Arweave Name System (ArNS)

ArNS provides human-readable URLs for your Arweave data, making it easy to share and remember permanent addresses.

What is ArNS?

ArNS is a naming system that allows you to register human-readable names that point to your Arweave transactions. Instead of sharing long transaction IDs, you can use memorable URLs.

Example:

• Before: https://arweave.net/bVLEkL1SOPFCzIYi8T_QNnh17VlDp4RylU6YTwCMVRw
• After: https://myapp.arweave.net

Get an ArNS Name

The easiest way to get an ArNS name is via arns.ar.io, which supports multiple payment methods:

• Fiat payments - Credit cards and bank transfers
• Turbo Credits - Use existing Turbo credits
• ARIO tokens - Pay with ARIO cryptocurrency

Alternative registration methods:

• Wander Chrome Extension - Browser-based registration
• Wander Mobile App - Register on iOS and Android
• AR.IO SDK - Programmatic registration using the buyRecord API

Using the AR.IO SDK

For developers, you can register ArNS names programmatically:

import { ARIO } from '@ar.io/sdk';

const ario = ARIO.mainnet();

// Buy a record with Turbo Credits or ARIO tokens
const result = await ario.buyRecord({
  name: 'my-domain',
  years: 1,
  // Payment method: 'turbo-credits' or 'ario-tokens'
});

console.log('Record purchased:', result);

Fetching Data via ArNS

Once you've set up your ArNS name, fetch data using standard HTTP requests:

// Fetch content from your ArNS name
const response = await fetch("https://my-data.arweave.net");

if (!response.ok) {
  throw new Error(`HTTP error! status: ${response.status}`);
}

const data = await response.text();
console.log(data);

Why Use ArNS?

ArNS provides significant advantages for accessing data on Arweave:

Decentralized Data Index

• ArNS creates a decentralized index of data accessible through any gateway in the AR.IO network
• No single point of failure - names resolve across all participating gateways
• Censorship-resistant access to your content

Flexible Data Management

• Permanent references - Keep stable URLs even when updating underlying data
• Replaceable data - Point names to new transaction IDs as content evolves
• Undernames - Organize related content under a single name using underscores (e.g., v2_myapp.arweave.net, docs_myapp.arweave.net)

Supporting Network Decentralization

• ArNS purchases contribute to the protocol balance
• Fees reward AR.IO gateway operators for participating in the network
• This economic model preserves decentralized access to data on Arweave
• Your name registration helps maintain the infrastructure that serves your content

Next Steps