Going live

The go-live flow is a 3-stage state machine driven by your dashboard.

Stage 1 — Provision (one time)

Dashboard → Stream → Set up your stream.

Server-side: stream.provision mutation calls GetStream's videocalls endpoint, persists the streamCallId + chatChannelCid on channel_config, reads ingress.rtmp.address from the call response, persists it as rtmpsUrl. RTMPS card on the dashboard now shows real OBS connection details.

You only do this once per install. After this, "Go live" works any time.

Stage 2 — Connect OBS

Dashboard → Stream → OBS connection card. Two fields:

• Server (RTMPS) — copy and paste into OBS → Settings → Stream → Server. Service must be set to Custom, not Twitch.
• Stream key — your signed broadcaster JWT from GetStream. Doubles as the OBS stream key. Hidden by default; click 👁 to reveal, 📋 to copy.

OBS settings:

• Service: Custom
• Server: (paste RTMPS URL — starts with rtmps://)
• Stream key: (paste JWT — long token)
• Encoder: Hardware if available; software x264 fallback at faster preset
• Bitrate: start with 4500 Kbps for 1080p60, 2500 for 720p60
• Keyframe interval: 2 seconds

Click Start Streaming in OBS. Bytes flow to GetStream. Channel page is not yet live — GetStream is just receiving the bytes.

Stage 3 — Go live

Dashboard → Stream → Go live button.

Server-side: stream.goLive mutation tells GetStream to flip the call from backstage to public. GetStream fires call.live_started (or call.session_started) → webhook handler updates channel_config.liveStartedAt, opens a stream_sessions row, writes the session ID to KV, fires Discord embeds.

Channel page polls stream.isLive every 10s and flips to LIVE within 10s of the webhook landing.

Stage 4 — End

Click End stream in the dashboard, or stop streaming in OBS (GetStream auto-ends after a configurable timeout).

Server-side: stream.stopLive mutation tells GetStream to end the call. Webhook fires call.session_ended → handler closes the stream_sessions row (writes endedAt + computes totalMinutes), clears the analytics KV, fires Discord stream-end embeds.

Force-end escape hatch

If GetStream's webhook URL is misconfigured or Discord delivery fails, the wizard can stick at "ready" or "live" even though OBS is no longer pushing. The dashboard shows a "Force end" button below the main flow. It calls stopLive directly without waiting for the webhook. Use sparingly.

What viewers see

• Signed-out — PrivateGate component (sign-in CTA + LIVE badge if applicable)
• Signed-in viewers without isInvited — channel watchable, chat dock present but composer locked with "Sign in to chat" overlay
• Signed-in invited viewers — full chat access

The channel page lazily loads the GetStream Video + Chat SDKs (~200KB minified). No anonymous viewer pays this cost while offline.

Stats while live

Dashboard → Stats → most recent session row → click into /dashboard/stats/[id]. Real-time-ish charts:

• Viewer line chart updates as call.session_participant_joined / _left events fire
• Chat-msgs/min bars update as messages flow in
• Peak viewers + total chat msg counters stamped onto the session row

See Analytics.

Common issues

• "Going live..." stuck — webhook URL wrong. See GetStream.
• OBS connects but channel never goes live — call.live_started webhook isn't firing. Check GetStream "Webhooks" log.
• Stream key rejected — call hasn't been provisioned yet. Click Set up your stream.

Next: Invites.