The move leaves key decentralized storage tools without dedicated maintainers as Protocol Labs shifts to grant-based stewardship.
Protocol Labs has ended funding for Shipyard, the primary maintainer of the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), forcing the engineering collective to wind down operations by September 30. Shipyard’s exit leaves critical IPFS projects—including Kubo, Helia, and IPFS Desktop—without dedicated maintainers, though the protocol itself remains operational.
Shipyard had overseen public infrastructure like ipfs.io and dweb.link, but Protocol Labs retains control of these domains and will decide their future. IPFS, an open-source protocol for peer-to-peer data storage, was created by Protocol Labs, which also developed the Filecoin blockchain for decentralized storage incentives.
Protocol Labs plans to transition to a lighter stewardship model, using IPFS Foundation grants to support individual maintainers. The shift raises questions about long-term support for widely used IPFS implementations unless new contributors emerge.