# AniList catalog and direct streaming feasibility

Observed **2026-10-25**. Research only: no application/player implementation, browser automation, GUI playback, protection bypass, remote mutation, or persisted stream URLs. This investigation follows the proposed AniList catalog → independently resolved episode path, not another Miruro mirror change.

## Decision

**The catalog-to-native-media path works for a sample without Miruro.** AniList's native GraphQL interface returned catalog metadata, and ZokoAnime accepted both the returned MAL ID and its working AniList-ID route. Fresh HLS and English subtitles were retrieved; FFmpeg decoded a video frame at the start and after seeking to ten minutes.

**This is not yet a drop-in Terebi integration.** The sampled playlist crosses CDN origins that Terebi deliberately rejects, and no authoritative ZokoAnime episode-inventory interface was found in the inspected documentation/selector. Do not replace the browsing UI, synthesize available episodes from AniList totals, or disable the player's origin checks on the strength of this sample.

Evidence labels: **Observed** = executed bounded native requests/media probes; **Source** = inspected first-party documentation/JavaScript or maintained extractor code; **[INFERENCE]** = recommendation or implication not exercised in Tubular/Terebi.

## Discovery and exact identity mapping

**Source:** current [ani-cli master][ani-cli] identifies itself as version 5.1.6 and uses `hianime.at`, not the historical AllAnime interface. Its search/episode/server flow selects a ZokoAnime embed and reads its static source configuration. This is extractor-source evidence, not a recommendation to execute ani-cli or use its browser User-Agent/cipher configuration.

**Observed:** default native `ureq` search for Cowboy Bebop returned separate series, movie and special entries. Selecting the exact TV-series entry yielded 26 actual episode links. Episode 1's declared sub server pointed to:

```text
https://zokoanime.video/stream/mal/1/1/sub
```

The [ZokoAnime site][zoko] and [documentation][zoko-docs] advertise MAL/AniList-ID embeds. Their deployed [selector implementation][selector] emits source values `mal` and **`ani`**, whereas the [documentation implementation][docs-js] describes `anilist`.

**Observed discrepancy:** `/stream/anilist/1/1/sub` returned HTTP 404 JSON, `Route GET:/stream/anilist/1/1/sub not found`. `/stream/ani/1/1/sub` returned a playable configuration. Use the demonstrated `ani` route or AniList's `idMal`, not the prose's broken `anilist` route.

AniList's [media interface][media] exposes both identifiers. The exact first catalog query was:

```graphql
query {
  Media(id: 1, type: ANIME) {
    id
    idMal
    title { romaji english }
    format
    status
    episodes
  }
}
```

**Observed:** unauthenticated POST `https://graphql.anilist.co` returned HTTP 200 `application/json`, with AniList ID 1, MAL ID 1, title Cowboy Bebop, format TV, status FINISHED and total 26. After this query, the direct ZokoAnime lookup used only the returned identifier; no Miruro or HiAnime request participated in that lookup.

A second native GraphQL query established the split-season and movie identifiers below. Route success means a source configuration was returned, not that every episode or the semantic content was visually verified.

| Catalog entry | AniList ID | MAL ID | Catalog total | Direct lookup observed |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | --- |
| Cowboy Bebop | 1 | 1 | 26 | `ani` and `mal`, episode 1: source + English subtitle; `ani`, episode 26: configuration present |
| Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2 | 104578 | 38524 | 10 | `ani`, episode 1: source + English/Spanish/Portuguese subtitles |
| Cowboy Bebop: The Movie | 5 | 5 | 1 | `ani`, episode 1: configuration present |

**[INFERENCE]:** no external mapping dataset or title matching is needed for these routes. [Fribb/anime-lists][fribb] offers catalog-ID and TVDB/TMDB season/offset mappings, but it is unnecessary for this demonstrated direct-ID path and does not establish ZokoAnime's episode availability. No dataset was downloaded/adopted or its license relied on.

## Native request and media evidence

The temporary Rust probe used the project's existing `ureq 3.4.2`/rustls transport, normal certificate verification, default User-Agent, a 20-second global timeout, zero automatic redirects and a 2 MiB text-body limit. No cookies, authentication, browser impersonation, cipher tuning, challenge solution or proxy was supplied. Resource requests used `Referer: https://zokoanime.video/`; whether that header is mandatory was not tested.

Bodies were captured in memory; only metadata and redacted summaries were surfaced. Player JavaScript was inspected, never executed. The embed's `window.__P` configuration uses the Base64/XOR JSON transform explicitly implemented in [its own decoder][obfuscate]; no DRM, challenge or ad-verification protocol was implemented. Advertising scripts and view/telemetry actions were not requested.

| Resource | HTTP | Content-Type | Body bytes / result |
| --- | ---: | --- | --- |
| [HiAnime title search][search] | 200 | text/html | 250238 bytes; series/movie/special candidates |
| [Selected series][series] | 200 | text/html | 186932 bytes |
| [Actual episode list][episodes] | 200 | application/json | 25926 bytes; 26 links; episode 1 ID 21418, title Asteroid Blues |
| [Episode 1 servers][servers] | 200 | application/json | 1936 bytes; ZokoAnime and HD-1 for sub/dub |
| [Direct MAL episode embed][mal-embed] | 200 | text/html | 1832 bytes; source + English subtitle configuration |
| [Direct AniList episode embed][ani-embed] | 200 | text/html | 1832 bytes; source + English subtitle configuration |
| Fresh HLS master, URL redacted | 200 | application/vnd.apple.mpegurl | 98 bytes; one advertised variant |
| HLS variant, URL redacted | 200 | application/vnd.apple.mpegurl | 38193 bytes; 353 segments; ENDLIST; no EXT-X-KEY tags |
| English subtitle, URL redacted | 200 | text/vtt | 14466 bytes; WEBVTT; 217 cue arrows |

**Observed native media:** `ffprobe 9.0.2` exited 0 and reported H.264 video at 1448×1080, AAC audio at 48000 Hz, and duration 1483.145982 seconds. The manifest advertised 1920×1080; the decoded stream dimensions are the stronger evidence. No audio track/language equivalence across other items was verified.

Two bounded `ffmpeg` runs, each capped at 30 seconds, requested one video frame with input seeks of 0 and 600 seconds. Both exited 0 with `frame=1` and `progress=end`. Final `ffprobe` and decode checks explicitly set `tls_verify=1` and `max_redirects=0`, used `http,https,tcp,tls` protocols only, five-second socket timeouts, 1 MiB probe size, two-second analysis duration, and `extension_picky=0`. The latter permits segment-content probing rather than trusting CDN filename extensions; Terebi already uses the same setting. No whole-episode download or GUI playback occurred.

### Missing episodes are not HTTP errors

**Observed:** [episode 27][missing] of the finished 26-episode sample returned **HTTP 200 `text/html`**, but no `window.__P` configuration. Its visible page said “Error 404 / Not found” and that there was nothing to play. Status/MIME alone cannot establish availability. The resolver must recognize missing configuration as unavailable, not a successful empty source.

**Source:** AniList's `episodes` field is the amount when complete; its [streamingEpisodes][streaming-episodes] links are legal streaming-site links, not a general native-stream inventory. The inspected ZokoAnime documentation exposes a numbered embed lookup, and the player selector takes a manually entered episode number. No authoritative episode-list interface was established. The HiAnime listing proves the sample's inventory but would add another aggregation dependency if used in production.

**[INFERENCE]:** episodic browsing needs a separate availability decision: obtain a supported inventory, or explicitly distinguish catalog episode numbers from provider-confirmed playable episodes and resolve on demand. This report does not choose or silently change Tubular's current available-episodes-only behavior. Split seasons, movies and specials still need explicit mapping semantics; the sampled routes are not universal proof.

## Terebi compatibility and security

**Observed:** the master and variant were on `hls.dramahot.top`, while their segment URLs named `hls1.drama1.cfd`. URLs/query tokens are deliberately not retained here.

**Source:** current [`resolvedIOOpen`][player-policy] rejects any resource whose origin differs from the initial source's origin, and rejects redirects before forwarding custom headers. [`StreamURL.parse`][url-parse] has a dedicated Miruro case only; other hosts enter the YouTube path, not a ZokoAnime resolver. Existing Miruro identity/progress/state must not be reused to disguise this provider.

**[INFERENCE]:** the sampled manifest would fail the current protected HLS path despite generic FFmpeg being able to decode it. Native FFmpeg success is not Terebi acceptance, subtitle rendering, resume/progress, or complete playback proof. No Terebi source or security policy was changed or exercised with this provider.

A future integration needs a separately reviewed, origin-scoped resource/header policy for the concrete CDN relationships, or a demonstrably compatible source. Do not simply remove the origin comparison, globally allow cross-origin redirects, or forward headers to arbitrary manifest hosts.

## Recommendation and remaining prerequisites

- **Go for a focused implementation design:** AniList catalog → exact AniList/MAL ID → ZokoAnime native resolver is demonstrated independently of Miruro. Keep catalog/selection in Tubular and fresh source/subtitle resolution in Terebi. Do not add a general multi-provider framework or mapping database for this one path.
- **Before replacing browsing:** settle authoritative episode availability versus explicitly labeled on-demand resolution. Keep unknown/missing distinct from zero and from network/protection errors.
- **Before native player integration:** decide the narrow cross-origin policy and provider-correct identity/progress contract; map or explicitly retain existing Miruro-keyed collections rather than reinterpreting them.
- **Before distribution:** review [AniList's terms][terms]. They prohibit mass collection, API use as backup/storage, and competing non-complementary list/tracker services. Tubular's local watched-state makes applicability worth clarifying; this investigation does not establish permission. ZokoAnime advertises iframe integration, but no stable documented raw-media/native interface or distribution-rights guarantee was established.
- **Known limits:** small point-in-time sample; no ongoing-series inventory, dub media decode, special-numbering coverage, full episode playback, source expiry/IP-binding, uptime, geographical availability or rights verification. ZokoAnime may itself have upstream dependencies; only independence from Miruro on the exercised path is proven.

### Reproduction record

The executed temporary harness was built with `cargo build --locked --example direct_provider_probe` and called as `target/debug/examples/direct_provider_probe URL`; AniList POST payloads and resource Referer values were passed through environment variables. A Python subprocess driver kept response bodies and fresh URLs in memory, applied the first-party static config decoder and invoked `ffprobe`/`ffmpeg` directly. The temporary Rust source, binary and driver state were removed after this report; that Cargo example is **not a retained runnable command**. No permanent tests were added for research-only work.

For a fresh ordinary-HTTPS metadata/status check, the following requests reproduce the public request shapes; the native results above were obtained with ureq, not these curl commands:

```sh
curl --silent --show-error --max-time 20 \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{"query":"query { Media(id: 1, type: ANIME) { id idMal title { romaji } episodes } }"}' \
  https://graphql.anilist.co

curl --silent --show-error --max-time 20 --output /dev/null \
  --write-out 'HTTP %{http_code}; %{content_type}\n' \
  https://zokoanime.video/stream/ani/1/1/sub
```

Re-run source resolution before any media check; never save or publish resolved tokenized URLs. The first-party configuration decoder and native media flags above document the exercised method without retaining credentials or stale media URLs.

[ani-cli]: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pystardust/ani-cli/master/ani-cli
[zoko]: https://zokoanime.video/
[zoko-docs]: https://zokoanime.video/docs
[selector]: https://zokoanime.video/assets/player-CiFNLeyH.js
[docs-js]: https://zokoanime.video/assets/docs-sIsMGsz7.js
[obfuscate]: https://zokoanime.video/core/obfuscate.js?v=23
[media]: https://docs.anilist.co/reference/object/media
[terms]: https://docs.anilist.co/guide/terms-of-use
[streaming-episodes]: https://docs.anilist.co/reference/object/mediastreamingepisode
[fribb]: https://github.com/Fribb/anime-lists
[search]: https://hianime.at/search?keyword=Cowboy+Bebop
[series]: https://hianime.at/cowboy-bebop-1281
[episodes]: https://hianime.at/api/theme/episode/list/1281
[servers]: https://hianime.at/api/theme/episode/servers?episodeId=21418
[mal-embed]: https://zokoanime.video/stream/mal/1/1/sub
[ani-embed]: https://zokoanime.video/stream/ani/1/1/sub
[missing]: https://zokoanime.video/stream/ani/1/27/sub
[player-policy]: ../../terebi/Sources/Core/player.cpp#L111-L126
[url-parse]: ../../terebi/Sources/App/StreamResolver.swift#L8-L35