unshackle/docs/ADVANCED_CONFIG.md

Advanced & System Configuration

This document covers advanced features, debugging, and system-level configuration options.

serve (dict)

Configuration for the integrated server that provides CDM endpoints (Widevine/PlayReady) and a REST API for remote downloading.

Start the server with:

unshackle serve                          # Default: localhost:8786
unshackle serve -h 0.0.0.0 -p 8888      # Listen on all interfaces
unshackle serve --no-key                 # Disable authentication
unshackle serve --api-only               # REST API only, no CDM endpoints

CLI Options

Option	Default	Description
-h, --host	127.0.0.1	Host to serve from
-p, --port	8786	Port to serve from
--caddy	false	Also serve with Caddy reverse-proxy for HTTPS
--api-only	false	Serve only the REST API, disable CDM endpoints
--no-widevine	false	Disable Widevine CDM endpoints
--no-playready	false	Disable PlayReady CDM endpoints
--no-key	false	Disable API key authentication (allows all requests)
--debug-api	false	Include tracebacks and stderr in API error responses
--debug	false	Enable debug logging for API operations

Configuration

• api_secret - Secret key for REST API authentication. Required unless --no-key is used. All API requests must include this key via the X-API-Key header or api_key query parameter.
• devices - List of Widevine device files (.wvd). If not specified, auto-populated from the WVDs directory.
• playready_devices - List of PlayReady device files (.prd). If not specified, auto-populated from the PRDs directory.
• users - Dictionary mapping user secret keys to their access configuration:
  • devices - List of Widevine devices this user can access
  • playready_devices - List of PlayReady devices this user can access
  • username - Internal logging name for the user (not visible to users)

For example,

serve:
  api_secret: "your-secret-key-here"
  users:
    secret_key_for_jane: # 32bit hex recommended, case-sensitive
      devices: # list of allowed Widevine devices for this user
        - generic_nexus_4464_l3
      playready_devices: # list of allowed PlayReady devices for this user
        - my_playready_device
      username: jane # only for internal logging, users will not see this name
    secret_key_for_james:
      devices:
        - generic_nexus_4464_l3
      username: james
    secret_key_for_john:
      devices:
        - generic_nexus_4464_l3
      username: john
  # devices can be manually specified by path if you don't want to add it to
  # unshackle's WVDs directory for whatever reason
  # devices:
  #   - 'C:\Users\john\Devices\test_devices_001.wvd'

REST API

When the server is running, interactive API documentation is available at:

• Swagger UI: http://localhost:8786/api/docs/

See API.md for full REST API documentation with endpoints, parameters, and examples.

---

debug (bool)

Enables comprehensive debug logging. Default: false

When enabled (either via config or the -d/--debug CLI flag):

• Sets console log level to DEBUG for verbose output
• Creates JSON Lines (.jsonl) debug log files with structured logging
• Logs detailed information about sessions, service configuration, DRM operations, and errors with full stack traces

For example,

debug: true

---

debug_keys (bool)

Controls whether actual decryption keys (CEKs) are included in debug logs. Default: false

When enabled:

• Content encryption keys are logged in debug output
• Only affects content_key and key fields (the actual CEKs)
• Key metadata (kid, keys_count, key_id) is always logged regardless of this setting
• Passwords, tokens, cookies, and session tokens remain redacted even when enabled

For example,

debug_keys: true

---

set_terminal_bg (bool)

Controls whether unshackle should set the terminal background color. Default: false

For example,

set_terminal_bg: true

---

update_checks (bool)

Check for updates from the GitHub repository on startup. Default: true.

---

update_check_interval (int)

How often to check for updates, in hours. Default: 24.

---