140 lines
13 KiB
Markdown
140 lines
13 KiB
Markdown
# AniList catalog and direct streaming feasibility
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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.
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## Decision
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**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.
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**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.
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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.
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## Discovery and exact identity mapping
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**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.
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**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:
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```text
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https://zokoanime.video/stream/mal/1/1/sub
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```
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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`.
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**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.
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AniList's [media interface][media] exposes both identifiers. The exact first catalog query was:
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```graphql
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query {
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Media(id: 1, type: ANIME) {
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id
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idMal
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title { romaji english }
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format
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status
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episodes
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}
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}
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```
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**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.
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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.
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| Catalog entry | AniList ID | MAL ID | Catalog total | Direct lookup observed |
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| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | --- |
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| Cowboy Bebop | 1 | 1 | 26 | `ani` and `mal`, episode 1: source + English subtitle; `ani`, episode 26: configuration present |
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| Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2 | 104578 | 38524 | 10 | `ani`, episode 1: source + English/Spanish/Portuguese subtitles |
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| Cowboy Bebop: The Movie | 5 | 5 | 1 | `ani`, episode 1: configuration present |
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**[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.
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## Native request and media evidence
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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.
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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.
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| Resource | HTTP | Content-Type | Body bytes / result |
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| --- | ---: | --- | --- |
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| [HiAnime title search][search] | 200 | text/html | 250238 bytes; series/movie/special candidates |
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| [Selected series][series] | 200 | text/html | 186932 bytes |
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| [Actual episode list][episodes] | 200 | application/json | 25926 bytes; 26 links; episode 1 ID 21418, title Asteroid Blues |
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| [Episode 1 servers][servers] | 200 | application/json | 1936 bytes; ZokoAnime and HD-1 for sub/dub |
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| [Direct MAL episode embed][mal-embed] | 200 | text/html | 1832 bytes; source + English subtitle configuration |
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| [Direct AniList episode embed][ani-embed] | 200 | text/html | 1832 bytes; source + English subtitle configuration |
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| Fresh HLS master, URL redacted | 200 | application/vnd.apple.mpegurl | 98 bytes; one advertised variant |
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| HLS variant, URL redacted | 200 | application/vnd.apple.mpegurl | 38193 bytes; 353 segments; ENDLIST; no EXT-X-KEY tags |
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| English subtitle, URL redacted | 200 | text/vtt | 14466 bytes; WEBVTT; 217 cue arrows |
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**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.
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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.
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### Missing episodes are not HTTP errors
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**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.
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**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.
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**[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.
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## Terebi compatibility and security
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**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.
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**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.
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**[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.
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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.
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## Recommendation and remaining prerequisites
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- **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.
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- **Before replacing browsing:** settle authoritative episode availability versus explicitly labeled on-demand resolution. Keep unknown/missing distinct from zero and from network/protection errors.
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- **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.
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- **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.
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- **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.
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### Reproduction record
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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.
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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:
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```sh
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curl --silent --show-error --max-time 20 \
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-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
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--data '{"query":"query { Media(id: 1, type: ANIME) { id idMal title { romaji } episodes } }"}' \
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https://graphql.anilist.co
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curl --silent --show-error --max-time 20 --output /dev/null \
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--write-out 'HTTP %{http_code}; %{content_type}\n' \
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https://zokoanime.video/stream/ani/1/1/sub
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```
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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.
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[ani-cli]: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pystardust/ani-cli/master/ani-cli
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[zoko]: https://zokoanime.video/
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[zoko-docs]: https://zokoanime.video/docs
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[selector]: https://zokoanime.video/assets/player-CiFNLeyH.js
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[docs-js]: https://zokoanime.video/assets/docs-sIsMGsz7.js
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[obfuscate]: https://zokoanime.video/core/obfuscate.js?v=23
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[media]: https://docs.anilist.co/reference/object/media
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[terms]: https://docs.anilist.co/guide/terms-of-use
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[streaming-episodes]: https://docs.anilist.co/reference/object/mediastreamingepisode
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[fribb]: https://github.com/Fribb/anime-lists
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[search]: https://hianime.at/search?keyword=Cowboy+Bebop
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[series]: https://hianime.at/cowboy-bebop-1281
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[episodes]: https://hianime.at/api/theme/episode/list/1281
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[servers]: https://hianime.at/api/theme/episode/servers?episodeId=21418
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[mal-embed]: https://zokoanime.video/stream/mal/1/1/sub
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[ani-embed]: https://zokoanime.video/stream/ani/1/1/sub
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[missing]: https://zokoanime.video/stream/ani/1/27/sub
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[player-policy]: ../../terebi/Sources/Core/player.cpp#L111-L126
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[url-parse]: ../../terebi/Sources/App/StreamResolver.swift#L8-L35
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