Documentation request: How to specify an encryption key.

[jsdevtom]

Here it is said that:

Properties

• name - File name*
• attributes - Object of attributes*
• key - File key (buffer)*
• ...

Values marked with * are null or undefined when an encryption key isn't specified.

But how do we "specify an encryption key" and where?

[jsdevtom]

Turns out I had to use the folder owner's account. Not the account with whom it's shared.

[qgustavor]

The idea behind that note is the following, take the shared file example from the homepage:

import { File } from 'megajs'
const file = File.fromURL('https://mega.nz/file/example#example')
await file.loadAttributes()
console.log(file.name) // file name
console.log(file.size) // file size in bytes

If you pass to File.fromURL a URL containing the file key then encrypted attributes such as the file name will be decrypted. The key in the URL is the part after the hash: https://mega.nz/file/example#THIS_PART. If you pass something like this https://mega.nz/file/example instead, without the file key, you can still access some metadata from the file but not encrypted contents.

[qgustavor]

By the way, files loaded using Storage always have their keys defined. The only way not to define the file key is using File. Why it was implemented? Privacy: it allows making applications that can handle MEGA files without having to access encrypted contents, like a tool that notifies when there are new files in a shared folder. I made one that generated a RSS feed based on a shared folder a long time ago.

[qgustavor]

Documentation updated to be more clear about this. Discussion locked.