Overview - Content Management
Content Delivery Overview
This guide covers delivering content to viewers: constructing playManifest URLs for adaptive streaming (HLS/DASH), raw serve URLs for direct file access, download URLs, flavor asset selection, delivery profiles, and CDN configuration.
Base URL: $KALTURA_SERVICE_URL (default: https://www.kaltura.com/api_v3)
CDN Base: https://cdnapisec.kaltura.com (or your account's CDN host)
Auth: Public entries work without KS. Access-controlled entries require a KS appended to the URL.
Format: Form-encoded request body; JSON response (format=1)
When to Use
| Scenario | What to Use |
|---|---|
| Video player integration — Adaptive streaming in a web or mobile player | playManifest with format=applehttp (HLS) or format=mpegdash (DASH) |
Progressive download — Direct MP4 link for simple <video> tags | playManifest with format=url |
| File download — Download button that prompts "Save as..." | playManifest with format=download or raw URL |
| Serve original source file — Access the uploaded file as-is (SVG, PDF, data files) | Raw serve URL (/raw/entry_id/...) |
| Serve a specific transcoded rendition — Download a particular bitrate/resolution | flavorAsset.getUrl |
| Restrict content delivery — Geo-blocking, domain restrictions, IP whitelist, scheduling | Access control profiles (applied automatically to playManifest/thumbnail URLs) |
| Multi-CDN delivery — Route traffic through different CDN providers | Delivery profiles with CDN-specific tokenization |
| Clipping and preview — Play only a segment of a video | playManifest with seekFrom / clipTo parameters |
Prerequisites
- Partner ID: Available from KMC > Settings > Integration Settings.
- Content: Entries must be in READY status (status=2) for delivery. See Upload & Ingestion Guide.
- KS (optional): Only needed for access-controlled entries. See Session Guide.