Live Video API

Preview

REST

Live Streaming

Broadcast live events, church services, classes, sports, and product launches. Ingest with RTMP or SRT from any encoder, then deliver adaptive HLS (and low-latency HLS) to browsers and mobile apps — with optional DVR and VOD archive.

Professional ingest

Push from OBS, vMix, Wirecast, FFmpeg, or hardware encoders over RTMP or SRT.

Adaptive playback

Deliver multi-bitrate HLS and LL-HLS so viewers on 3G and fiber both get a smooth stream.

Massive fan-out

One publisher, unlimited viewers via CDN edge — separate from interactive WebRTC rooms.

DVR & VOD

Optional live DVR window and automatic VOD archive when the stream ends.

Africa-first edge

Ingest and playback POPs optimized for West, East, and Southern African audiences.

Stream webhooks

live.stream.started, live, idle, ended, and recording.ready for automation.

Ingest protocols

RTMP · SRT

OBS & pro encoders

Playback

HLS · LL-HLS

ABR ladder auto-built

Glass-to-glass

~3–8s

LL-HLS target (p95)

Concurrent viewers

100k+

Per stream (plan-based)

Authentication

All REST requests use HTTP Basic Auth with your dashboard Base64 token: Authorization: Basic <token>. Auth guide →

Rooms vs live streams

Rooms are bidirectional WebRTC sessions (everyone can talk). Live streams are one-to-many broadcasts (encoder in, CDN out). You can also simulcast a room host out to a live stream for hybrid events — see Stream Ingest.

Choose your mode

Interactive rooms

WebRTC

Multi-party calls — hosts and participants publish and subscribe with low latency (telehealth, tutoring, support).

2–50 participants
Bidirectional A/V
Join tokens + SDK

Open docs

Live streaming

Broadcast

One-to-many broadcast — encoder pushes RTMP/SRT; thousands of viewers pull HLS or LL-HLS.

1 publisher
Unlimited viewers
CDN playback URLs

Open docs

Streaming architecture

Your backend creates a stream with POST /v1/video/streams and receives ingest credentials + playback URLs.
Encoder (OBS, FFmpeg, camera) pushes media to the RTMP or SRT ingest URL using the stream key.
Sendexa transcodes an ABR ladder and publishes HLS / LL-HLS manifests on the CDN.
Viewers play with any HLS player (hls.js, AVPlayer, ExoPlayer) or the Sendexa player embed.
Webhooks fire when the stream goes live, idles, ends, or when the VOD archive is ready.

text

Encoder (OBS)          Your Backend              Sendexa                  Viewers
     |                       |                         |                        |
     |                       |  POST /v1/video/streams |                        |
     |                       |------------------------>|                        |
     |                       |  streamId, rtmpUrl,     |                        |
     |                       |  streamKey, hlsUrl      |                        |
     |                       |<------------------------|                        |
     |  RTMP/SRT push        |                         |                        |
     |------------------------------------------------>|  ABR + CDN             |
     |                       |                         |----------------------->|
     |                       |  webhooks (live/ended)  |  HLS / LL-HLS pull     |
     |                       |<------------------------|                        |

Create a live stream

POST

/v1/video/streams

Provision a new broadcast. Response includes ingest endpoints (keep the stream key secret) and public playback URLs for your apps.

Field	Type	Required	Description
name	string	optional	Human-readable title shown in the dashboard and player.
latencyMode	"standard" \| "low"	optional	standard ≈ 8–15s glass-to-glass (HLS). low enables LL-HLS (~3–8s). Default: standard.
dvr	boolean	optional	Enable live rewind window for viewers. Default: false.
dvrWindowSeconds	number	optional	DVR buffer length (60–14400). Default: 7200 when dvr=true.
record	boolean	optional	Archive to VOD when the stream ends. Default: false.
region	string	optional	Preferred ingest region (e.g. af-west, eu-west). Auto if omitted.
reconnectWindowSeconds	number	optional	How long to keep the stream 'live' after encoder disconnect (0–600). Default: 60.
metadata	object	optional	Arbitrary JSON for your app (eventId, channelSlug, etc.).

Bash

curl -X POST 'https://api.sendexa.co/v1/video/streams' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YOUR_DASHBOARD_BASE64_TOKEN' \
  -d '{
    "name": "Sunday Service — Live",
    "latencyMode": "low",
    "dvr": true,
    "dvrWindowSeconds": 7200,
    "record": true,
    "region": "af-west",
    "reconnectWindowSeconds": 120,
    "metadata": { "eventId": "EVT-2048", "channel": "main-sanctuary" }
  }'

Success response (201)

JSON

{
  "success": true,
  "code": "STREAM_CREATED",
  "message": "Live stream created.",
  "requestId": "req_8f2a1c90",
  "data": {
    "streamId": "str_01JQX7K2M9N4P5",
    "name": "Sunday Service — Live",
    "status": "idle",
    "latencyMode": "low",
    "region": "af-west",
    "dvr": true,
    "dvrWindowSeconds": 7200,
    "record": true,
    "reconnectWindowSeconds": 120,
    "ingest": {
      "rtmpUrl": "rtmps://ingest.sendexa.co/live",
      "rtmpUrlInsecure": "rtmp://ingest.sendexa.co/live",
      "streamKey": "sk_live_a1b2c3d4e5f6…",
      "srtUrl": "srt://ingest.sendexa.co:9000?streamid=str_01JQX7K2M9N4P5",
      "server": "ingest.sendexa.co"
    },
    "playback": {
      "hls": "https://live.sendexa.co/str_01JQX7K2M9N4P5/index.m3u8",
      "llHls": "https://live.sendexa.co/str_01JQX7K2M9N4P5/ll/index.m3u8",
      "embedUrl": "https://player.sendexa.co/live/str_01JQX7K2M9N4P5",
      "poster": null
    },
    "metadata": { "eventId": "EVT-2048", "channel": "main-sanctuary" },
    "createdAt": "2026-07-12T18:00:00.000Z",
    "updatedAt": "2026-07-12T18:00:00.000Z"
  }
}

Stream lifecycle

Status	Meaning	Typical trigger
idle	Created; waiting for encoder	POST /v1/video/streams
starting	First packets received; ladder building	Encoder connects
live	Playback manifests ready for viewers	Keyframes + segments ready
disconnected	Encoder dropped; reconnect window open	Network blip / stop
ended	Stream closed permanently	API end or reconnect timeout

text

idle ──push──> starting ──ready──> live ──stop/end──> ended
                  ^                   |
                  |    disconnect     |
                  +<── disconnected ──+  (within reconnectWindowSeconds)

REST surface

POST

/v1/video/streams

Create stream

GET

/v1/video/streams/:streamId

Get stream

POST

/v1/video/streams/:streamId/end

End stream

List streams

RTMP / SRT setup

HLS · LL-HLS · embed

Manage an active stream

Get stream

GET

/v1/video/streams/:streamId

Bash

curl 'https://api.sendexa.co/v1/video/streams/str_01JQX7K2M9N4P5' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YOUR_DASHBOARD_BASE64_TOKEN'

End stream (force stop + finalize VOD)

POST

/v1/video/streams/:streamId/end

Bash

curl -X POST 'https://api.sendexa.co/v1/video/streams/str_01JQX7K2M9N4P5/end' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YOUR_DASHBOARD_BASE64_TOKEN' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{ "reason": "scheduled_end" }'

List streams

GET

/v1/video/streams

Bash

curl 'https://api.sendexa.co/v1/video/streams?status=live&limit=20' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YOUR_DASHBOARD_BASE64_TOKEN'

Error codes

Code	HTTP	Meaning
STREAM_CREATED	201	Stream provisioned
STREAM_NOT_FOUND	404	Unknown streamId
STREAM_ALREADY_ENDED	409	Cannot end or push to ended stream
STREAM_LIMIT_REACHED	429	Concurrent live stream quota exceeded
INVALID_LATENCY_MODE	400	latencyMode must be standard or low
INGEST_AUTH_FAILED	401	Bad stream key on encoder (ingest plane)

Next steps

Stream Ingest

OBS, FFmpeg, RTMP/SRT, bitrates, and reconnect

Stream Playback

HLS players, LL-HLS, embed, DVR, mobile SDKs

Webhooks

live.stream.* events and recording.ready

Security

Treat streamKey like a password. Rotate keys from the dashboard if leaked. Prefer rtmps:// over plain RTMP. Playback URLs can be made signed/tokenized for paid events — see Playback docs.