How to Play SRT with streamid and auth_key in VLC

 Solutions    |      2025-06-26

Steps

  1. Open VLC → Media → Open Network Stream (Ctrl+N).

  2. In the Network URL, enter the basic SRT address, for example:
       srt://xxx.xxx.xxx.x25:60003

  3. Check “Show more options” at the bottom of the window.

  4. In the “Edit Options” box, add the streamid parameter:
       streamid=#!::h=xxx.xxx.xxx.x25,r=/live/PDMM4ZJZ,m=play,auth_key=play-7e9d982ff

  5. Click Play to start the stream.

srt-settings-for-VLC

Command-line Example

You can also run VLC directly from the command line:

vlc "srt://xxx.xxx.xxx.x25:60003" :streamid="#!::h=xxx.xxx.xxx.x25,r=/live/PDMM4ZJZ,m=play,auth_key=play-7e9d982ff"

Why This Works

VLC cannot parse full SRT query parameters in the URL. By using the :streamid= option separately, VLC passes the stream ID and authentication to its SRT module correctly.

That’s it — you can now play your SRT streams with authentication directly in VLC.


Tested on VLC 3.0.20 Vetinari / Windows 10