Skip to content
Documentation

YouTube Streaming

This guide describes the YouTube-side setup for streaming an OpenIPC camera to YouTube Live with HLS ingestion. It is useful for long-running camera streams where temporary network drops should not permanently stop the event.

Requirements

Before starting:

  • enable live streaming on the YouTube account;
  • use the YouTube account connected to the target channel;
  • be ready to authorize requests with Google OAuth 2.0;
  • use the YouTube Data API sample tool at YouTube Live API code samples.

HLS and H.265

Use YouTube HLS ingestion for this setup. YouTube’s reference documentation is Delivering Content via HLS.

The important stream settings are:

"cdn": {
  "ingestionType": "hls",
  "frameRate": "variable",
  "resolution": "variable"
}

variable frame rate and resolution are useful for camera streams where the exact video mode may change or where the stream is not a fixed 1080p/60fps broadcast.

Create a Live Stream

  1. Open YouTube Live API code samples.
  2. Select liveStreams as the resource.
  3. Select insert as the method.
  4. Open the insert use case in the table.
  5. In the request body, set the cdn object to HLS with variable frame rate and resolution:
"cdn": {
  "ingestionType": "hls",
  "frameRate": "variable",
  "resolution": "variable"
}
  1. In the credentials section:
    • select Google OAuth 2.0;
    • select the https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube scope;
    • deselect API Key.
  2. Press Execute and authorize the request with the YouTube-connected account.
  3. Confirm that the response status is 200.
  4. Save the stream id from the response. You will need it when binding the broadcast.

Create a Broadcast

  1. Open YouTube Live API code samples.
  2. Select liveBroadcasts as the resource.
  3. Select insert as the method.
  4. Open the insert use case.
  5. Fill the broadcast snippet:
"snippet": {
  "title": "My Hometown Camera",
  "scheduledStartTime": "2026-12-31T00:00:00.000Z",
  "scheduledEndTime": "2027-01-01T00:00:00.000Z"
}

Use a start time in the future. The scheduled end time must be after the scheduled start time.

  1. In the credentials section:
    • select Google OAuth 2.0;
    • select the https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube scope;
    • deselect API Key.
  2. Press Execute and authorize the request.
  3. Confirm that the response status is 200.
  4. Save the broadcast id from the response.

Bind the Broadcast to the Stream

  1. Open YouTube Live API code samples.
  2. Select liveBroadcasts as the resource.
  3. Select bind as the method.
  4. Open the Bind a broadcast to a stream use case.
  5. Set:
    • id to the broadcast ID from the previous step;
    • streamId to the live stream ID from the stream creation step.
  6. Use Google OAuth 2.0 with the https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube scope and no API key.
  7. Press Execute and confirm a 200 response.

Go Live

Open YouTube Studio, click Create, then Go live.

After the YouTube side is prepared, configure the camera or streaming host to send video to the HLS ingestion endpoint returned by YouTube.

Troubleshooting

The API Call Fails

Check that live streaming is enabled for the YouTube account and that the request uses OAuth 2.0 with the YouTube scope. An API key alone is not enough for creating and binding streams.

The Broadcast Stops After a Disconnect

Use a scheduled broadcast with a start date far in the future. This reduces the chance that a temporary camera disconnect ends the event permanently.

Wrong Stream Parameters

Use HLS ingestion with variable frame rate and variable resolution unless you are sure the camera always sends one fixed mode.

Source