Control access using JWTs

Using JSON Web Tokens (JWTs) provides a robust way to control access to both your assets and livestreams. The JWTs can be signed and validated to ensure that only authorized users can access the content. Below are examples for both assets and livestreams. Adding access control to a content only takes a few lines of code.

This guide is written for developers using @livepeer/react in a React application.

Configuring Providers

First, we create a new React client and wrap the app with LivepeerConfig.

Create a Gated Content

For livestreams

Create your gated stream, with the stream key returned once we create it (styling has been removed for simplicity)

accessControl.tsx

import { useCreateStream, useStream } from "@livepeer/react";

import { useMemo, useState } from "react";

export const AccessControl = () => {
  const [streamName, setStreamName] = useState<string>("");
  const {
    mutate: createStream,
    data: createdStream,
    status,
  } = useCreateStream(
    streamName
      ? {
          name: streamName,
          playbackPolicy: { type: "jwt" },
        }
      : null
  );

  const { data: stream } = useStream({
    streamId: createdStream?.id,
    refetchInterval: (stream) => (!stream?.isActive ? 5000 : false),
  });

  const isLoading = useMemo(() => status === "loading", [status]);

  return (
    <div>
      <input
        placeholder="Stream Name"
        onChange={(e) => setStreamName(e.target.value)}
      />

      <button
        onClick={() => {
          createStream?.();
        }}
        disabled={isLoading || !createStream || Boolean(stream)}
      >
        Create Gated Stream
      </button>
    </div>
  );
};

For assets

Create your gated asset, with the jwt playback policy type.

accessControl.tsx

import { useCreateAsset, useAsset } from "@livepeer/react";

import { useMemo, useState } from "react";

export const AccessControlAssets = () => {
  const [assetName, setAssetName] = useState<string>("");
  const {
    mutate: createAsset,
    data: createdAsset,
    status,
  } = useCreateAsset(
    assetName
      ? {
          name: assetName,
          playbackPolicy: { type: "jwt" },
        }
      : null
  );

  // ... Rest of the code for managing and playing assets with JWT
};

Sign a JWT (Node.JS API Route)

Next, we add an API route - since we are using Next.JS, we add a custom Next.js API route. We add a check in the API route for a special “secret” that must be passed in the POST body for the user to gain access to the stream.

Make sure to create a signing key - those values will be used as the environment variables ACCESS_CONTROL_PRIVATE_KEY and NEXT_PUBLIC_ACCESS_CONTROL_PUBLIC_KEY.

/api/sign-jwt.ts

import { signAccessJwt } from "@livepeer/core/crypto";
import { NextApiRequest, NextApiResponse } from "next";

import { ApiError } from "../../lib/error";

export type CreateSignedPlaybackBody = {
  playbackId: string;
  secret: string;
};

export type CreateSignedPlaybackResponse = {
  token: string;
};

const accessControlPrivateKey = process.env.ACCESS_CONTROL_PRIVATE_KEY;
const accessControlPublicKey =
  process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_ACCESS_CONTROL_PUBLIC_KEY;

const handler = async (
  req: NextApiRequest,
  res: NextApiResponse<CreateSignedPlaybackResponse | ApiError>
) => {
  try {
    const method = req.method;

    if (method === "POST") {
      if (!accessControlPrivateKey || !accessControlPublicKey) {
        return res
          .status(500)
          .json({ message: "No private/public key configured." });
      }

      const { playbackId, secret }: CreateSignedPlaybackBody = req.body;

      if (!playbackId || !secret) {
        return res.status(400).json({ message: "Missing data in body." });
      }

      // we check that the "supersecretkey" was passed in the body
      // this could be a more complex check, like taking a signed payload,
      // getting the address for that signature, and fetching if they own an NFT
      //
      // https://docs.ethers.io/v5/single-page/#/v5/api/utils/signing-key/-%23-SigningKey--other-functions
      if (secret !== "supersecretkey") {
        return res.status(401).json({ message: "Incorrect secret." });
      }

      // we sign the JWT and return it to the user
      const token = await signAccessJwt({
        privateKey: accessControlPrivateKey,
        publicKey: accessControlPublicKey,
        issuer: "https://docs.livepeer.org",
        // playback ID to include in the JWT
        playbackId,
        // expire the JWT in 1 hour
        expiration: "1h",
        // custom metadata to include
        custom: {
          userId: "user-id-1",
        },
      });

      return res.status(200).json({
        token,
      });
    }

    res.setHeader("Allow", ["POST"]);
    return res.status(405).end(`Method ${method} Not Allowed`);
  } catch (err) {
    console.error(err);
    return res
      .status(500)
      .json({ message: (err as Error)?.message ?? "Error" });
  }
};

export default handler;

Configure the Player with the JWT

Lastly, when the content is created, we make a POST request to the /api/create-signed-jwt API route we created in the previous step (using React Query to manage the mutation state handling). We pass along the playbackId for the content, which is used to create the JWT.

The React Player passes the JWT with a header, Livepeer-Jwt, to the backend, for WebRTC and HLS playback. For MP4 playback, it uses a query parameter, jwt.

Then, we pass the JWT to the Player using the jwt prop, which will use that JWT to prove access to the content!

access-control.tsx

import { Player, useCreateStream, useStream } from "@livepeer/react";

import { useMutation } from "@tanstack/react-query";
import { useEffect, useMemo, useState } from "react";

import { ApiError } from "../../lib/error";
import {
  CreateSignedPlaybackBody,
  CreateSignedPlaybackResponse,
} from "../../pages/api/create-signed-jwt";

export const AccessControl = () => {
  const [streamName, setStreamName] = useState<string>("");
  const {
    mutate: createStream,
    data: createdStream,
    status,
  } = useCreateStream(
    streamName
      ? {
          name: streamName,
          playbackPolicy: { type: "jwt" },
        }
      : null
  );

  const { data: stream } = useStream({
    streamId: createdStream?.id,
    refetchInterval: (stream) => (!stream?.isActive ? 5000 : false),
  });

  const { mutate: createJwt, data: createdJwt } = useMutation({
    mutationFn: async () => {
      if (!stream?.playbackId) {
        throw new Error("No playback ID yet.");
      }

      const body: CreateSignedPlaybackBody = {
        playbackId: stream.playbackId,
        // we pass along a "secret key" to demonstrate how gating can work
        secret: "supersecretkey",
      };

      // we make a request to the Next.JS API route shown above
      const response = await fetch("/api/create-signed-jwt", {
        method: "POST",
        headers: {
          "Content-Type": "application/json",
        },
        body: JSON.stringify(body),
      });

      return response.json() as Promise<
        CreateSignedPlaybackResponse | ApiError
      >;
    },
  });

  useEffect(() => {
    if (stream?.playbackId) {
      // when we have a playbackId for the stream, create a JWT
      createJwt();
    }
  }, [stream?.playbackId, createJwt]);

  const isLoading = useMemo(() => status === "loading", [status]);

  return (
    <div>
      {!stream?.id ? (
        <>
          <input
            placeholder="Stream Name"
            onChange={(e) => setStreamName(e.target.value)}
          />
          <button
            onClick={() => {
              createStream?.();
            }}
            disabled={isLoading || !createStream || Boolean(stream)}
          >
            Create Gated Stream
          </button>
        </>
      ) : (
        <Player
          title={stream?.name}
          playbackId={stream?.playbackId}
          autoPlay
          muted
          jwt={(createdJwt as CreateSignedPlaybackResponse)?.token}
        />
      )}
    </div>
  );
};

Using a custom player

If you are not using the player, you will need to pass a header, Livepeer-Jwt, when you perform WebRTC SDP negotiation, or when you play back from a m3u8 URL. For WebRTC SDP negotation, here is an example of the header being passed:

curl -X POST \
     -H "Content-Type: application/sdp" \
     -H "Livepeer-Jwt: your-jwt" \
     --data-binary "@sdpfile.sdp" \
     "https://livepeercdn.studio/webrtc/abcd1234"

You can also append the JWT to the WebRTC URL as a query parameter, similar to:

curl -X POST \
     -H "Content-Type: application/sdp" \
     --data-binary "@sdpfile.sdp" \
     "https://livepeercdn.studio/webrtc/abcd1234?jwt=your-jwt"

Similarly, for HLS playback, you can pass the JWT in a header:

curl -X GET \
     -H "Livepeer-Jwt: your-jwt" \
     "https://playback.livepeer.studio/asset/hls/abcd1234/index.m3u8"

If you are using HLS.js for your own custom player, you can set the JWT header like this:

const hlsConfig = {
  xhrSetup: function (xhr, url) {
    xhr.setRequestHeader("Livepeer-Jwt", "your-jwt");
  },
};

Finally, you can append the JWT to the m3u8 URL as a query parameter:

curl -X GET \
     "https://playback.livepeer.studio/asset/hls/abcd1234/index.m3u8?jwt=your-jwt"

Getting Started

Guides

References

Core Concepts

Control access using JWTs

Configuring Providers

Create a Gated Content

For livestreams

For assets

Sign a JWT (Node.JS API Route)

Configure the Player with the JWT

Using a custom player

Getting Started

Guides

References

Core Concepts

​Configuring Providers

​Create a Gated Content

​For livestreams

​For assets

​Sign a JWT (Node.JS API Route)

​Configure the Player with the JWT

​Using a custom player

Configuring Providers

Create a Gated Content

For livestreams

For assets

Sign a JWT (Node.JS API Route)

Configure the Player with the JWT

Using a custom player