Youtube Livestream scheduler wrapper using Go2RTC

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Note: This post is about my project on Github: livestream-youtube-scheduler 🚀

Introduction 🐦🎥

I've been looking for solutions to livestream the bird feeders in my garden to YouTube using a spare IP camera that outputs an RTSP stream.

After some searching, I discovered Go2RTC, which is perfect for handling the livestream itself. However, I couldn't find any ready-made solution that would automatically set up a stream, start streaming, and then end the stream using the YouTube API.

So, I decided to create my own project: livestream-youtube-scheduler! With this tool, you can easily configure and manage multiple streams at once. The project will automatically schedule your livestream, start streaming (by triggering an endpoint in the Go2RTC API), and end the stream when the time is up—all with minimal effort. ✨

If you've been searching for a simple way to automate your YouTube livestreams, I hope this project helps you out!

I'm always open to suggestions or improvements—if you have any, please feel free to open a PR.
The project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0.

Getting Started 🛠️

For the latest installation steps, check out the project's README.
Below, I'll walk you through the process in more detail:

Pre-Requisites 📋

I've tested the script on Ubuntu 24.04, but newer and older versions should work too. The main requirements are those set by Go2RTC, since most of the wrapper scripts are written in Bash.

As of July 2025, you'll need:

  • Linux OS (I use Ubuntu 24.04)
  • Bash (tested with version 3.2, but newer versions should be fine)
  • Docker (to run the Go2RTC container; tested on Docker 27.5.1, build a187fa5)
  • jq (for parsing JSON output from curl)
  • curl (for sending HTTP requests to the YouTube API)
  • crontab (for scheduling stream starts via cron)
  • date (GNU date with --iso-8601 support)
  • A YouTube account (to configure API details)
  • A stream source (e.g., RTSP feed)

Setup ⚙️

Copying Files

First, either clone the repo or download the latest release as a .zip from:
https://github.com/ryanfitton/livestream-youtube-scheduler/releases
We'll use these files in the next steps.

Note: The files assume your user directory is /home/user. If yours is different, do a Find and Replace in all files to update the path.

  1. Pull the latest Go2RTC Docker image:

    sudo docker pull alexxit/go2rtc

  2. Create a config folder in your home directory:

    mkdir /home/user/config

  3. Create a config.sh file in this folder:

    nano /home/user/config/config.sh

    Upload the contents of config.sh from the .zip you downloaded. This file will hold your YouTube API keys and livestream schedules.

  4. Create a config folder for Go2RTC stream details:

    mkdir /home/user/config/go2rtc

    And a go2rtc.yaml file:

    nano /home/user/config/go2rtc/go2rtc.yaml

    Upload the contents of go2rtc.yaml from the .zip.

  5. Create the main scheduler script:

    nano /home/user/livestream-youtube-scheduler.sh

    Upload the script from the .zip and make it executable:

    chmod +x livestream-youtube-scheduler.sh

  6. Create the scheduler wrapper script:

    nano /home/user/scheduler-wrapper.sh

    Upload the script from the .zip and make it executable:

    chmod +x scheduler-wrapper.sh

  7. Create folders for images and audio files (for YouTube thumbnails and stream audio overlays):

    mkdir /home/user/config/audio
mkdir /home/user/config/images

    Upload the contents of images and audio from the .zip.

  8. Schedule your cronjobs as sudo:

    sudo crontab -e

    Example entry:

    0 1 * * * /bin/bash /home/user/scheduler-wrapper.sh

    This will run the scheduler at 1:00am each day and schedule livestreams as specified in config.sh.

Generating Your YouTube Keys 🔑

  1. Create a Google Cloud Project

    • Go to Google Cloud Console.
    • Click the project dropdown and select "New Project".
    • Name your project (e.g., "YouTube livestream") and click Create.

  2. Enable the YouTube Data API v3

    • In the Cloud Console, select your project.
    • Go to APIs & Services > Library.
    • Search for YouTube Data API v3 and enable it.

  3. Create OAuth 2.0 Credentials

    • Go to APIs & Services > Credentials.
    • Click Create Credentials > OAuth Client ID.
    • Choose Desktop App (or Web Application if needed).
    • Click Create and copy your Client ID and Client Secret.

  4. Get a Refresh Token via OAuth 2.0 Playground

    • Open OAuth 2.0 Playground
    • Click the gear icon (⚙️) and check "Use your own OAuth credentials".
    • Paste your Client ID and Client Secret.
    • In Step 1, scroll to YouTube Data API v3 and select:
      • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube
      • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube.force-ssl
    • Click Authorize APIs and sign in.
    • In Step 2, click Exchange authorization code for tokens and copy the Refresh Token (shown only once!).

  5. Save your credentials—you'll need them for the final setup.

Configuring Livestreams 🎬

  1. Set up your livestream sources in /home/user/config/go2rtc/go2rtc.yaml:

    Example:

    streams:
  ipcam: "rtsp://username:password@ipAddress:554/s0"
  # birdcam uses a custom overlay and audio track
  birdcam: ffmpeg:rtsp://username:password@ipAddress:554/s0#hardware#video=h264#raw=-i /images/birdcam-overlay-2560x1440.png -f lavfi -i anullsrc=cl=mono:r=48000 -filter_complex "[0:v][1:v]overlay=x=0:y=main_h-overlay_h,drawtext=text='Bird Camera Live Feed':x=450:y=main_h-text_h-225:fontsize=120:fontcolor=white:box=1:[email protected],scale=1920:1080[v];amovie='/audio/birds.mp3':loop=0,volume=1[bgm];[2:a][bgm]amix=inputs=2:duration=first[audio]" -map "[v]" -map "[audio]" -preset veryfast -crf 28 -shortest

api:
  listen: ":1984"
  username: ""
  password: ""
  origin: "*"
  tls_listen: ""
  unix_listen: "/tmp/go2rtc.sock"  # default "", unix socket listener for API

    Here, ipcam is a simple RTSP feed, while birdcam adds overlays, dynamic text, and replaces the audio with an MP3 file. We'll use the birdcam stream in the next step.

  2. Set up your schedules in /home/user/config/config.sh:

    Example:

    stream1=(
  "STREAM=birdcam"
  "TIMEZONE=Europe/London"
  "VISIBILITY=private"
  "TODAY=$(date +"%Y-%m-%d")"
  "TITLE='Bird camera live feed for $(date +"%A %d %B")'"
  "DESC='Bird camera live feed for $(date +"%A %d %B"). Streamed 11:00 to 15:30'"
  "THUMBNAIL='/home/user/config/youtube_thumbnail_1280x720.png'"
  "START=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)T11:00:00"
  "END=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)T15:30:00"
)
    • "STREAM=birdcam": The stream name from your Go2RTC config.
    • "TIMEZONE=Europe/London": Timezone for start/end times.
    • "VISIBILITY=private": Stream visibility (unlisted, public, or private).
    • "TITLE=...": The YouTube stream title.
    • "DESC=...": The YouTube stream description.
    • "THUMBNAIL=...": Path to the stream thumbnail (ideally 1280×720px).
    • "START=...": Start date/time in ISO format.
    • "END=...": End date/time in ISO format.

    You can have multiple streams—just set up each array and include it in the stream_configs variable, e.g., stream_configs=("stream1" "stream2").

  3. Add your YouTube API details to /home/user/config/config.sh:

    # YouTube API credentials (keep these secret!)
CLIENT_ID="YOUR CLIENT ID HERE"
CLIENT_SECRET="YOUR CLIENT SECRET HERE"
REFRESH_TOKEN="YOUR REFRESH TOKEN HERE"

Final Steps 🎉

It's a good idea to restart your computer. Once it's back up, run:

sudo /bin/bash /home/user/scheduler-wrapper.sh

If your streams are scheduled to start after the current date and time, you should see success messages as your streams are scheduled in your YouTube account. Happy streaming! 📺✨

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