Video on Demand

Upload and transcode video-on-demand assets on Livepeer: direct upload, upload via URL, transcoding profiles, and retrieving playback URLs.

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VOD assets on Livepeer are video files that the network transcodes into ABR HLS for playback. Upload a source file or provide a URL; Livepeer produces a set of renditions and a playback URL usable with any HLS player or the @livepeer/react Player component.

Upload via URL

The simplest path is upload-via-URL. Livepeer fetches the source, transcodes it, and makes the output available at a playback URL:

import { Livepeer } from 'livepeer';

const client = new Livepeer({ apiKey: process.env.LIVEPEER_API_KEY });

const { asset } = await client.asset.createViaUrl({
  name: 'conference-talk-2026',
  url: 'https://storage.example.com/source.mp4',
  staticMp4: false,
});

console.log(asset.id);
console.log(asset.status.phase);  // 'waiting' | 'processing' | 'ready' | 'failed'

Direct Upload

For files on the client, request an upload URL first, then PUT the file:

const { url, asset } = await client.asset.createUploadUrl({
  name: 'my-video',
  playbackPolicy: { type: 'public' },
});

// PUT the file to the pre-signed URL
await fetch(url, {
  method: 'PUT',
  body: fileBlob,
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'video/mp4' },
});

Polling for Completion

Transcoding is asynchronous. Poll asset status:

async function waitForAsset(assetId) {
  while (true) {
    const { asset } = await client.asset.get(assetId);
    if (asset.status.phase === 'ready') return asset;
    if (asset.status.phase === 'failed') throw new Error(asset.status.errorMessage);
    await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 3000));
  }
}

const ready = await waitForAsset(asset.id);
console.log(ready.playbackUrl);   // https://livepeercdn.com/hls/<playbackId>/index.m3u8

Or subscribe to the asset.updated webhook to avoid polling.

Playback URL

Once asset.status.phase === 'ready', the asset has a playbackUrl and a playbackId. Pass playbackId to the @livepeer/react Player:

import { Player } from '@livepeer/react';

export function VideoPlayer({ playbackId }) {
  return (
    <Player
      playbackId={playbackId}
      showTitle={false}
      muted
    />
  );
}

The Player handles ABR selection, HLS parsing, and WebRTC fallback automatically. For non-React environments, the HLS manifest at playbackUrl works with hls.js or any ABR player.

Updating and Deleting Assets

Rename or update asset metadata:

await client.asset.update(asset.id, {
  name: 'conference-talk-revised',
  storage: { ipfs: false },
});

Delete an asset:

await client.asset.delete(asset.id);

List all assets:

const { assets } = await client.asset.getAll({
  limit: 50,
  order: 'desc',
});

Related Pages

Ingest

Live stream ingest for creating assets from recorded streams.

Player

@livepeer/react Player component for embedding VOD playback.

Video Overview

Access paths and workload comparison for Livepeer video.

Transcoding

Direct segment transcoding for custom media server integrations.