Documentation Adobe Pass Adobe Pass Authentication

Decisions

Last update: March 5, 2025

Topics:
Authentication

IMPORTANT

The content on this page is provided for information purposes only. Usage of this API requires a current license from Adobe. No unauthorized use is permitted.

Decisions are generated by Adobe Pass Authentication REST API V2 based on the user’s MVPD authorization or preauthorization inquiries, determining whether the access to protected content is granted or denied.

There are two types of decisions that are provided, depending on the API invoked:

Preauthorization Decisions that are informative decisions.
Authorization Decisions that are authoritative decisions.

Preauthorization Decisions

The preauthorization decision is an informative decision that allows the client application to be informed whether the MVPD may permit or deny the user’s access to a protected resource.

The purpose of preauthorization (preflight authorization) is to enable the application to display accurate information about the content the user may be eligible to view. This is achieved by enhancing the user interface with indicators, such as locked or unlocked icons, to reflect the access status.

IMPORTANT

The preauthorization decision must not be used in an authoritative way to play resources, as that is the purpose of an authorization decision.

The use of preauthorization API is not mandatory, the client application can skip this if it wants to present a catalog of resources without any filtering.

If the client application intends to use this feature, it is important to note that preauthorization decisions can only be obtained for a limited number of resources per API request, typically up to 5.

IMPORTANT

The maximum number of resources can be increased only after reaching an agreement with the MVPDs and Adobe Pass Authentication representatives. Once agreed, the changes can be implemented through the Adobe Pass TVE Dashboard by an administrator in your organization or an Adobe Pass Authentication representative acting on your behalf.

For more details, refer to the TVE Dashboard Integrations User Guide documentation.

MVPDs may support preauthorization through various mechanisms, each with distinct implications for performance and the maximum number of resources that can be handled in a single API request.

For more details about the existing mechanisms supporting preauthorization, refer to the MVPD Preflight Authorization documentation.

IMPORTANT

For MVPDs without full preflight authorization support, the use of preauthorization must be agreed upon in advance with the MVPDs and Adobe Pass Authentication representatives, as it may result in performance issues and slower response times.

Authorization Decisions

The authorization decision is an authoritative decision that allows the client application to be compliant with the MVPD decision to permit or deny the user’s access to a protected resource.

The purpose of authorization is to enable the application to play the resources requested by the user, following rights validation with the MVPD and receipt of a media token from Adobe Pass Authentication.

IMPORTANT

Adobe Pass Authentication recommends that Programmers use the Media Token Verifier library to validate the media token included in an authorization decision, ensuring secure access before starting the video stream.

For more details, refer to the Media Tokens documentation.

The use of authorization API is mandatory, the client application cannot skip this phase if it wants to play resources the user requests, as it requires verifying with the MVPD that the user is entitled before releasing the stream.

It is important to note that authorization decisions can only be obtained for a limited number of resources per API request, typically 1.

IMPORTANT

The maximum number of resources can be increased only after reaching an agreement with the MVPDs and Adobe Pass Authentication representatives.

Authorization Time-to-Live (TTL) Management

Authorization Time-to-Live (TTL) defines how long a resource remains authorized before needing to re-authorize. This timeframe is limited and must be agreed upon with MVPD representatives. TTL values can vary based on:

Platform category (e.g., desktop, mobile, TV connected devices)
Specific platform (e.g., iOS, Android, tvOS, Roku, FireTV)

The authorization (authZ) TTL can be viewed and changed through the Adobe Pass TVE Dashboard by one of your organization administrators or by an Adobe Pass Authentication representative acting on your behalf.

For more details, refer to the TVE Dashboard Integrations User Guide documentation.

Protected Resources

Protected resources refer to streamable content, identified by unique values defined through agreements between MVPDs and participating Programmers.

Protected resources follow a hierarchical tree structure, with each level providing greater granularity for content authorization:

Network
- Channel
  - Show
    - Episode
      - Asset

IMPORTANT

Preauthorization (preflight authorization) is focused on channel-level resources with identifiers having either a simple string or MRSS format.

We do not recommend using resources with identifiers that include CDATA sections in case of preauthorization, as they are primarily used for asset-level resources defined by a MRSS.

Resource Identifier

The resource unique identifier can have two formats:

A simple string format such as a unique identifier for a channel (brand).
A media RSS (MRSS) format containing additional information such as the title, ratings and parental-control metadata.

In the case of a simple resource identifier, such as “REF30” (assumed to represent a channel), it can be translated into an RSS resource identifier as follows:

    <rss version="2.0">
        <channel>
            <title>REF30</title>
        </channel>
    </rss>

In the case of a more complex resource identifier, the RSS resource identifier can include additional rating information as follows:

    <rss version="2.0" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/">
        <channel>
            <title>REF30</title>
            <media:rating scheme="urn:mpaa">pg</media:rating>
        </channel>
    </rss>

The unique identifiers are primarily opaque to Adobe Pass Authentication, however, transformers may be applied based on the MVPD’s capabilities and requirements. If the MVPD cannot recognize or parse a resource identifier, it returns an error to Adobe Pass Authentication, which subsequently relays the error to the client application using an Enhanced Error Code.

REST API V2

The preauthorization decisions can be retrieved using the following API:

Retrieve preauthorization decisions using specific mvpd

The authorization decisions can be retrieved using the following API:

Retrieve authorization decisions using specific mvpd

Refer to the Response and Samples sections of the above APIs to understand the structure of preauthorization and authorization decisions.

For more details about how and when to integrate the above APIs, refer to the following documents:

recommendation-more-help