vibe-live docs

Going live

Open Go Live from the menu. There are two ways to stream, and the page shows both:

Whichever you use, you are live when your video actually arrives -- followers are notified and the dashboard shows you then, not the moment you press a button. If nothing arrives, nobody is told you went live.

flowchart LR
  B["Browser<br/>camera or screen"] --> I
  W["OBS with WHIP<br/>(recommended)"] --> I
  R["OBS with RTMP<br/>port 1936"] --> I
  I["Your instance<br/>checks your key"] -->|"your video arrives"| L(("Live"))
  L --> F["Followers are notified"]
  L --> V["Viewers can watch"]

Signed in with an account from another instance? You can watch, follow and chat here, but you stream on your own instance -- the page links you there.

From the browser

  1. Choose Browser, then pick Camera or Share Screen. A preview appears; the audio meter shows whether your microphone is picked up.
  2. Fill in a Title (and a description if you like).
  3. Press Go Live. A status line shows the connection and how much is being sent.
  4. Stop Streaming ends it.

While live you can switch between camera and screen. If the picture changes shape -- a phone rotating, a window resized -- or the connection drops, the stream reconnects on its own. If it cannot, it says so, and Go Live starts again.

Browser streaming needs the site on HTTPS and a browser that allows camera or screen capture. Some instances do not offer it; the page says when.

From OBS or another encoder

Choose Stream Key (OBS). The page shows two ways to connect; use the first your encoder supports.

WHIP (recommended) -- OBS 30 and newer:

  1. OBS → Settings → Stream → Service: WHIP.
  2. Paste the Server URL from the page. Leave the Bearer Token empty.

WHIP works from anywhere the website works -- no router settings.

RTMP -- for encoders without WHIP:

  1. Service: Custom, then paste the Server and the Stream key from the page.

RTMP uses its own port (1936), so from outside the instance's network it only works if the instance's operator has opened that port. If WHIP is an option, prefer it.

Then press Start Streaming in your encoder. You are live once the video arrives; the page's preview shows it.

Your stream key

The stream key is a password: anyone who has it can stream as you. It is never shown in full unless you ask, and Rotate key (in Settings) gives you a new one immediately -- the old one stops working, so update your encoder afterwards.

"The previous session is still running"

If a stream was started from a device that has since gone away -- a phone that died, a laptop that slept -- the instance may still think it is publishing. Force stop the previous session ends it, and your new stream takes over.

Quality

What you send is the best viewers can get: the instance makes smaller versions from it for slower connections, never larger ones. For OBS, 720p or 1080p at 30 or 60 fps, with a keyframe every 1-2 seconds, suits most streams.

Diagrams drawn by Mermaid (MIT license).