A liveStream
resource contains information about the video stream that you are transmitting to YouTube. The stream provides the content that will be broadcast to YouTube users. Once created, a liveStream
resource can be bound to one or more liveBroadcast
resources.
Methods
The API supports the following methods for liveStreams
resources:
- list
- Returns a list of video streams that match the API request parameters. Try it now .
- insert
- Creates a video stream. The stream enables you to send your video to YouTube, which can then broadcast the video to your audience. Try it now .
- update
- Updates a video stream. If the properties that you want to change cannot be updated, then you need to create a new stream with the proper settings. Try it now .
- delete
- Deletes a video stream. Try it now .
Resource representation
The following JSON structure shows the format of a liveStreams
resource:
{ " kind " : "youtube#liveStream" , " etag " : etag , " id " : string , " snippet " : { " publishedAt " : datetime , " channelId " : string , " title " : string , " description " : string , " isDefaultStream " : boolean } , " cdn " : { " ingestionType " : string , " ingestionInfo " : { " streamName " : string , " ingestionAddress " : string , " backupIngestionAddress " : string } , " resolution " : string , " frameRate " : string } , " status " : { " streamStatus " : string , " healthStatus " : { " status " : string , " lastUpdateTimeSeconds " : unsigned long , " configurationIssues " : [ { " type " : string , " severity " : string , " reason " : string , " description " : string } ] } } , " contentDetails " : { " closedCaptionsIngestionUrl " : string , " isReusable " : boolean } }
Properties
The following table defines the properties that appear in this resource:
kind
string
Identifies the API resource's type. The value will be
youtube#liveStream
.etag
etag
The Etag of this resource.
id
string
The ID that YouTube assigns to uniquely identify the stream.
snippet
object
The
snippet
object contains basic details about the stream, including its channel, title, and description. snippet.
publishedAt
datetime
The date and time that the stream was created. The value is specified in ISO 8601 (
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.sZ
) format. snippet.
channelId
string
The ID that YouTube uses to uniquely identify the channel that is transmitting the stream.
snippet.
title
string
The stream's title. The value must be between 1 and 128 characters long.
snippet.
description
string
The stream's description. The value cannot be longer than 10000 characters.
snippet.
isDefaultStream
boolean
How default streams work
When a YouTube channel is enabled for live streaming, YouTube creates a default stream and a default broadcast for the channel. The stream defines how the channel owner sends live video to YouTube, and the broadcast is how viewers can see the default stream. A channel owner can use the
liveStreams.list
and liveBroadcasts.list
methods to identify these resources.A channel's default stream exists indefinitely, does not have a start or end time associated with it, and cannot be deleted. The channel owner needs only to start sending video bits and the stream goes on automatically.
When a stream ends, YouTube converts the completed broadcast to a YouTube video and assigns the video a YouTube video ID. After the conversion is complete, the video is included in the channel's list of uploaded videos. The video is not available immediately after the broadcast concludes, and the length of the delay is related to the actual length of the broadcast.
cdn
object
The
cdn
object defines the live stream's content delivery network (CDN) settings. These settings provide details about the manner in which you stream your content to YouTube. cdn.
format
string
This property has been deprecated since April 18, 2016, and will no longer be supported as of August 17, 2020. Requests that still use this property as of that date will fail.
Instead, use the
cdn.frameRate
and cdn.resolution
properties to specify the frame
rate and resolution separately. cdn.
ingestionType
string
The method or protocol used to transmit the video stream.
Valid values for this property are:
-
dash
-
hls
-
rtmp
(which includes RTMPS)
cdn.
ingestionInfo
object
The
ingestionInfo
object contains information that YouTube provides that you need to transmit your stream to YouTube. cdn.ingestionInfo.
streamName
string
The stream name that YouTube assigns to the video stream.
cdn.ingestionInfo.
ingestionAddress
string
The primary ingestion URL that you should use to stream video to YouTube if you use RTMP, DASH, or HLS. You must stream video to this URL.
Depending on which application or tool you use to encode your video stream, you may need to enter the stream URL and stream name separately or you may need to concatenate them in the following format:
STREAM_URL/STREAM_NAME
cdn.ingestionInfo.
backupIngestionAddress
string
The backup ingestion URL that you should use to stream video to YouTube if you use RTMP, DASH, or HLS. You have the option of simultaneously streaming the content that you are sending to the
ingestionAddress
to this URL. cdn.ingestionInfo.
rtmpsIngestionAddress
string
The primary ingestion URL that you should use to stream video to YouTube if you use RTMPS. You must stream video to this URL.
Depending on which application or tool you use to encode your video stream, you may need to enter the stream URL and stream name separately or you may need to concatenate them in the following format:
STREAM_URL/STREAM_NAME
cdn.ingestionInfo.
rtmpsBackupIngestionAddress
string
The backup ingestion URL that you should use to stream video to YouTube if you use RTMPS.
cdn.
resolution
string
The resolution of the inbound video data.
Valid values for this property are:
-
240p
-
360p
-
480p
-
720p
-
1080p
-
1440p
-
2160p
-
variable
: Use this setting to indicate that YouTube should automatically detect the resolution of your streamed video. You must also setcdn.frameRate
tovariable
.
See the YouTube Help Center for recommended encoder settings .
cdn.
frameRate
string
The frame rate of the inbound video data.
Valid values for this property are:
-
30fps
-
60fps
-
variable
: Use this setting to indicate that YouTube should automatically detect the frame rate of your streamed video. You must also setcdn.resolution
tovariable
.
See the YouTube Help Center for recommended encoder settings .
status
object
The
status
object contains information about live stream's status. status.
streamStatus
string
The stream's status.
Valid values for this property are:
-
active
– The stream is in active state which means the user is receiving data via the stream. -
created
– The stream has been created but does not have valid CDN settings. -
error
– An error condition exists on the stream. -
inactive
– The stream is in inactive state which means the user is not receiving data via the stream. -
ready
– The stream has valid CDN settings.
status.
healthStatus
object
This object contains information about the live stream's health status, which could be used to identify, diagnose, and resolve streaming problems.
status.healthStatus.
status
string
The status code of this stream.
Valid values for this property are:
-
good
– There are no configuration issues for which the severity iswarning
or worse. -
ok
– There are no configuration issues for which the severity iserror
. -
bad
– The stream has some issues for which the severity iserror
. -
noData
– YouTube's live streaming backend servers do not have any information about the stream's health status.
status.healthStatus.
lastUpdateTimeSeconds
unsigned long
The last time that the stream's health status was updated. The value reflects a UNIX timestamp in seconds.
status.healthStatus.
configurationIssues[]
list
This object contains a list of configuration issues affecting the stream.
status.healthStatus.configurationIssues[].
type
string
Identifies the type of error affecting the stream.
status.healthStatus.configurationIssues[].
severity
string
Indicates how severe the issue is to the stream.
Valid values for this property are:
-
info
– The video is broadcast to viewers with no adverse effect on performance. -
warning
– The video is broadcast to viewers, but performance is not optimal. -
error
– The video cannot be broadcast to viewers.
status.healthStatus.configurationIssues[].
reason
string
A short description of the issue. The Configuration Issues for LiveStream Resources document identifies the reason associated with each configuration issue type.
status.healthStatus.configurationIssues[].
description
string
A detailed description of the issue. When possible, the description provides information about how to resolve the issue. The Configuration Issues for LiveStream Resources document lists all of the configuration issue types and their associated descriptions.
contentDetails
object
The
content_details
object contains information about the stream, including the closed captions ingestion URL. contentDetails.
closedCaptionsIngestionUrl
string
The ingestion URL where the closed captions of this stream are sent.
contentDetails.
isReusable
boolean
Indicates whether the stream is reusable, which means that it can be bound to multiple broadcasts. It is common for broadcasters to reuse the same stream for many different broadcasts if those broadcasts occur at different times.
If you set this value to
false
, then the stream will not be reusable, which means that it can only be bound to one broadcast. Non-reusable streams differ from reusable streams in the following ways: - A non-reusable stream can only be bound to one broadcast.
- A non-reusable stream might be deleted by an automated process after the broadcast ends.
- The
liveStreams.list
method does not list non-reusable streams if you call the method and set themine
parameter totrue
. The only way to use that method to retrieve the resource for a non-reusable stream is to use theid
parameter to identify the stream.