Using Irys With npx create-react-app

ℹ️

If you're using React with Vite, polyfills are handled differently. You'll need to follow this guide instead.

Irys is fully compatible with React, however, if you’re using npx create-react-app to create your project, you will need to do some additional configuration and installation. This guide details how to create a new React project and add Irys support. If you already have a React project, skip the first step.

Step 1: Create a New React Project

Create a new directory for your project, cd into it, and create your React project:

mkdir irys-react
cd irys-react
npx create-react-app .

Step 2: Install the Irys SDK, Ethers, and Axios

npm install \
    @irys/web-upload \
    @irys/web-upload-ethereum \
    @irys/web-upload-ethereum-ethers-v6 \
    ethers@6 \
    axios

Step 3: Initialize the Irys Uploader

In your App.js file, write an initialization function that sets up an Irys uploader. The following code shows how to use ethers6. We also have code examples for different providers.

import React, { useState } from "react";
import { ethers } from "ethers";
import { WebUploader } from "@irys/web-upload";
import { WebEthereum } from "@irys/web-upload-ethereum";
import { EthersV6Adapter } from "@irys/web-upload-ethereum-ethers-v6";
 
function App() {
  const [walletStatus, setWalletStatus] = useState("Not connected");
  const [irysStatus, setIrysStatus] = useState("Not connected");
 
  const connectWallet = async () => {
    try {
      const provider = new ethers.BrowserProvider(window.ethereum);
      await provider.send("eth_requestAccounts", []);
      const signer = await provider.getSigner();
      const address = await signer.getAddress();
      setWalletStatus(`Connected: ${address}`);
    } catch (error) {
      console.error("Error connecting to wallet:", error);
      setWalletStatus("Error connecting to wallet");
    }
  };
 
  const connectIrys = async () => {
    try {
      const provider = new ethers.BrowserProvider(window.ethereum);
      const irysUploader = await WebUploader(WebEthereum).withAdapter(EthersV6Adapter(provider));
      setIrysStatus(`Connected to Irys: ${irysUploader.address}`);
    } catch (error) {
      console.error("Error connecting to Irys:", error);
      setIrysStatus("Error connecting to Irys");
    }
  };
 
  return (
    <div>
      <button onClick={connectWallet}>Connect Wallet</button>
      <p>{walletStatus}</p>
      <button onClick={connectIrys}>Connect Irys</button>
      <p>{irysStatus}</p>
    </div>
  );
}
 
export default App;

When you try to run the app, you see this similar to this BREAKING CHANGE: webpack < 5 used to include polyfills for node.js core modules by default.

To fix this, you'll need to include Node.js polyfills that are not included by default.

Step 4: Install React-App-Rewired and Polyfills

Install react-app-rewired, a package that allows you to customize the Webpack configuration to handle the polyfills, and the missing dependencies:

npm install react-app-rewired
npm install --save-dev crypto-browserify stream-browserify assert stream-http https-browserify os-browserify url buffer process
npm install browserify-zlib path-browserify path
npm install node-polyfill-webpack-plugin --save-dev

Step 5: Create the Webpack Configuration Override

At the root level of your project, create a new file called config-overrides.js and paste the following:

const NodePolyfillPlugin = require("node-polyfill-webpack-plugin");
const webpack = require("webpack");
 
module.exports = function override(config) {
  config.plugins = (config.plugins || []).concat([
    new NodePolyfillPlugin(),
    new webpack.ProvidePlugin({
      process: "process/browser.js", 
    }),
  ]);
 
  const fallback = config.resolve.fallback || {};
  Object.assign(fallback, {
    crypto: require.resolve("crypto-browserify"),
    stream: require.resolve("stream-browserify"),
    assert: require.resolve("assert"),
    http: require.resolve("stream-http"),
    https: require.resolve("https-browserify"),
    os: require.resolve("os-browserify"),
    url: require.resolve("url"),
    zlib: require.resolve("browserify-zlib"),
    buffer: require.resolve("buffer"),
    path: require.resolve("path-browserify"),
  });
 
  config.resolve.fallback = fallback;
  config.resolve.extensions = [".js", ".jsx", ".json", ".mjs", ".wasm", ".css"];
 
  return config;
};

Step 6: Update package.json Scripts

Modify your package.json to use the new Webpack configuration. Look for this code block:

 "scripts": {
   "start": "react-scripts start",
   "build": "react-scripts build",
   "test": "react-scripts test",
   "eject": "react-scripts eject"
 },

and replace it with this block:

"scripts": {
   "start": "react-app-rewired start",
   "build": "react-app-rewired build",
   "test": "react-app-rewired test",
   "eject": "react-scripts eject"
},

Step 7: Restart Your React App

Quit the React development server if it's running and restart it:

npm start

You should now be good to go! Your React app is set up with all necessary polyfills and is ready to use the Irys SDK.

Chunk Routes Using Vite