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unshackle/docs/DRM_CONFIG.md
2026-01-30 16:34:49 -07:00

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DRM & CDM Configuration

This document covers Digital Rights Management (DRM) and Content Decryption Module (CDM) configuration options.

cdm (dict)

Pre-define which Widevine or PlayReady device to use for each Service by Service Tag as Key (case-sensitive). The value should be a WVD or PRD filename without the file extension. When loading the device, unshackle will look in both the WVDs and PRDs directories for a matching file.

For example,

AMZN: chromecdm_903_l3
NF: nexus_6_l1

You may also specify this device based on the profile used.

For example,

AMZN: chromecdm_903_l3
NF: nexus_6_l1
DSNP:
  john_sd: chromecdm_903_l3
  jane_uhd: nexus_5_l1

You can also specify a fallback value to predefine if a match was not made. This can be done using default key. This can help reduce redundancy in your specifications.

For example, the following has the same result as the previous example, as well as all other services and profiles being pre-defined to use chromecdm_903_l3.

NF: nexus_6_l1
DSNP:
  jane_uhd: nexus_5_l1
default: chromecdm_903_l3

remote_cdm (list[dict])

Configure remote CDM (Content Decryption Module) APIs to use for decrypting DRM-protected content. Remote CDMs allow you to use high-security CDMs (L1/L2 for Widevine, SL2000/SL3000 for PlayReady) without having the physical device files locally.

unshackle supports multiple types of remote CDM providers:

  1. DecryptLabs CDM - Official DecryptLabs KeyXtractor API with intelligent caching
  2. Custom API CDM - Highly configurable adapter for any third-party CDM API
  3. Legacy PyWidevine Serve - Standard pywidevine serve-compliant APIs

The name of each defined remote CDM can be referenced in the cdm configuration as if it was a local device file.

DecryptLabs Remote CDM

DecryptLabs provides a professional CDM API service with support for multiple device types and intelligent key caching.

Supported Devices:

  • Widevine: ChromeCDM (L3), L1 (Security Level 1), L2 (Security Level 2)
  • PlayReady: SL2 (SL2000), SL3 (SL3000)

Configuration:

remote_cdm:
  # Widevine L1 Device
  - name: decrypt_labs_l1
    type: decrypt_labs              # Required: identifies as DecryptLabs CDM
    device_name: L1                 # Required: must match exactly (L1, L2, ChromeCDM, SL2, SL3)
    host: https://keyxtractor.decryptlabs.com
    secret: YOUR_API_KEY            # Your DecryptLabs API key

  # Widevine L2 Device
  - name: decrypt_labs_l2
    type: decrypt_labs
    device_name: L2
    host: https://keyxtractor.decryptlabs.com
    secret: YOUR_API_KEY

  # Chrome CDM (L3)
  - name: decrypt_labs_chrome
    type: decrypt_labs
    device_name: ChromeCDM
    host: https://keyxtractor.decryptlabs.com
    secret: YOUR_API_KEY

  # PlayReady SL2000
  - name: decrypt_labs_playready_sl2
    type: decrypt_labs
    device_name: SL2
    device_type: PLAYREADY          # Required for PlayReady
    host: https://keyxtractor.decryptlabs.com
    secret: YOUR_API_KEY

  # PlayReady SL3000
  - name: decrypt_labs_playready_sl3
    type: decrypt_labs
    device_name: SL3
    device_type: PLAYREADY
    host: https://keyxtractor.decryptlabs.com
    secret: YOUR_API_KEY

Features:

  • Intelligent key caching system (reduces API calls)
  • Automatic integration with unshackle's vault system
  • Support for both Widevine and PlayReady
  • Multiple security levels (L1, L2, L3, SL2000, SL3000)

Note: The device_type and security_level fields are optional metadata. They don't affect API communication but are used for internal device identification.

Custom API Remote CDM

A highly configurable CDM adapter that can work with virtually any third-party CDM API through YAML configuration. This allows you to integrate custom CDM services without writing code.

Basic Example:

remote_cdm:
  - name: custom_chrome_cdm
    type: custom_api                # Required: identifies as Custom API CDM
    host: https://your-cdm-api.com
    timeout: 30                     # Optional: request timeout in seconds

    device:
      name: ChromeCDM
      type: CHROME                  # CHROME, ANDROID, PLAYREADY
      system_id: 27175
      security_level: 3

    auth:
      type: bearer                  # bearer, header, basic, body
      key: YOUR_API_TOKEN

    endpoints:
      get_request:
        path: /get-challenge
        method: POST
      decrypt_response:
        path: /get-keys
        method: POST

    caching:
      enabled: true                 # Enable key caching
      use_vaults: true              # Integrate with vault system

Advanced Example with Field Mapping:

remote_cdm:
  - name: advanced_custom_api
    type: custom_api
    host: https://api.example.com
    device:
      name: L1
      type: ANDROID
      security_level: 1

    # Authentication configuration
    auth:
      type: header
      header_name: X-API-Key
      key: YOUR_SECRET_KEY
      custom_headers:
        User-Agent: Unshackle/2.0.0
        X-Client-Version: "1.0"

    # Endpoint configuration
    endpoints:
      get_request:
        path: /v2/challenge
        method: POST
        timeout: 30
      decrypt_response:
        path: /v2/decrypt
        method: POST
        timeout: 30

    # Request parameter mapping
    request_mapping:
      get_request:
        param_names:
          init_data: pssh           # Rename 'init_data' to 'pssh'
          scheme: device_type       # Rename 'scheme' to 'device_type'
        static_params:
          api_version: "2.0"        # Add static parameter
      decrypt_response:
        param_names:
          license_request: challenge
          license_response: license

    # Response field mapping
    response_mapping:
      get_request:
        fields:
          challenge: data.challenge # Deep field access
          session_id: session.id
        success_conditions:
          - status == 'ok'          # Validate response
      decrypt_response:
        fields:
          keys: data.keys
        key_fields:
          kid: key_id               # Map 'kid' field
          key: content_key          # Map 'key' field

    caching:
      enabled: true
      use_vaults: true
      check_cached_first: true      # Check cache before API calls

Supported Authentication Types:

  • bearer - Bearer token authentication
  • header - Custom header authentication
  • basic - HTTP Basic authentication
  • body - Credentials in request body

Legacy PyWidevine Serve Format

Standard pywidevine serve-compliant remote CDM configuration (backwards compatibility).

remote_cdm:
  - name: legacy_chrome_cdm
    device_name: chrome
    device_type: CHROME
    system_id: 27175
    security_level: 3
    host: https://domain.com/api
    secret: secret_key

Note: If the type field is not specified, the entry is treated as a legacy pywidevine serve CDM.


decrypt_labs_api_key (str)

API key for DecryptLabs CDM service integration.

When set, enables the use of DecryptLabs remote CDM services in your remote_cdm configuration. This is used specifically for type: "decrypt_labs" entries in the remote CDM list.

For example,

decrypt_labs_api_key: "your_api_key_here"

Note: This is different from the per-CDM secret field in remote_cdm entries. This provides a global API key that can be referenced across multiple DecryptLabs CDM configurations. If a remote_cdm entry with type: "decrypt_labs" does not have a secret field specified, the global decrypt_labs_api_key will be used as a fallback.


key_vaults (list[dict])

Key Vaults store your obtained Content Encryption Keys (CEKs) and Key IDs per-service.

This can help reduce unnecessary License calls even during the first download. This is because a Service may provide the same Key ID and CEK for both Video and Audio, as well as for multiple resolutions or bitrates.

You can have as many Key Vaults as you would like. It's nice to share Key Vaults or use a unified Vault on Teams as sharing CEKs immediately can help reduce License calls drastically.

Four types of Vaults are in the Core codebase: API, SQLite, MySQL, and HTTP. API and HTTP make HTTP requests to a RESTful API, whereas SQLite and MySQL directly connect to an SQLite or MySQL Database.

Note: SQLite and MySQL vaults have to connect directly to the Host/IP. It cannot be in front of a PHP API or such. Beware that some Hosting Providers do not let you access the MySQL server outside their intranet and may not be accessible outside their hosting platform.

Additional behavior:

  • no_push (bool): Optional per-vault flag. When true, the vault will not receive pushed keys (writes) but will still be queried and can provide keys for lookups. Useful for read-only/backup vaults.

Using an API Vault

API vaults use a specific HTTP request format, therefore API or HTTP Key Vault APIs from other projects or services may not work in unshackle. The API format can be seen in the API Vault Code.

- type: API
  name: "John#0001's Vault" # arbitrary vault name
  uri: "https://key-vault.example.com" # api base uri (can also be an IP or IP:Port)
  # uri: "127.0.0.1:80/key-vault"
  # uri: "https://api.example.com/key-vault"
  token: "random secret key" # authorization token
  # no_push: true            # optional; make this API vault read-only (lookups only)

Using a MySQL Vault

MySQL vaults can be either MySQL or MariaDB servers. I recommend MariaDB. A MySQL Vault can be on a local or remote network, but I recommend SQLite for local Vaults.

- type: MySQL
  name: "John#0001's Vault" # arbitrary vault name
  host: "127.0.0.1" # host/ip
  # port: 3306               # port (defaults to 3306)
  database: vault # database used for unshackle
  username: jane11
  password: Doe123
  # no_push: false           # optional; defaults to false

I recommend giving only a trustable user (or yourself) CREATE permission and then use unshackle to cache at least one CEK per Service to have it create the tables. If you don't give any user permissions to create tables, you will need to make tables yourself.

  • Use a password on all user accounts.
  • Never use the root account with unshackle (even if it's you).
  • Do not give multiple users the same username and/or password.
  • Only give users access to the database used for unshackle.
  • You may give trusted users CREATE permission so unshackle can create tables if needed.
  • Other uses should only be given SELECT and INSERT permissions.

Using an SQLite Vault

SQLite Vaults are usually only used for locally stored vaults. This vault may be stored on a mounted Cloud storage drive, but I recommend using SQLite exclusively as an offline-only vault. Effectively this is your backup vault in case something happens to your MySQL Vault.

- type: SQLite
  name: "My Local Vault" # arbitrary vault name
  path: "C:/Users/Jane11/Documents/unshackle/data/key_vault.db"
  # no_push: true           # optional; commonly true for local backup vaults

Note: You do not need to create the file at the specified path. SQLite will create a new SQLite database at that path if one does not exist. Try not to accidentally move the db file once created without reflecting the change in the config, or you will end up with multiple databases.

If you work on a Team I recommend every team member having their own SQLite Vault even if you all use a MySQL vault together.

Using an HTTP Vault

HTTP Vaults provide flexible HTTP-based key storage with support for multiple API modes. This vault type is useful for integrating with various third-party key vault APIs.

- type: HTTP
  name: "My HTTP Vault"
  host: "https://vault-api.example.com"
  api_key: "your_api_key"       # or use 'password' field
  api_mode: "json"              # query, json, or decrypt_labs
  # username: "user"            # required for query mode only
  # no_push: false              # optional; defaults to false

Supported API Modes:

  • query - Uses GET requests with query parameters. Requires username field.
  • json - Uses POST requests with JSON payloads. Token-based authentication.
  • decrypt_labs - DecryptLabs API format. Read-only mode (no_push is forced to true).

Example configurations:

# Query mode (requires username)
- type: HTTP
  name: "Query Vault"
  host: "https://api.example.com/keys"
  username: "myuser"
  password: "mypassword"
  api_mode: "query"

# JSON mode
- type: HTTP
  name: "JSON Vault"
  host: "https://api.example.com/vault"
  api_key: "secret_token"
  api_mode: "json"

# DecryptLabs mode (read-only)
- type: HTTP
  name: "DecryptLabs Cache"
  host: "https://keyxtractor.decryptlabs.com/cache"
  api_key: "your_decrypt_labs_api_key"
  api_mode: "decrypt_labs"

Note: The decrypt_labs mode is always read-only and cannot receive pushed keys.