Collections and guest sharing

Collections#

Collections group related titles without changing their underlying library identity. Finetic derives collection membership from trusted catalogue metadata and administrator changes rather than populating fictional groups.

Sort by release date when you want playback to move through titles in published order. A separate chronological order should be offered only when the catalogue has a reliable chronology; a guessed story order is worse than an honest date sort.

Collection playback#

Starting a collection creates an ordered playback queue. When a title completes, Finetic uses the selected collection order to determine the next item. Resume state still belongs to each title and user.

Guest sharing scopes#

An administrator can share:

• One movie
• One specific episode
• A complete television show

The creation interface must state the selected scope clearly. Sharing a show is not silently equivalent to sharing only its currently selected episode.

Access controls#

Guest links support expiry, optional password, use limits, maximum quality and revocation. Downloads are never permitted. Guest playback uses the normal Finetic playback planner and media engine rather than a separate basic player.

Security lifecycle#

The public link is exchanged for a server-issued guest session. Asset access uses short-lived, asset-scoped claims; the long-lived share credential should not be copied into every media request. Password attempts are rate limited.

Revoking a share prevents new playback claims and ends continued access according to the server policy. Administrators can review use without exposing the guest to the normal Finetic account interface.

When not to use guest sharing#

Create a real user when someone needs ongoing access, personal progress, favourites or multiple libraries. Guest sharing is for bounded access to explicitly selected media.