every.channel/evolution/proposals/ECP-0101-decode-archived-object-frames-before-hls-replay.md

ECP-0101: Decode Archived Object Frames Before HLS Replay

Why

wt-archive stores raw MoQ object frames in CAS. wt-archive-serve was replaying those framed bytes directly as init.mp4 and .m4s, which yields HLS playlists that look valid but cannot be decoded by players.

Decision

Decode archived object frames back into their media payload bytes before serving replay responses. If archived bytes are already raw payloads, pass them through unchanged.

Consequences

• Local and forge replay can hand archived CMAF data to normal HLS consumers.
• Existing archives remain usable without rewriting CAS objects.
• Replay failures now point at genuinely bad archive contents rather than envelope bytes leaking over HTTP.