Watch live streams

When an input begins receiving the live stream, a new video with HLS and DASH URLs is automatically created as long as the mode property for the input is set to automatic.

​​ View by video id

One live input can have multiple video ids associated with it. In order to get the video id representing the current live stream for a given input, make a GET request to the /stream endpoint:

GET https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/{account}/stream/live_inputs/{live-input-uid}/videos

The response will contain the HLS/DASH URL that can be used to play the current live video as well as any previously recorded live videos:

{
  "result": [
    {
      "uid": "55b9b5ce48c3968c6b514c458959d6a",
      "thumbnail": "https://videodelivery.net/55b9b5ce48c3968c6b514c458959d6a/thumbnails/thumbnail.jpg",
      "thumbnailTimestampPct": 0,
      "readyToStream": false,
      "status": {
        "state": "live-inprogress",
        "errorReasonCode": "",
        "errorReasonText": ""
      },
      "meta": {
        "name": "Stream Live Test 23 Sep 21 05:44 UTC"
      },
      "created": "2021-09-23T05:44:30.453838Z",
      "modified": "2021-09-23T05:44:30.453838Z",
      "size": 0,
      "preview": "https://watch.videodelivery.net/55b9b5ce48c3968c6b514c458959d6a",
      "allowedOrigins": [],
      "requireSignedURLs": false,
      "uploaded": "2021-09-23T05:44:30.453812Z",
      "uploadExpiry": null,
      "maxSizeBytes": null,
      "maxDurationSeconds": null,
      "duration": -1,
      "input": {
        "width": -1,
        "height": -1
      },
      "playback": {
        "hls": "https://videodelivery.net/55b9b5ce48c3968c6b514c458959d6a/manifest/video.m3u8",
        "dash": "https://videodelivery.net/55b9b5ce48c3968c6b514c458959d6a/manifest/video.mpd"
      },
      "watermark": null,
      "liveInput": "34036a0695ab5237ce757ac53fd158a2"
    },
    {
      "uid": "2ba59740c897a197df70814fd5ad991",
      "thumbnail": "https://videodelivery.net/2ba59740c897a197df70814fd5ad991/thumbnails/thumbnail.jpg",
      "thumbnailTimestampPct": 0,
      "readyToStream": true,
      "status": {
        "state": "ready",
        "pctComplete": "100.000000",
        "errorReasonCode": "",
        "errorReasonText": ""
      },
      "meta": {
        "name": "CFTV Staging 22 Sep 21 22:12 UTC"
      },
      "created": "2021-09-22T22:12:53.587306Z",
      "modified": "2021-09-23T00:14:05.591333Z",
      "size": 0,
      "preview": "https://watch.videodelivery.net/2ba59740c897a197df70814fd5ad991",
      "allowedOrigins": [],
      "requireSignedURLs": false,
      "uploaded": "2021-09-22T22:12:53.587288Z",
      "uploadExpiry": null,
      "maxSizeBytes": null,
      "maxDurationSeconds": null,
      "duration": 7272,
      "input": {
        "width": 640,
        "height": 360
      },
      "playback": {
        "hls": "https://videodelivery.net/2ba59740c897a197df70814fd5ad991/manifest/video.m3u8",
        "dash": "https://videodelivery.net/2ba59740c897a197df70814fd5ad991/manifest/video.mpd"
      },
      "watermark": null,
      "liveInput": "34036a0695ab5237ce757ac53fd158a2"
    }
  ],
  "success": true,
  "errors": [],
  "messages": []
}

​​ View by live input uid

By using the live input uid in place of a video id in the hls/dash manifest URL, you get a static URL that will return a 200 with the manifest of the active livestream, or a 204 status code with no content if there is no active live stream.

Using the input ID in this manner is fully integrated in the Stream player, but may require some additional support for third party players. You can make a GET request to the /lifecycle endpoint to get additional data about a video id or live input uid for more information to make additional decisions.

GET https://videodelivery.net/34036a0695ab5237ce757ac53fd158a2/lifecycle

This is a response for an input ID with an active live stream:

{
      // indicates if the ID provided is for an input or a video
    "isInput": true,
    // returns the active video ID or null for an input ID, otherwise returns the provided video ID
    "videoUID": "55b9b5ce48c3968c6b514c458959d6a",
    // if isInput is true, indicates if the input is actively streaming or not
    "live": true
}

Or if the input ID does not have an active live stream:

{
    "isInput": true,
    "videoUID": null,
    "live": false
}

​​ Live input level viewing options

When viewing a livestream via the live input id, the requireSignedURLs and allowedOrigins options in the live input recording settings are used. These settings are independent of the video-level settings.

​​ Get live viewer counts for third party players

The Stream player has full support for live viewer counts by default. To get the viewer count for a live video for use with third party players, you can make a GET request to the /views endpoint.

https://videodelivery.net/55b9b5ce48c3968c6b514c458959d6a/views

This is a response for an live video with several active viewers:

{"liveViewers": 113}

​​ Replaying recordings

Live streams are automatically recorded. To get a list of recorded streams for a given input id, make the same GET request as you would to get the live video and filter for videos where the state property is set to ready:

GET https://dash.cloudflare.com/api/v4/accounts/{account}/stream/live_inputs/{live-input-id}/videos

This is what a response looks like:

{
  "result": [
...
    {
      "uid": "2ba59740c897a197df70814fd5ad991",
      "thumbnail": "https://videodelivery.net/2ba59740c897a197df70814fd5ad991/thumbnails/thumbnail.jpg",
      "thumbnailTimestampPct": 0,
      "readyToStream": true,
      "status": {
        "state": "ready",
        "pctComplete": "100.000000",
        "errorReasonCode": "",
        "errorReasonText": ""
      },
      "meta": {
        "name": "Stream Live Test 22 Sep 21 22:12 UTC"
      },
      "created": "2021-09-22T22:12:53.587306Z",
      "modified": "2021-09-23T00:14:05.591333Z",
      "size": 0,
      "preview": "https://watch.videodelivery.net/2ba59740c897a197df70814fd5ad991",
      "allowedOrigins": [],
      "requireSignedURLs": false,
      "uploaded": "2021-09-22T22:12:53.587288Z",
      "uploadExpiry": null,
      "maxSizeBytes": null,
      "maxDurationSeconds": null,
      "duration": 7272,
      "input": {
        "width": 640,
        "height": 360
      },
      "playback": {
        "hls": "https://videodelivery.net/2ba59740c897a197df70814fd5ad991/manifest/video.m3u8",
        "dash": "https://videodelivery.net/2ba59740c897a197df70814fd5ad991/manifest/video.mpd"
      },
      "watermark": null,
      "liveInput": "34036a0695ab5237ce757ac53fd158a2"
    }
  ],
  "success": true,
  "errors": [],
  "messages": []
}