The twiga wiki

How your provider login and stream URLs are sealed at rest — and when they are opened.

Vault

What it isA secured store for secret data that opens only with the right key.

In twigaHolds your provider login and each channel's stream URL. twiga keeps them as ciphertext that only your key can open, so a stolen copy of our database is a box of locked envelopes, not a list of logins. Channel names and groups stay in the clear, so search and the guide load fast.

Your key

What it isA secret value that locks and unlocks encrypted data.

In twigaA 256-bit secret your device makes when you create your account. It opens your vault and is what you sign in with — no password, and we never receive it.

Recovery code

What it isA backup secret that restores access when the main key is lost.

In twigaYour spare opener for the vault. Lose your device key and you get back in with this: present it, twiga returns the recovery-wrapped copy of your DEK, and you rotate to a brand-new key and a fresh recovery code — self-serve, nothing re-added. Keep it apart from your key, because losing both is the one dead end: there's no way back in, not for you, not for us. You start over with a new invite. Nothing leaks — your provider login was never stored readable.

Seal · Sealed

What it isTo encrypt something so only a keyholder can read it.

In twigaYour channel URLs are sealed with your key on your device, so what reaches our servers is already ciphertext.

Encrypted at rest

What it isEncryption applied to data while it's stored on disk — as opposed to while it's moving.

In twigaYour provider login sits in our database as ciphertext; opening it takes your key — or your recovery code — neither of which we hold.

Encrypted in transit

What it isEncryption that protects data while it travels the network — ordinary HTTPS/TLS, the lock in your address bar.

In twigaEvery request between you and twiga is encrypted in transit. Separate from encrypted at rest, which protects the same data while it's stored.

Ciphertext

What it isThe scrambled, unreadable output of encryption — the opposite of plaintext.

In twigaWhat twiga stores for your login and stream URLs is ciphertext; it's opened in server memory only while you're signed in and watching, then wiped.

AES-256-GCM

What it isA standard, widely trusted encryption algorithm. AES-256 does the scrambling; the GCM mode also detects tampering. Your browser already uses it for HTTPS.

In twigaThe cipher that seals each channel's URL. A swapped or altered blob fails its GCM check and refuses to open.

Full entry →

Ed25519

What it isA modern digital-signature scheme: a private key signs, a matching public key verifies, and you can't work one out from the other.

In twigaThe basis of passwordless sign-in. Your device signs a one-time challenge with your key; we check it against the public key we hold. Nothing reusable crosses the network.

HKDF HKDF-SHA256

What it isA standard key-derivation function — it turns one secret into several independent keys.

In twigatwiga uses it to turn your one key into the sub-keys it needs — one to seal your login and stream URLs, one to prove sign-in — without any of them revealing the others, or the key itself.

Argon2id

What it isA memory-hard key-derivation function — deliberately slow and RAM-heavy, so brute-forcing a secret is expensive.

In twigaThe backstop under your recovery code. twiga stretches the code with Argon2id — 64 MiB of memory, on your device — before deriving any recovery key, so even a machine-made 100-bit code is costly to guess. It runs in-browser via WASM, since WebCrypto has no Argon2id.

DEK data-encryption key

What it isThe key that directly encrypts content — usually itself kept encrypted ('wrapped') under a higher key, so it can be re-protected without re-encrypting the data.

In twigaThe DEK seals your login and each channel's stream URL. It's wrapped under your key, so only your key frees it; your recovery code wraps a second copy, so either opener works.

Public key

What it isThe shareable half of a key pair. It can verify a signature or receive encrypted data, but it can’t sign or decrypt.

In twigaThe auth public key twiga keeps to check that a sign-in signature is yours — it can't produce one, and can't decrypt anything. It's not the only key-material on file: restore adds your recovery key's public half and a verifier fingerprint, and neither of those can open your vault either.

Passwordless

What it isSigning in by proving you hold a secret key, instead of by typing a password.

In twigaThere's no password anywhere in twiga. You prove it's you by signing a challenge with your key — nothing to phish or reset, and no password database to breach.

Salt

What it isA random value mixed into input before hashing or key derivation, so identical inputs don't produce identical outputs.

In twigaEach account has its own salt, so two people with the same key material never end up with the same keys.

Nonce

What it isA 'number used once' — a value that must never repeat, used to keep cryptographic operations unique.

In twigatwiga uses one as the one-time challenge your device signs at sign-in, and as the value that makes every sealed blob distinct.

Challenge–response sign the nonce

What it isA sign-in handshake: the server sends a one-time value, you prove who you are by signing it, and only the signature travels back — never the secret.

In twigaHow passwordless sign-in works. Your device signs the challenge with your key; we verify it with your public key. Nothing reusable ever crosses the wire.

KEK key-encryption key

What it isA key whose only job is to encrypt ('wrap') another key, so the wrapped key can be stored safely.

In twigaYour DEK is wrapped under a KEK derived from your key — and a second time under one derived from your recovery code (via Argon2id, so a guessed code is expensive). We store only the wrapped envelopes, never a KEK.

Recovery verifier

What it isA one-way fingerprint of a recovery code, kept so a server can confirm you know the code without ever holding it.

In twigatwiga derives it from your recovery code and keeps only the fingerprint. It gates the read half of restore — proving you know the code so twiga returns your recovery-wrapped DEK — but it can't authorize the key rotation (that needs your recovery signing key), open your vault, or rebuild the code.

Recovery signing key

What it isAn Ed25519 key derived from your recovery code: its private half signs a restore, and only its public half is ever stored.

In twigaWhat makes a restore un-forgeable. Rotating onto a new device key is authorized by a signature from this key; twiga keeps only its public half, so a stolen database can present the verifier but still can't sign the rotation. No recovery public key on file, no restore — it fails closed.

WebCrypto crypto.subtle

What it isThe browser's built-in cryptography — generating keys, hashing, signing, and AES encryption, run inside the page.

In twigaThe engine most of the vault runs on — key generation, hashing, AES, HKDF. twiga checks for it before making your key; a browser that lacks it is told so, rather than handed a half-made vault. Ed25519 and the recovery code's Argon2id run alongside it in WASM.

IndexedDB

What it isA browser database that stores data on your device, kept across sessions.

In twigaWhere twiga keeps your unsealed key on this device — wrapped and non-extractable — so you don't re-paste it every visit. While you're signed in, the session key opens the vault in server memory; it's wiped on idle or restart.

Password · Password hash

What it isThe classic login secret: a string you choose, stored by the server as a one-way hash, resettable by email.

In twigaThe vault has none — you sign in with your key. twiga only holds a password hash on the older email sign-in path, which the vault replaces.

Session cookie

What it isA small credential your browser stores to keep you signed in across page loads.

In twigaAfter your key signs the challenge, twiga sets an essential session cookie so you stay signed in. It's tied to sign-in, not to what you watch.

Password manager

What it isAn app that stores and fills your logins and long secrets — built into your browser, or standalone.

In twigaThe ideal home for your key. It's a 256-bit code not meant to be typed, so twiga prompts your password manager to save it at set-up.

The relay between you and your provider, where your traffic goes, and who touches it.

Blind relay

What it isA server that forwards traffic without reading or altering it.

In twigatwiga's relay forwards your stream's bytes without decoding them — it has no video decoder and no FFmpeg. There's nothing on it that can read what you watch; the privacy is a property of the wire, not a promise on a page.

Full entry →

VPN exit exit IP

What it isThe internet address traffic appears to come from after passing through a VPN — not the user's own address.

In twigaYour stream leaves twiga from a VPN exit, so your provider sees the exit's IP, never your home IP.

Full entry →

Tor

What it isAn anonymity network that routes traffic through volunteer relays so it can't be traced to its source.

In twigatwiga fetches your TV guide over Tor, so those requests can't be tied back to you. Playlist refreshes and streams take the VPN exits — Tor is too slow for video.

Your provider · Upstream

What it isThe IPTV service that actually supplies the channels, via a subscription you buy from them.

In twigaYou bring your own provider; twiga is the wire between you and it, not a content service. We don't sell channels.

ISP

What it isInternet service provider — the company your home internet connection is with.

In twigaBecause twiga relays the stream, your ISP sees a connection to twiga, not to your IPTV provider.

Access log

What it isThe record a server keeps of the requests it received — typically time, address, and what was asked for.

In twigaOn the byte path twiga keeps only a timestamp and a token, never stream content. There's nothing in it about what you watched.

HTTPS · TLS the padlock

What it isThe standard encryption for web traffic — the padlock in your address bar. TLS is the protocol; HTTPS is the web using it.

In twigaEvery request between you and twiga rides HTTPS/TLS — that's what encrypted in transit means here. The status page shows the minimum TLS version we accept.

Sub-processor

What it isAn outside company a service relies on to run part of its operation — hosting, email, analytics — and which may touch some data as a result.

In twigatwiga names each one plainly on the privacy page. None of them can read your sealed login or stream URLs; they carry traffic and messages, not your vault.

Cloudflare

What it isA company that sits in front of a website to handle encryption, block bots, and tunnel traffic from the origin server.

In twigatwiga's edge and CDN sub-processor. It terminates HTTPS and fronts the stack; it carries traffic, not the contents of your sealed vault.

Umami

What it isA privacy-focused, cookieless web-analytics tool that counts aggregate visits without tracking people.

In twigatwiga's analytics. It sets no cookies and does no cross-site tracking — aggregate page counts, not profiles.

GDPR

What it isThe EU's data-protection law: it gives people rights over their data and sets the rules a service must follow to hold any.

In twigatwiga is built to hold as little as possible — the privacy page lays out the lawful basis for each thing it keeps, and how to have it deleted.

The formats your channels arrive in, how you add a provider, and how the browser plays them.

IPTV

What it isTelevision delivered as internet streams from a provider, instead of over cable, satellite, or an aerial.

In twigatwiga plays the IPTV you already pay for — point it at your provider and it handles the rest.

Full entry →

M3U M3U8

What it isA plain-text playlist format — a list of media entries and their URLs, often delivered as an .m3u or .m3u8 file.

In twigaOne of the two ways to add your provider: paste the M3U link and twiga loads your channels from it.

Full entry →

Xtream Codes

What it isA common IPTV panel where your login is a server address, username, and password rather than a playlist file.

In twigaThe other way to add your provider. twiga turns your Xtream login into a channel list on your device.

Full entry →

EPG

What it isElectronic Programme Guide — the schedule of what’s on each channel, now and next.

In twigatwiga loads your provider's EPG so you get a real guide, and fetches it over Tor so the request can't be tied back to you.

Full entry →

MPEG-TS

What it isMPEG Transport Stream — the container format broadcast and IPTV streams are usually packaged in.

In twigaMost channels arrive as MPEG-TS. The relay forwards it untouched; your browser unpacks it.

Full entry →

Demux

What it isTo separate a combined stream into its individual tracks — video, audio, timing.

In twigaThe first thing twiga's browser-side engine does with the stream it receives.

Remux · Fragmented MP4

What it isTo repackage media into a different container without re-encoding it — so there’s no quality loss.

In twigatwiga remuxes the stream into fragmented MP4, a container the browser can play, right in your tab. No server involved.

MSE Media Source Extensions

What it isA browser interface that lets a web page feed media data straight to the video player.

In twigatwiga hands the browser the stream through MSE, and the browser's own hardware decoder takes it from there.

ManagedMediaSource

What it isApple's memory-managed version of MSE, for streaming on iPhone and iPad.

In twigatwiga uses it so the player works in Safari on iOS, where plain MSE isn't available.

Transcode · Passthrough · Strip

What it isThe three general ways a player can handle an audio track: pass it through to the decoder, transcode (re-encode) it into a format the decoder accepts, or strip it out.

In twigatwiga decides per channel, in your browser: passthrough when it can already decode the audio; transcode to AAC when it can't; and strip — keep the video, drop the audio — as an honest last resort, never a silent black screen.

WebAssembly WASM

What it isA way to run fast, compiled code inside a web page at near-native speed.

In twigatwiga uses it to decode audio your browser won't, right in the tab — so the server never has to touch the stream.

Hardware decoder

What it isThe dedicated chip in a device that decodes video efficiently, sparing the main processor and the battery.

In twigatwiga drives your device's hardware decoder through the browser instead of shipping its own, so playback stays smooth and battery-friendly.

Zap

What it isSlang for changing channels — and, to engineers, the time it takes the new one to appear.

In twigatwiga aims for a cold zap around 1.2 seconds at the 95th percentile (a p95); the floor is set by providers that allow only one connection at a time.

Prewarm

What it isStarting to open a stream before you press play, so the first frame arrives sooner.

In twigatwiga prewarms a channel on hover where a provider allows it, to shave time off the zap.

Source

What it isA single provider connection — the M3U link or Xtream login that supplies your channels.

In twigaYou have one source per account: the subscription you already pay for. Add it once and twiga loads your channels from it.

Channel · Category group

What it isHow a playlist is organised — individual channels, gathered into categories (also called groups) like Sports or News.

In twigatwiga reads your provider's groups; set a region and it sorts your local ones to the front of a long list.

Ingest import

What it isImporting a playlist and reading its channels into the app — done once when you add a source, then refreshed.

In twigaWhen you add your stream, twiga ingests it — sealing each channel URL with your key — then keeps the guide fresh in the background.

tvg-id

What it isA channel's guide identifier inside a playlist — the tag that matches a channel to its programme listings.

In twigatwiga uses tvg-ids to line your channels up with the right EPG data.

Catch-up · Timeshift

What it isReplaying a programme that already aired, where the provider offers it.

In twigatwiga plays live — there's no catch-up or recording; you're watching the channel as it airs.

Buffering

What it isWhen a player pauses to load more of a stream than it can play in real time — the spinner.

In twigatwiga pre-buffers and reconnects on its own so a brief upstream hiccup doesn't stop the picture.

Bitrate

What it isHow much data a stream uses per second — higher usually means better quality and more bandwidth.

In twigaShown in the player as kbps, so you can see what a channel is actually pulling.

FFmpeg

What it isThe ubiquitous free tool for decoding, converting, and transcoding audio and video — the media world’s Swiss army knife.

In twigaDeliberately absent from twiga's server. The relay has no FFmpeg and no decoder, so it can't read your stream even if asked.

Framing bytes sync · PID · RAI

What it isThe few structural bytes at the head of each MPEG-TS packet — a sync marker, a channel id (PID), and a flag (RAI) for where a stream can safely start.

In twigaThe only bytes the relay reads, to cut the stream into pieces. The payload — the actual picture and sound — is never parsed. It's the exact line between forwarding and reading.

DRM

What it isDigital Rights Management — encryption a content owner adds so only approved apps can play their video.

In twigatwiga plays your provider's streams as they arrive; it doesn't add or strip DRM. Channels your provider ships in the clear play in the browser.

Third-party players

What it isStandalone IPTV apps you install on a device that play a provider playlist.

In twigaWhat most people use today. twiga does the same job in a browser tab — nothing to install.

How audio and video are compressed — and what twiga does when your browser can't decode one.

Codec

What it isShort for coder-decoder — the method used to compress audio or video for delivery and unpack it for playback.

In twigaIPTV uses a handful. Some browsers decode all of them, some don't — bridging that gap is twiga's job.

H.264 AVC

What it isAlso called AVC — the most widely supported video codec, decodable by virtually every device and browser.

In twigatwiga's baseline. H.264 channels play everywhere.

HEVC H.265

What it isAlso called H.265 — a successor to H.264 that fits the same quality into fewer bits, but needs newer hardware to decode.

In twigaHEVC channels play where the browser has a hardware decoder for them; where it doesn't, twiga says so plainly instead of faking a picture.

AV1

What it isA modern, royalty-free video codec — more efficient than H.264, supported by newer browsers and devices.

In twigaLike HEVC, AV1 plays where the browser supports it.

AAC

What it isAdvanced Audio Coding — the common, efficient audio codec browsers decode natively.

In twigatwiga passes AAC straight through, and re-encodes other audio formats to AAC when it has to.

AC-3 · E-AC-3 Dolby Digital

What it isDolby Digital (AC-3) and its successor E-AC-3 — surround-sound audio common on TV, which most browsers can’t decode.

In twigatwiga transcodes AC-3 and E-AC-3 to AAC in your tab, so channels that use them simply play.

MP2

What it isMPEG-1 Audio Layer II — an older audio codec still used by some broadcasters and IPTV channels.

In twigaLike AC-3, twiga transcodes MP2 in the browser.

MPEG-2

What it isAn older video codec still broadcast by some channels.

In twigaPlays where the browser can decode it; where it can't, twiga says so plainly instead of faking a picture.

The words you meet in the player and on the TV app.

Cinema

What it is(twiga term) The watching screen — the video with its controls.

In twigaWhere you actually watch. The chrome fades away while you watch and returns on a tap.

Browse

What it is(twiga term) The channel and programme catalogue.

In twigaWhere you find something to watch — a List of your channels and a Guide of what's on.

Guide

What it isThe grid of what's on each channel, now and next.

In twigatwiga's Guide, built from your provider's EPG. In Browse, the List is your channels; the Guide is the schedule.

Search

What it isA command box for jumping straight to a channel or programme by name.

In twigaOpen it with a key and type — twiga's Search is a fast palette, not a menu dive.

My Stream

What it is(twiga term) Your slice of a big provider list — the channels you choose to keep.

In twigaOn the dashboard, My Stream is where you pick which of your provider's channels to show, so a 20,000-channel list becomes yours.

Picture-in-Picture PiP

What it isVideo that pops out into a small floating window, so you can keep watching while you do something else.

In twigatwiga supports PiP in the browser, so a match can float in the corner while you work.

Cast Chromecast

What it isSending what you are watching to a TV over the network — Google Cast / Chromecast.

In twigatwiga doesn't surface casting yet — during the beta you watch in the browser tab.

AirPlay

What it isApple’s way of streaming video and audio to an Apple TV or AirPlay speaker.

In twigatwiga doesn’t surface AirPlay. During the beta twiga plays in the browser tab; casting to a TV isn’t wired up yet.

Pairing code device pairing

What it isSigning in on a TV by entering a short code on your phone or computer, instead of typing on a remote.

In twigaHow you'll sign in to twiga on the TV app once it ships: open twiga.tv/pair, enter the code on screen, done. No key-typing with a D-pad. The TV app is in development — not part of this beta.

PWA Add to Home Screen

What it isProgressive Web App — a website you can 'add to home screen' so it opens like an installed app, full-screen, with no browser bar.

In twigatwiga is a PWA: add it to your home screen and it launches like an app, while staying a web page underneath.

A few phrases we use that aren't standard jargon.

The eye is closed

What it isOur shorthand for the whole design: the parties that could tie what you watch back to you — the server, the network in between, your provider — are kept from doing it. The server has no decoder, the network sees only encrypted traffic, and your provider sees twiga's IP, not you.

Your login, your key

What it isThe one-line version of the vault: you hold the key that seals your provider login and stream URLs; at rest we hold only the ciphertext, and open it in server memory only while you watch. Your channel names remain in the clear, so search and the guide work.

Bring your own provider

What it istwiga doesn't sell channels. You keep your existing IPTV subscription and point twiga at it; we're the wire, not the content.

Invite-only beta

What it istwiga is invitation-only for now, and open about how it works — every mechanism is spelled out here and on /manifesto. An invite gets you in; the beta is free, and paying later is in Monero, no card.

Honest failure

What it isOur rule that the player never shows a black card pretending to load. 'Playing' is only ever set on a real decoded frame, and a stream the browser truly can't decode says so plainly.

Region-first

What it isSetting your area so your local channels sort to the front of a large list, instead of scrolling past thousands of others first.

Android TV Google TV

What it isGoogle's TV platform, and the app format for it.

In twigatwiga's TV app for Android TV and Google TV is in development — not part of this beta. The web player is the way in for now.

p50 · p95 percentile

What it isA way to report latency honestly: the p95 is the time 95 of 100 events beat — so it captures the slow tail, not just the lucky median (p50).

In twigatwiga states its zap target as a p95, and shows live numbers on the status page rather than a flattering average.

How you pay after the beta — in Monero, from your own wallet, with no card and no link to your account.

Free trial

What it isA period you can use the full product for nothing before deciding to pay.

In twigaDuring the beta everything is free — nothing is charged and there's no checkout. After the beta, access is €4 a month or €33 a year, paid in Monero.

Monero XMR

What it isA cryptocurrency whose ledger hides the sender, the receiver, and the amount — private by default, not as an option.

In twigaThe only way to pay for twiga. You send it from your own wallet; because the ledger reveals nothing, the payment carries no identity for us to store.

Full entry →

Crypto wallet

What it isAn app that holds your coins and sends payments — you keep the keys, with no bank in the middle.

In twigaWhere you pay twiga from. New to Monero? Cake Wallet is the easy pick on a phone; Feather or the official Monero GUI on a desktop.

Anonymous payment

What it is(twiga term) Paying for access without handing over an identity — no card, no bank, no name required.

In twigaYou pay twiga in Monero from a wallet you hold, and nothing on file ties that payment back to your account. Renewing early adds to the time you have left.