Start a live stream

You can start a live stream using the Stream Dashboard or the API. After you subscribe to Stream, you can create Live Inputs and begin sending your live video to Cloudflare Stream using RTMPS.

​​ Using the Dashboard

1. To start a live stream using the Stream Dashboard, click the Live Inputs tab.
2. Click Create Live Input.
3. Enter a name for your Live Input and click Create Live Input.
4. After you have created a Live Input, you can retrieve the RTMPS URL and Key.

Within seconds of you pushing your live stream to Cloudflare Stream, you should see the live video stream:

​​ Using the API

To start a live stream programmatically, make a POST request to the /live_inputs endpoint:

curl -X POST \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/$ACCOUNT/stream/live_inputs --data '{"meta": {"name":"test stream 1"},"recording": { "mode": "automatic", "timeoutSeconds": 10, "requireSignedURLs": false, "allowedOrigins": ["*.example.com"] }}'

• When the mode property is set to automatic, it means the live stream will be automatically available for viewing using HLS/DASH. In addition, the live stream will be automatically recorded for later replays.
• The timeoutSeconds property specifies how long a live feed can be disconnected before it results in a new video being created.
• The requireSignedURLs property indicates if signed URLs are required to view the video. This setting is applied by default to all videos recorded from the input. In addition, if viewing a video via the live input ID, this field takes effect over any video-level settings.
• The allowedOrigins property can optionally be invoked to provide a list of allowed origins. This setting is applied by default to all videos recorded from the input. In addition, if viewing a video via the live input ID, this field takes effect over any video-level settings.

A successful response will return information about the live input:

{
  "uid": "f256e6ea9341d51eea64c9454659e576",
  "rtmps": {
    "url": "rtmps://live.cloudflare.com:443/live/",
    "streamKey": "MTQ0MTcjM3MjI1NDE3ODIyNTI1MjYyMjE4NTI2ODI1NDcxMzUyMzcf256e6ea9351d51eea64c9454659e576"
  },
  "created": "2021-09-23T05:05:53.451415Z",
  "modified": "2021-09-23T05:05:53.451415Z",
  "meta": {
    "name": "My Live Stream"
  },
  "status": null,
  "recording": {
    "mode": "automatic",
    "requireSignedURLs": false,
    "allowedOrigins": ["*.example.com"]
  }
}

​​ Managing live inputs

You can update live inputs by making a PUT request:

curl -X PUT \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/$ACCOUNT/stream/live_inputs/:input_id --data '{"meta": {"name":"test stream 1"},"recording": { "mode": "automatic", "timeoutSeconds": 10 }}'

Delete a live input by making a DELETE request:

curl -X DELETE \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/$ACCOUNT/stream/live_inputs/:input_id

​​ Requirements and known limitations

​​ Requirements

• Stream Live currently only supports HLS (HTTP Live Streaming), and recordings are only kept for the last seven days of the stream.
• Stream Live requires input GOP duration (keyframe interval) to be between 4 to 10 seconds.
• Closed GOPs required. This means that if there are any B frames in the video, they should always refer to frames within the same GOP. This setting is default in most encoder software such as OBS.
• Stream Live only supports H.264 video and AAC audio codecs as inputs. This requirement does not apply to inputs that are relayed to Stream Connect outputs.
• Clients must be configured to reconnect when a disconnection occurs. Stream Live is designed to handle reconnection gracefully by continuing the live stream.

​​ Known limitations:

• Watermarks cannot yet be used with live videos.
• The live videos feature does not yet work on older iOS versions: iOS 10, launched in 2016, and below.
• Hardware video encoding on Apple devices is not yet supported. When using encoder software such as OBS, x264 software encoding is required.
• If a live video exceeds seven days in length, the recording will be truncated to seven days and not be viewable.