Libraries
Create a library, find your way around it and keep an eye on its health.
A library holds videos that share the same storage region, encoding, player and security settings. Most accounts have one library per product or audience.
Create a library
From the User board, select Create a library. Create a library unlocks once a plan is active; without one the page asks you to Choose a plan first.
The wizard has four steps. Each step is in the page address, so the browser's back and forward buttons work.
Name & region
- Library name: lowercase letters, numbers and dashes, such as
course-videos. Each name can be used once in your account; a taken name sends you back to this step with the reason. - Storage region: one card per region, with the one Recommended for your location preselected.
The region can't be changed later
Videos stay in the region you choose here. To store videos somewhere else, create another library.
Encoding
- Codec: H.264 (widest support) or H.265 (smaller files, newer devices).
- Resolutions: the renditions every upload is encoded into. Choose at least one.
- Thumbnails & previews: suggested thumbnail frames and seek-bar previews.
You can change these later in Encoding. See Encoding.
Security
- OTP authentication is always on: every playback needs a one-time password. There's nothing to set.
- Encryption: None (plain HLS / DASH), ClearKey (AES, keys served by OctaVideo) or DRM protection.
- Allowed domains: type
example.comor*.example.com, or paste a URL, then select Add domain. Optional now, but the review lists it as a to-do until you add one.
See Security.
Review
Every choice is listed with an Edit link back to its step. Select Create library when everything looks right.
If creating fails for any other reason than a taken name, your choices are kept and you can select Try again.
The new library opens on Videos with a "ready" notice, a Next steps checklist (upload your first video, put a video on your site, add allowed domains) and a large area to drop files. See Upload and import.
Inside a library
Open a library from Libraries on the User board. The library sidebar shows the selected library (its name, ID, region, number of videos and storage used) and its sections, in groups:
| Group | Sections |
|---|---|
| Content | Videos, Encoding, Player |
| AI features | Transcribe, Search widget |
| Protection | Security |
| Integrate | API & embeds |
| Insights | Statistics, Logs |
- Switch library opens another library and keeps you in the same section.
- All libraries takes you back to the list on the User board.
On small screens the sidebar moves into a drawer.
Your libraries
The User board lists every library under Your libraries. You can Search by name, ID or region and Sort by Recent or Name. A library's name and Open both open it.
The Health column flags anything that needs attention and links to the section that fixes it:
| Health | What to do |
|---|---|
| Healthy | Nothing. |
| Encoding jobs failed | Open Videos, filter by Failed and retry. |
| No allowed domains set | Add your domains in Security → Access. |
| Embeds expire soon / Embeds have expired | Extend or regenerate them in API & embeds → Quick Embed. |
Shared allowances
Storage, bandwidth, encoding, transcribe minutes and DRM licences come from your plan and are shared by all libraries. The User board shows the usage for the whole account; Billing breaks it down By library. See How billing works.