What is it?

WayFinder (alpha) is a simple, open source, Google Chrome extension that intelligently routes users to optimal AR.IO gateways, ensuring streamlined access to the permaweb on Arweave.

Who is it built for?

• Anyone who wants to browse the Permaweb. Since no wallet is needed, the user does not have to have ever touched tokens or even uploaded data.
• Developers who want to integrate ar:// protocol. Wayfinder shows how the ar:// protocol could be leveraged along with how to discover gateways on the ar.io network.

MVP Features

• ar:// routing in the browser search bar and within pages that use ar:// hyperlinks, images, video, audio and embedded iframes, objects
• Automatically routes ArNS names and Arweave Transaction IDs to an available gateway.
• DNS TXT Record Redirection: Uses DNS TXT records to link Arweave transaction IDs with domains, thus offering a gasless, secure, and user-friendly method to navigate the permaweb with familiar URLs.
• Algorithmic Gateway Selection: Utilizes basic algorithm to route users through the most optimal gateway.
• Gateway Discovery: Synchronizes the AR.IO Gateway Address registry providing up to date gateway selection.
• Static Gateway Configuration: Allows advanced users to pin their sessions to a specific gateway.
• Continuous Gateway Health Checks: Monitors the health of gateways, by checking if they are online or offline.
• Usage History: Logs gateway accesses, providing detailed metrics including timestamps and accessed URLs, along with referencing the resolved Arweave transaction ID served by the gateway.
• UI Theming: Offers both light and dark themes with basic UI/UX.
• Privacy-Preserving Design: Zero personal data logging, upholding user anonymity.
• Open Source: The community can verify the code and contribute to the extension’s success.

Want to learn more?

Join our discord for more information about WayFinder or how to contribute. https://discord.gg/zAZ8p9ARqC

Developers

Requirements

• node - v18+
• yarn - v1.4

Dependencies

Dependencies should be installed using [Yarn]

yarn

Build

The extension uses [Webpack] to bundle extension files into minimized javascript.

yarn build

Loading into Chrome

To load the bundled app as an extension in Chrome:

1. Run yarn build to create a fresh dist directory
2. Navigate to Manage Extensions
3. Click Load unpacked
4. Select the dist directory and hit Load