Packages & access
Why grouping channels into packages matters beyond cosmetics — a FULL package grant is one of only two ways new content reaches a restricted viewer automatically.
Packages are the unit of the per-user access model. This page is the package-side summary; the full picture — the resolver, enforcement, and the admin granting UI — is in Users & access.
The link: UserPackageAccess
A grant is a UserPackageAccess row (packages/db/prisma/schema/access.prisma) tying a user to one
package at one of two modes:
- FULL — every channel in the package, including channels added to it later. This is the crux of packages-as-access: file a new channel into a package and every viewer with FULL access picks it up automatically, with no admin follow-up.
- PARTIAL — only the specific channels explicitly granted to that user
(
UserChannelAccess). Channels added to the package later are not granted automatically.
Above both sits User.allAccess (default true), which grants everything including all future packages
and channels. A restricted user (allAccess = false) with no grant rows sees nothing.
Why packages matter for access
FULL package access and all-access are the only two ways new content reaches a restricted viewer automatically. Every other case — a PARTIAL package, or a package the user simply isn't granted — requires an admin to grant each new channel explicitly.
Ungrouped channels (a Channel with packageId = null) are the sharp edge here: there's no package
to hang a FULL grant on, so a restricted user can only receive them one at a time via
UserChannelAccess, and a newly added ungrouped channel is auto-granted only to all-access users. If you
want new channels to flow to a restricted audience without ongoing admin work, put them in a package
those viewers hold FULL access to.
Enforcement is server-side
Deleting a package doesn't revoke anything on its own — its UserPackageAccess rows are removed with it,
and the channels become ungrouped. All access is resolved server-side and woven into every viewer-facing
REST read plus the playback gate; hiding a channel in a client is never what protects it. See the access
doc's Enforcement section for the resolver
(accessibleChannels) and where it's applied.
Provenance
The generated and aiGenerated flags that sort packages into Auto / AI / Manual, and exactly what Refresh styling, Regenerate channels, and Clear AI touch.
Guide lenses
How a package becomes a filter lens in the TV guide's sidebar — the viewer-facing endpoint, access scoping, and the vivid accent.