# ECP-0096: Public NBC Guide Before Auth

Status: Proposed

## Decision

Add a public NBC guide feed to the Tauri app so browseable NBC linear channels appear before any
Adobe or MVPD authentication happens.

The desktop app will:

- fetch the unauthenticated `friendship.nbc.com` live guide shelf seen in `intake/`
- materialize those rows as normal `StreamDescriptor` entries in the existing channel list
- route each discovered row to a stable `nbc.com/live?brand=...` URL so selecting a card enters
  the existing NBC auth and playback path only when the user chooses to watch

## Motivation

The NBC capture already proved that playback is auth-gated, but the same trace also contains a
public guide layer with channel titles, current programs, branding, and stream access names. That
is enough to support browse-before-auth behavior without exposing entitlement or playout tokens.

This keeps discovery public while preserving the existing browser-backed auth boundary from
ECP-0094 and ECP-0095.

## Scope

In scope:

- unauthenticated NBC public guide fetches for channel browsing
- conversion of live guide rows into `nbc` stream descriptors and sources
- Tauri UI updates needed to surface `nbc` rows in the channel list

Out of scope:

- reverse-engineering or exposing entitlement responses
- direct manifest playback without the existing auth flow
- a full public sports-event catalog beyond the live channel guide in this cut

## Alternatives Considered

- Keep NBC URL-only. Rejected because it hides browseable public metadata that the trace already
  exposes.
- Expose MediaTailor or token-verifier outputs in discovery. Rejected because those belong to the
  authenticated playback path.
- Build a separate NBC-only discovery UI. Rejected because the existing channel list can host the
  guide with less surface area.

## Rollout / Reversibility

- The change is additive to the desktop app and only affects discovery presentation.
- Roll back by removing the public guide fetch and the synthesized NBC discovery entries.
- Existing NBC auth and playback handling remains the same once a user chooses to watch.