How Website Hosting Works

Pinner hosts static websites on IPFS and makes them accessible through regular domain names with HTTPS. No servers to manage, no containers to configure; just upload your files and point a domain at them.

The pieces

Website hosting on Pinner involves three systems working together:

IPFS storage: Your site's files are pinned on IPFS and addressed by Content Identifier (CID)
DNS: Uses DNSLink TXT records to map your domain to IPFS content
SSL: Provides HTTPS for your domain automatically via Caddy on-demand TLS

The flow

Build output → Upload to IPFS → Get CID → Create website record → Configure DNSLink → Validate DNS → SSL provisions → Site is live

Here's what happens at each step:

Upload

Your static files (HTML, CSS, JS, images) get uploaded to IPFS as a directory. The directory gets a Content Identifier (CID), a content-addressed identifier that represents your entire site.

Website record

A website record on Pinner maps a domain to IPFS content. It stores:

The domain name (e.g. mysite.example.com)
The target type: either ipfs (direct IPFS CID) or ipns (IPNS name for updatable content)
The target hash: the CID or peer ID identifying the content
The validation token used to prove you own the domain
The SSL status tracking certificate provisioning (pending → issuing → ready or failed)

DNSLink

Pinner uses DNSLink to map your domain to IPFS content. DNSLink is an IPFS convention that uses a TXT record at _dnslink.<yourdomain> to point to content on the IPFS network.

When Pinner manages your DNS, it creates these records:

Record	Type	Purpose
`_dnslink.mysite.example.com`	`TXT`	DNSLink target (e.g. `dnslink=/ipfs/Qm...` or `dnslink=/ipns/12D3KooW...`)
`pinner-verify.mysite.example.com`	`TXT`	Validation token, proves domain ownership (e.g. `pinner-verify=a1b2c3...`)
`mysite.example.com`	`ALIAS`	Points to the gateway domain so traffic reaches Pinner

For self-managed DNS, you need to add the _dnslink TXT record yourself so the gateway can resolve your content. The DNSLink value follows the format dnslink=/ipfs/<CID> for direct IPFS targets or dnslink=/ipns/<peerID> for IPNS targets.

DNS hosting

For Pinner to serve your domain, DNS must point at Pinner's infrastructure. You can either:

Use Pinner-managed DNS: Delegate the DNS zone to Pinner's nameservers (powered by PowerDNS). Pinner automatically creates and manages the DNSLink, validation, and ALIAS records for you. This also enables automatic updates; when you change your site's content, Pinner updates the DNSLink record to point at the new CID.
Bring your own DNS: Add the required _dnslink TXT record and other DNS entries at your registrar. You're responsible for updating them when content changes.

When you use Pinner-managed DNS with a direct IPFS target, Pinner automatically creates an IPNS key and converts the target to IPNS. This lets Pinner publish new CIDs under the same IPNS name, and the DNSLink record always resolves to the latest content; no manual DNS updates needed.

SSL

Once DNS is in place, Pinner automatically provisions an SSL certificate for your domain via Caddy's on-demand TLS. Before issuing a certificate, Caddy checks with Pinner's gateway to confirm the domain is allowed. You don't need to buy, install, or renew certificates; Pinner handles the entire lifecycle.

How the gateway serves your site

When a visitor hits https://mysite.example.com, the request flows through Pinner's gateway:

Access check: The gateway extracts the domain from the Host header and checks with Pinner's API to verify the website is active and allowed
Path rewrite: The request path is rewritten to /ipfs/<CID> or /ipns/<peerID> based on the target type
Content resolution: The gateway uses DNSLink resolution and the Boxo IPFS library to fetch your content from the IPFS network
Serve: The content is served to the browser with proper headers (ETag, Cache-Control, range request support)

If the website is pending validation, the gateway shows a friendly waiting page. If it's broken or gone, it returns an appropriate error.

Content addressing vs traditional hosting

Traditional hosting	Pinner website hosting
Files live on a specific server	Files live on IPFS, a distributed network
Server URL identifies the content	CID identifies the content
Updating means replacing files on the server	Updating means uploading new files and pointing the domain at the new CID
Server downtime = site downtime	No single server to go down

Subdomains

If you just want to get something live quickly, Pinner provides *.pinner.xyz subdomains. No DNS configuration needed; the subdomain is set up automatically when you create the website.

Custom domains require DNS validation and DNS configuration, but give you full branding control.

Updating your site

With IPNS targeting (the default for Pinner-managed DNS), you publish the new CID under the same IPNS name. Pinner automatically updates the IPNS record, and the domain resolves to the new content. This is the recommended approach for sites that change frequently.

With direct IPFS targeting, you update content by uploading new files and updating the website's target hash to the new CID. The DNSLink record must also be updated to point at the new CID. The old CID stays on IPFS until you unpin it.

See IPNS for more on the IPNS approach.