YouTube Live Streaming API: Python Code Samples

The following code samples, which use the Google APIs Client Library for Python, are available for the YouTube Live Streaming API. You can download these code samples from the python folder of the YouTube APIs code sample repository on GitHub.

  1. Create a broadcast (liveBroadcasts.bind, liveBroadcasts.insert, liveStreams.insert)
  2. Retrieve a channel's broadcasts (liveBroadcasts.list)
  3. Retrieve a channel's live video streams (liveStreams.list)

Create a broadcast

The code sample below calls the API's liveBroadcasts.insert method to create a broadcast.

#!/usr/bin/python

import httplib2
import os
import sys

from apiclient.discovery import build
from apiclient.errors import HttpError
from oauth2client.client import flow_from_clientsecrets
from oauth2client.file import Storage
from oauth2client.tools import argparser, run_flow

# The CLIENT_SECRETS_FILE variable specifies the name of a file that contains
# the OAuth 2.0 information for this application, including its client_id and
# client_secret. You can acquire an OAuth 2.0 client ID and client secret from
# the Google Developers Console at
# https://console.developers.google.com/.
# Please ensure that you have enabled the YouTube Data API for your project.
# For more information about using OAuth2 to access the YouTube Data API, see:
#   https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3/guides/authentication
# For more information about the client_secrets.json file format, see:
#   https://developers.google.com/api-client-library/python/guide/aaa_client_secrets
CLIENT_SECRETS_FILE = "client_secrets.json"

# This OAuth 2.0 access scope allows for full read/write access to the
# authenticated user's account.
YOUTUBE_READ_WRITE_SCOPE = "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube"
YOUTUBE_API_SERVICE_NAME = "youtube"
YOUTUBE_API_VERSION = "v3"

# This variable defines a message to display if the CLIENT_SECRETS_FILE is
# missing.
MISSING_CLIENT_SECRETS_MESSAGE = """
WARNING: Please configure OAuth 2.0

To make this sample run you will need to populate the client_secrets.json file
found at:

   %s

with information from the Developers Console
https://console.developers.google.com/

For more information about the client_secrets.json file format, please visit:
https://developers.google.com/api-client-library/python/guide/aaa_client_secrets
""" % os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__),
                                   CLIENT_SECRETS_FILE))

def get_authenticated_service(args):
  flow = flow_from_clientsecrets(CLIENT_SECRETS_FILE,
    scope=YOUTUBE_READ_WRITE_SCOPE,
    message=MISSING_CLIENT_SECRETS_MESSAGE)

  storage = Storage("%s-oauth2.json" % sys.argv[0])
  credentials = storage.get()

  if credentials is None or credentials.invalid:
    credentials = run_flow(flow, storage, args)

  return build(YOUTUBE_API_SERVICE_NAME, YOUTUBE_API_VERSION,
    http=credentials.authorize(httplib2.Http()))

# Create a liveBroadcast resource and set its title, scheduled start time,
# scheduled end time, and privacy status.
def insert_broadcast(youtube, options):
  insert_broadcast_response = youtube.liveBroadcasts().insert(
    part="snippet,status",
    body=dict(
      snippet=dict(
        title=options.broadcast_title,
        scheduledStartTime=options.start_time,
        scheduledEndTime=options.end_time
      ),
      status=dict(
        privacyStatus=options.privacy_status
      )
    )
  ).execute()

  snippet = insert_broadcast_response["snippet"]

  print "Broadcast '%s' with title '%s' was published at '%s'." % (
    insert_broadcast_response["id"], snippet["title"], snippet["publishedAt"])
  return insert_broadcast_response["id"]

# Create a liveStream resource and set its title, format, and ingestion type.
# This resource describes the content that you are transmitting to YouTube.
def insert_stream(youtube, options):
  insert_stream_response = youtube.liveStreams().insert(
    part="snippet,cdn",
    body=dict(
      snippet=dict(
        title=options.stream_title
      ),
      cdn=dict(
        format="1080p",
        ingestionType="rtmp"
      )
    )
  ).execute()

  snippet = insert_stream_response["snippet"]

  print "Stream '%s' with title '%s' was inserted." % (
    insert_stream_response["id"], snippet["title"])
  return insert_stream_response["id"]

# Bind the broadcast to the video stream. By doing so, you link the video that
# you will transmit to YouTube to the broadcast that the video is for.
def bind_broadcast(youtube, broadcast_id, stream_id):
  bind_broadcast_response = youtube.liveBroadcasts().bind(
    part="id,contentDetails",
    id=broadcast_id,
    streamId=stream_id
  ).execute()

  print "Broadcast '%s' was bound to stream '%s'." % (
    bind_broadcast_response["id"],
    bind_broadcast_response["contentDetails"]["boundStreamId"])

if __name__ == "__main__":
  argparser.add_argument("--broadcast-title", help="Broadcast title",
    default="New Broadcast")
  argparser.add_argument("--privacy-status", help="Broadcast privacy status",
    default="private")
  argparser.add_argument("--start-time", help="Scheduled start time",
    default='2014-01-30T00:00:00.000Z')
  argparser.add_argument("--end-time", help="Scheduled end time",
    default='2014-01-31T00:00:00.000Z')
  argparser.add_argument("--stream-title", help="Stream title",
    default="New Stream")
  args = argparser.parse_args()

  youtube = get_authenticated_service(args)
  try:
    broadcast_id = insert_broadcast(youtube, args)
    stream_id = insert_stream(youtube, args)
    bind_broadcast(youtube, broadcast_id, stream_id)
  except HttpError, e:
    print "An HTTP error %d occurred:\n%s" % (e.resp.status, e.content)

Retrieve a channel's broadcasts

The code sample below calls the API's liveBroadcasts.list method to retrieve a list of broadcasts for the channel associated with the request. By default, the request retrieves all broadcasts for the channel, but you can also specify a value for the --broadcast-status option to only retrieve broadcasts with a particular status.

#!/usr/bin/python

import httplib2
import os
import sys

from apiclient.discovery import build
from apiclient.errors import HttpError
from oauth2client.client import flow_from_clientsecrets
from oauth2client.file import Storage
from oauth2client.tools import argparser, run_flow


# The CLIENT_SECRETS_FILE variable specifies the name of a file that contains
# the OAuth 2.0 information for this application, including its client_id and
# client_secret. You can acquire an OAuth 2.0 client ID and client secret from
# the Google Developers Console at
# https://console.developers.google.com/.
# Please ensure that you have enabled the YouTube Data API for your project.
# For more information about using OAuth2 to access the YouTube Data API, see:
#   https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3/guides/authentication
# For more information about the client_secrets.json file format, see:
#   https://developers.google.com/api-client-library/python/guide/aaa_client_secrets
CLIENT_SECRETS_FILE = "client_secrets.json"

# This OAuth 2.0 access scope allows for read-only access to the authenticated
# user's account, but not other types of account access.
YOUTUBE_READONLY_SCOPE = "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube.readonly"
YOUTUBE_API_SERVICE_NAME = "youtube"
YOUTUBE_API_VERSION = "v3"

# This variable defines a message to display if the CLIENT_SECRETS_FILE is
# missing.
MISSING_CLIENT_SECRETS_MESSAGE = """
WARNING: Please configure OAuth 2.0

To make this sample run you will need to populate the client_secrets.json file
found at:

   %s

with information from the Developers Console
https://console.developers.google.com/

For more information about the client_secrets.json file format, please visit:
https://developers.google.com/api-client-library/python/guide/aaa_client_secrets
""" % os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__),
                                   CLIENT_SECRETS_FILE))

VALID_BROADCAST_STATUSES = ("all", "active", "completed", "upcoming",)

def get_authenticated_service(args):
  flow = flow_from_clientsecrets(CLIENT_SECRETS_FILE,
    scope=YOUTUBE_READONLY_SCOPE,
    message=MISSING_CLIENT_SECRETS_MESSAGE)

  storage = Storage("%s-oauth2.json" % sys.argv[0])
  credentials = storage.get()

  if credentials is None or credentials.invalid:
    credentials = run_flow(flow, storage, args)

  return build(YOUTUBE_API_SERVICE_NAME, YOUTUBE_API_VERSION,
    http=credentials.authorize(httplib2.Http()))

# Retrieve a list of broadcasts with the specified status.
def list_broadcasts(youtube, broadcast_status):
  print "Broadcasts with status '%s':" % broadcast_status

  list_broadcasts_request = youtube.liveBroadcasts().list(
    broadcastStatus=broadcast_status,
    part="id,snippet",
    maxResults=50
  )

  while list_broadcasts_request:
    list_broadcasts_response = list_broadcasts_request.execute()

    for broadcast in list_broadcasts_response.get("items", []):
      print "%s (%s)" % (broadcast["snippet"]["title"], broadcast["id"])

    list_broadcasts_request = youtube.liveBroadcasts().list_next(
      list_broadcasts_request, list_broadcasts_response)

if __name__ == "__main__":
  argparser.add_argument("--broadcast-status", help="Broadcast status",
    choices=VALID_BROADCAST_STATUSES, default=VALID_BROADCAST_STATUSES[0])
  args = argparser.parse_args()

  youtube = get_authenticated_service(args)
  try:
    list_broadcasts(youtube, args.broadcast_status)
  except HttpError, e:
    print "An HTTP error %d occurred:\n%s" % (e.resp.status, e.content)

Retrieve a channel's live video streams

The code sample below calls the API's liveStreams.list method to retrieve a list of video stream settings that a channel can use to broadcast live events on YouTube.

#!/usr/bin/python

import httplib2
import os
import sys

from apiclient.discovery import build
from apiclient.errors import HttpError
from oauth2client.client import flow_from_clientsecrets
from oauth2client.file import Storage
from oauth2client.tools import argparser, run_flow


# The CLIENT_SECRETS_FILE variable specifies the name of a file that contains
# the OAuth 2.0 information for this application, including its client_id and
# client_secret. You can acquire an OAuth 2.0 client ID and client secret from
# the Google Developers Console at
# https://console.developers.google.com/.
# Please ensure that you have enabled the YouTube Data API for your project.
# For more information about using OAuth2 to access the YouTube Data API, see:
#   https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3/guides/authentication
# For more information about the client_secrets.json file format, see:
#   https://developers.google.com/api-client-library/python/guide/aaa_client_secrets
CLIENT_SECRETS_FILE = "client_secrets.json"

# This OAuth 2.0 access scope allows for read-only access to the authenticated
# user's account, but not other types of account access.
YOUTUBE_READONLY_SCOPE = "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube.readonly"
YOUTUBE_API_SERVICE_NAME = "youtube"
YOUTUBE_API_VERSION = "v3"

# This variable defines a message to display if the CLIENT_SECRETS_FILE is
# missing.
MISSING_CLIENT_SECRETS_MESSAGE = """
WARNING: Please configure OAuth 2.0

To make this sample run you will need to populate the client_secrets.json file
found at:

   %s

with information from the Developers Console
https://console.developers.google.com/

For more information about the client_secrets.json file format, please visit:
https://developers.google.com/api-client-library/python/guide/aaa_client_secrets
""" % os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__),
                                   CLIENT_SECRETS_FILE))

def get_authenticated_service(args):
  flow = flow_from_clientsecrets(CLIENT_SECRETS_FILE,
    scope=YOUTUBE_READONLY_SCOPE,
    message=MISSING_CLIENT_SECRETS_MESSAGE)

  storage = Storage("%s-oauth2.json" % sys.argv[0])
  credentials = storage.get()

  if credentials is None or credentials.invalid:
    credentials = run_flow(flow, storage, args)

  return build(YOUTUBE_API_SERVICE_NAME, YOUTUBE_API_VERSION,
    http=credentials.authorize(httplib2.Http()))

# Retrieve a list of the liveStream resources associated with the currently
# authenticated user's channel.
def list_streams(youtube):
  print "Live streams:"

  list_streams_request = youtube.liveStreams().list(
    part="id,snippet",
    mine=True,
    maxResults=50
  )

  while list_streams_request:
    list_streams_response = list_streams_request.execute()

    for stream in list_streams_response.get("items", []):
      print "%s (%s)" % (stream["snippet"]["title"], stream["id"])

    list_streams_request = youtube.liveStreams().list_next(
      list_streams_request, list_streams_response)

if __name__ == "__main__":
  args = argparser.parse_args()

  youtube = get_authenticated_service(args)
  try:
    list_streams(youtube)
  except HttpError, e:
    print "An HTTP error %d occurred:\n%s" % (e.resp.status, e.content)

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