How Does AIOZ Pin Keep Pinned Files Online on IPFS?

AIOZ Pin keeps your files online by pinning them on IPFS, so garbage collection never removes them, and by caching frequently accessed content across the AIOZ DePIN. You can reach each file by its CID through the public gateway or a premium gateway, and check its status through the API.

TL;DR:

• Pinning marks your content so IPFS nodes keep it through garbage collection; the AIOZ Pin docs say pinned files stay stored and accessible even when nobody is requesting them
• The AIOZ DePIN adds smart caching (copies of frequently accessed content), smart routing to the nearest node, and a built-in CDN
• Premium gateways serve from 200+ edge caching locations with no predefined rate limit; the public gateway is for testing and low volume
• You can confirm a file is online yourself: check the pin status in the API, fetch it through a gateway, and recompute the CID
• The docs don't publish a replica count per file or an uptime SLA; a sponsored Decrypt article describes more than the docs do

Updated Oct 19, 2026: rewrote the post to answer from the AIOZ Pin docs first, and credited the "independent copies" and "cryptographic proofs" quotes to sponsored Decrypt coverage.

What Does Pinning Do for Your Files?

IPFS nodes cache content that passes through them, and when their disks fill up they run garbage collection and delete whatever nobody asked them to keep. The AIOZ Pin FAQ describes that cycle, and a pin is how you opt out of it. A pinned CID, and every block under it, stays on the node until you unpin it.

When you upload a file to AIOZ Pin or pin an existing CID, AIOZ Pin holds that pin for you. The AIOZ Pin infrastructure page says pinning files within the IPFS network "guarantees their long-term storage and accessibility, even when they are no longer actively accessed." That last part is the point. An unpinned file survives only while it stays popular, and a pinned one survives when nobody has opened it in months.

If you want the general picture first, our guide to unpinning and garbage collection shows what happens to blocks when a pin goes away.

How Does the AIOZ DePIN Keep Files Fast to Reach?

Staying stored and staying reachable are different problems. AIOZ Pin runs on the AIOZ DePIN, a network of independent node operators, and the infrastructure docs list three features that work on reachability:

• Smart caching: the network replicates and stores frequently accessed content, which the docs say improves retrieval speed and cuts latency
• Smart routing: requests go to the nearest available node
• Built-in CDN: content is distributed across a global network of nodes, so readers far from the original node still get it quickly

Note the scope of the caching claim: the docs tie replication to frequently accessed content. They don't say how many copies a rarely opened file has, which is why the pin itself is the part to rely on.

The gateway you use also matters: premium gateways have no predefined rate limit and serve from 200+ edge caching locations. The public gateway allows 15 requests per minute per CID and 200 per minute per IP, and the docs call it unsuitable for production. A popular file behind the public gateway can look offline when it is only rate limited.

What the Press Coverage Says

A Decrypt article from Jan 29, 2026, marked "Brought to you by AIOZ Network," goes further than the docs. It says AIOZ Pin "replicates that data as multiple, independent copies, chunked and addressed as one or more Content Identifiers (CIDs)." It also says nodes are "tasked with providing cryptographic proofs to verify that files are actually being stored."

We used to quote those lines as if they came from the docs, which was wrong. They come from sponsored press, and the AIOZ Pin docs don't describe storage proofs or a copy count. Treat them as AIOZ's description of its design, and plan around what the docs state.

How Can You Check That Your File Is Online?

You don't have to take any of this on trust, because three checks cover it:

1. Pin status. The upload status guide lists three states: Pinning (queued), Pinned (stored and pinned on IPFS), and Failed. Large directories can stay on Pinning for a long time while the service validates the whole graph.
2. A real fetch. Load https://public.aiozpin.network/ipfs/{cid} or your premium gateway URL and confirm the file comes back.
3. A hash check. Recompute the CID from the bytes you downloaded and compare it with the CID you pinned. Our guide to verifying a CID yourself walks through it.

The hash check matters most, since it proves the bytes are the ones you pinned no matter which node served them.

Common Reasons a File Looks Offline

Most "my file is gone" reports come from one of four causes, and only the first removes the pin:

• You or a script unpinned it, for example with DELETE /api/pinning/unpin/{pinId}
• The pin is still on Pinning or ended on Failed, so the content was never fully stored
• The public gateway rate limit kicked in for a busy CID
• Your account balance ran out while you served through a premium gateway; the docs say the premium option turns off, while the public gateway still serves your pinned files

For billing and account questions, see what happens to your files if you stop using AIOZ Pin.

How AIOZ Pin Handles It

We expose each pin's state through the API, so you can monitor files the same way you upload them. This request is the cURL example from the AIOZ Pin pinning API docs:

curl --location --request GET 'https://api.aiozpin.network/api/pinning/3c3fec2a-ca65-4b8e-bcf3-c8e2ceaa23d2' \
--header 'pinning_api_key: KEY' \
--header 'pinning_secret_key: SECRET'

The response includes the cid, size, pinned, and status fields. To audit everything at once, GET /api/pinning/pins/?pinned=true lists your pinned files with the same fields, ten per page by default.

What the docs don't cover yet: how many copies of a pinned file the network keeps, any storage-proof mechanism, and an uptime SLA. If your project needs those numbers for compliance, ask the AIOZ team directly.

Next step: the AIOZ Pin Quick Start takes you from account to first pinned file.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does AIOZ Pin keep my files online when nobody accesses them? Yes, the docs say pinning keeps files stored and accessible even when they are no longer actively accessed, because pinned content is exempt from garbage collection.

What happens if one AIOZ DePIN node goes offline? The docs describe smart caching and routing that send requests to the nearest available node, though they don't publish how many copies each pinned file has.

Does AIOZ Pin publish an uptime SLA? No, the AIOZ Pin docs don't publish an uptime SLA or a replica count, so ask the team if you need either in writing.

How do I know my file hasn't been tampered with? Recompute its CID from the bytes you fetched and compare it with the CID you pinned, since any change to the content changes the CID.

Why does my file load slowly or fail on the public gateway? The public gateway allows 15 requests per minute per CID and 200 per minute per IP, so busy files belong on a premium gateway.

Related Reading

• How AIOZ Pin works - pinning, gateways, and NFT tools in one place
• How multi-node pinning services replicate content - the general mechanism behind keeping several copies
• Why IPFS provider records expire and get renewed - the discoverability side of staying online
• IPFS pin stuck on Pinning? - what each pin status means
• IPFS public gateway rate limiting - why busy files need their own gateway

References

• AIOZ Pin Docs: AIOZ Pin Infrastructure
• AIOZ Pin Docs: FAQ
• AIOZ Pin Docs: Getting Upload Status
• AIOZ Pin Docs: Limit
• AIOZ Pin Docs: Premium Gateways
• Decrypt (sponsored by AIOZ Network): AIOZ Pin Pushes to Keep Web3 Files Permanently Online