitfield v1.1.0 // indirect
 	github.com/ipfs/go-block-format v0.2.3 // indirect
 	github.com/ipfs/go-cid v0.5.0 // indirect

test/dependencies/go.sum

@@ -334,8 +334,8 @@ github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.1.0 h1:wN+x4NVGpMsO7ErUn/mUI3vEoE6Jt13X2
 github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.1.0/go.mod h1:vpF70FUmC8bwa3OWnCshd2FqLfsEA9PFc4w1p2J65bw=
 github.com/ipfs/bbloom v0.0.4 h1:Gi+8EGJ2y5qiD5FbsbpX/TMNcJw8gSqr7eyjHa4Fhvs=
 github.com/ipfs/bbloom v0.0.4/go.mod h1:cS9YprKXpoZ9lT0n/Mw/a6/aFV6DTjTLYHeA+gyqMG0=
-github.com/ipfs/boxo v0.35.2 h1:0QZJJh6qrak28abENOi5OA8NjBnZM4p52SxeuIDqNf8=
-github.com/ipfs/boxo v0.35.2/go.mod h1:bZn02OFWwJtY8dDW9XLHaki59EC5o+TGDECXEbe1w8U=
+github.com/ipfs/boxo v0.35.3-0.20251118170232-e71f50ea2263 h1:7sSi4euS5Rb+RwQZOXrd/fURpC9kgbESD4DPykaLy0I=
+github.com/ipfs/boxo v0.35.3-0.20251118170232-e71f50ea2263/go.mod h1:bZn02OFWwJtY8dDW9XLHaki59EC5o+TGDECXEbe1w8U=
 github.com/ipfs/go-bitfield v1.1.0 h1:fh7FIo8bSwaJEh6DdTWbCeZ1eqOaOkKFI74SCnsWbGA=
 github.com/ipfs/go-bitfield v1.1.0/go.mod h1:paqf1wjq/D2BBmzfTVFlJQ9IlFOZpg422HL0HqsGWHU=
 github.com/ipfs/go-block-format v0.2.3 h1:mpCuDaNXJ4wrBJLrtEaGFGXkferrw5eqVvzaHhtFKQk=