arkA is designed to be flexible — from fully open content to gated or encrypted access.
- JSON and media are public
- Anyone can fetch and view
- Best for decentralized ecosystems
Media URLs can use:
- Pre-signed URLs (AWS-style)
- Expiring tokens (JWT or similar)
- Capability URLs (long unguessable URLs)
The index JSON may remain public while actual media requires a token.
For privacy-first implementations:
- Media encrypted at rest
- Decryption keys exchanged out-of-band
- JSON contains encrypted metadata
This model aligns with decentralized or privacy community needs.
- Public index
- Private playlists
- Private unlisted videos
- Selective expiration windows
arkA intentionally avoids prescribing one model — the protocol defines how clients understand the data, not how access is controlled.