Time-Sensitive API Keys for Digital Content Access

Leverage Unkey’s short-lived keys to grant temporary access to digital content (e.g., e-books, videos, or streams), expiring after a set duration.

Uniqueness

Many platforms lack simple time-based access controls or rely on complex, time-consuming setups. Unkey offers a quick, dynamic solution for trial versions, short-term access, or educational content management.

Use Cases

Ideal for educational platforms, research papers, and subscription-based news services.

Benefits

• Security: Content remains server-side, with access controlled by expiring API keys.
• Control: Easily revoke or limit access by managing key lifespans.
• Scalability: Suited for serverless or distributed systems.

Demo App Overview

This demo provides time-limited access to specific pages of a PDF, without allowing full downloads. Each page request is authenticated with Unkey, ensuring access is controlled and expires as needed. The app streams individual PDF pages as users navigate through them.

Quickstart

Create a root key

1. Go to /settings/root-keys and click on the "Create New Root Key" button.
2. Enter a name for the key.
3. Select the following workspace permissions: create_key, read_key, encrypt_key and decrypt_key.
4. Click "Create".

Create your API

1. Go to https://app.unkey.com/apis and click on the "Create New API" button.
2. Give it a name.
3. Click "Create".

Set up the example

1. Clone the repository

1git clone git@github.com:unrenamed/unkey-pdf-view
2cd unkey-pdf-view

2. Install the dependencies

1pnpm install

3. Create a .env or .env.local file and add the following:

1UNKEY_ROOT_KEY=your-root-key
2UNKEY_EBOOK_API_ID=your-ebook-api-id

4. Start the server

1pnpm dev

5. Open your browser and go to http://localhost:3000