The pKey: What it is and how to manage it – THRON Guide

The pKey is the authorization key that enables controlled, secure distribution of THRON content to external systems such as websites, CMS platforms, and connectors. Without an active pKey, content cannot be delivered outside the Platform.

How a pKey is created

You do not create a pKey as a standalone action: it is generated automatically when sharing content, through two different methods depending on what you want to share.

Single Asset: when you generate a URL share or an Embed share for an Asset directly in Digital Assets, THRON automatically creates a pKey for that content with no additional configuration required. If the Asset is deleted, its pKey automatically becomes invalid.
Entire folder: to grant access to all Assets within a folder, you need a Custom Application linked to the folder via the THRON Custom Application Manager app. From there you create a new share dedicated to the folder in the Create Sharing section of the application panel. Whenever you add a new Asset to the folder, it automatically becomes accessible through the same pKey without requiring extra configuration.

If you haven't created a Custom Application yet, create one before proceeding: you can find the guide under "In-depth articles" at the bottom of this page.

Accessing the pKey from the folder

You can access applications linked to a folder directly from Digital Assets.

Select the folder in the left-hand tree and open the menu corresponding to the active folder name at the top.

Click on Associated Applications.
In the Associated Applications modal, locate the desired application and click the open icon in the Actions column.

You are now in the application panel, in the Create Sharing section where existing pKeys are listed.

Restricted visibility: pKeys are visible only to the user who created the application. Users with administrative rights on the app cannot view pKeys generated by other users.

Accessing the pKey from Applications and Connectors

Alternatively, you can reach applications from global navigation:

Click on the context menu at the top left (where Digital Assets or the active section appears).
Select Applications and Connectors.

Locate the application and click the open icon in the Actions column.
Existing pKeys are listed in the Create Sharing section of the panel.

Creating a new pKey

From the application panel, in the Create Sharing section, click on + Add sharing.

In the modal configure the following fields:

Name: enter a descriptive name for the share (e.g. website-public).
Template: select the Player Template to associate with the embed.

Automatic style update: if you modify the Player Template associated with this pKey in the future, the new graphic style will automatically propagate to all content already delivered via that pKey—without needing to regenerate the embed code.
Sharing type: choose based on the required access level:

Type	Behavior	When to use
Public Sharing	Free access to all content in the folder; content is indexed by search engines.	Public websites, open channels.
Secure Sharing	Content is delivered only with a valid user token; it is not indexed.	B2B portals, protected areas, confidential content.

Click on Confirm. The generated pKey is visible at the top of the modal and in the embed script under the sessId parameter.

Recommended configuration: for most public websites use Public Sharing with the standard template. Switch to Secure Sharing only if content must not be accessible without authentication.

Enabling and disabling a pKey

You can enable or disable a pKey at any time via the checkbox in the Create Sharing section of the application panel.

Attention: disabling a pKey immediately stops content distribution across all external channels using it.

## In-depth articles
- Guide to Creating and Configuring a Custom Application

Need help?

For technical issues, write to support@thron.com.

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