22 KiB
obs-websocket 5.0.0 protocol reference
General Introduction
obs-websocket provides a feature-rich RPC communication protocol, giving access to much of OBS's feature set. This document contains everything you should know in order to make a connection and use obs-websocket's functionality to the fullest.
Design Goals
- Abstraction of identification, events, requests, and batch requests into dedicated message types
- Conformity of request naming using similar terms like
Get
,Set
,Get[x]List
,Start[x]
,Toggle[x]
- Conformity of OBS data key names like
sourceName
,sourceKind
,sourceType
,sceneName
,sceneItemName
- Error code response system - integer corrosponds to type of error, with optional comment
- Possible support for multiple message encoding options: JSON and MessagePack
- PubSub system - Allow clients to specify which events they do or don't want to receive from OBS
- RPC versioning - Client and server negotiate the latest version of the obs-websocket protocol to communicate with.
Table of Contents
Connecting to obs-websocket
Here's info on how to connect to obs-websocket
Connection steps
These steps should be followed precisely. Failure to connect to the server as instructed will likely result in your client being treated in an undefined way.
-
Initial HTTP request made to the obs-websocket server.
- HTTP request headers can be used to set the websocket communication type. The default format is JSON. Example headers:
Content-Type: application/json
Content-Type: application/msgpack
- If an invalid
Content-Type
is specified, the connection will be closed withWebSocketCloseCode::InvalidContentType
after upgrade (but beforeHello
).
- HTTP request headers can be used to set the websocket communication type. The default format is JSON. Example headers:
-
Once the connection is upgraded, the websocket server will immediately send an OpCode 0
Hello
message to the client. -
The client listens for the
Hello
and responds with an OpCode 1Identify
containing all appropriate session parameters.- If there is an
authentication
key in themessageData
object, the server requires authentication, and the steps in Creating an authentication string should be followed. - If there is no
authentication
key, the resultingIdentify
object sent to the server does not require anauthentication
string. - The client determines if the server's
rpcVersion
is supported, and if not it provides its closest supported version inIdentify
.
- If there is an
-
The server receives and processes the
Identify
sent by the client.- If authentication is required and the
Identify
message data does not contain anauthentication
string, or the string is not correct, the connection is dropped withWebSocketCloseCode::AuthenticationFailed
- If the client has requested an
rpcVersion
which the server cannot use, the connection is dropped withWebSocketCloseCode::UnsupportedProtocolVersion
. This system allows both the server and client to have seamless backwards compatability. - If any other parameters are malformed (invalid type, etc), the connection is dropped with
WebSocketCloseCode::InvalidIdentifyParameter
- If authentication is required and the
-
Once identification is processed on the server, the server responds to the client with an OpCode 2
Identified
. -
The client will begin receiving events from obs-websocket and may now make requests to obs-websocket.
-
At any time after a client has been identified, it may send an OpCode 3
Reidentify
message to update certain allowed session parameters. The server will respond in the same way it does during initial identification.
Connection Notes
- If the Content Type is
application/msgpack
, all messages must be sent over binary. If it isapplication/json
, all messages must be sent over text. - The obs-websocket server listens for any messages containing a
request-type
key in the first level JSON from unidentified clients. If a message matches, the connection is dropped withWebSocketCloseCode::UnsupportedProtocolVersion
and a warning is logged. - If a message with a
messageType
is not recognized to the obs-websocket server, the connection is dropped withWebSocketCloseCode::UnknownMessageType
. - At no point may the client send any message other than a single
Identify
before it has received anIdentified
. Doing so will result in the connection being dropped by the server withWebSocketCloseCode::NotIdentified
.
Creating an authentication string
obs-websocket uses SHA256 to transmit authentication credentials. The server starts by sending an object in the authentication
key of its Hello
message data. The client processes the authentication challenge and responds via the authentication
string in the Identify
message data.
For this guide, we'll be using supersecretpassword
as the password.
The authentication
object in Hello
looks like this (example):
{
"challenge": "+IxH4CnCiqpX1rM9scsNynZzbOe4KhDeYcTNS3PDaeY=",
"salt": "lM1GncleQOaCu9lT1yeUZhFYnqhsLLP1G5lAGo3ixaI="
}
To generate the authentication string, follow these steps:
- Concatenate the websocket password with the
salt
provided by the server (password + salt
) - Generate an SHA256 binary hash of the result and base64 encode it, known as a base64 secret.
- Concatenate the base64 secret with the
challenge
sent by the server (base64_secret + challenge
) - Generate a binary SHA256 hash of that result and base64 encode it. You now have your
authentication
string.
For real-world examples of the authentication
string creation, refer to the obs-websocket client libraries listed on the README.
Enumerations
These are the enumeration definitions for various codes used by obs-websocket.
WebSocketOpCode Enum
enum WebSocketOpCode {
Hello = 0,
Identify = 1,
Identified = 2,
Reidentify = 3,
Event = 5,
Request = 6,
RequestResponse = 7,
RequestBatch = 8,
RequestBatchResponse = 9,
};
WebSocketCloseCode Enum
enum WebSocketCloseCode {
// Internal only
DontClose = 0,
// Reserved
UnknownReason = 4000,
// The requested `Content-Type` specified in the request HTTP header is invalid.
InvalidContentType = 4001,
// The server was unable to decode the incoming websocket message
MessageDecodeError = 4002,
// A data key is missing but required
MissingDataKey = 4003,
// A data key has an invalid type
InvalidDataKeyType = 4004,
// The specified `op` was invalid or missing
UnknownOpCode = 4005,
// The client sent a websocket message without first sending `Identify` message
NotIdentified = 4006,
// The client sent an `Identify` message while already identified
AlreadyIdentified = 4007,
// The authentication attempt (via `Identify`) failed
AuthenticationFailed = 4008,
// The server detected the usage of an old version of the obs-websocket protocol.
UnsupportedRpcVersion = 4009,
// The websocket session has been invalidated by the obs-websocket server.
SessionInvalidated = 4010,
};
EventSubscriptions Enum
enum EventSubscription {
// Set subscriptions to 0 to disable all events
None = 0,
// Receive events in the `General` category
General = (1 << 0),
// Receive events in the `Config` category
Config = (1 << 1),
// Receive events in the `Scenes` category
Scenes = (1 << 2),
// Receive events in the `Inputs` category
Inputs = (1 << 3),
// Receive events in the `Transitions` category
Transitions = (1 << 4),
// Receive events in the `Filters` category
Filters = (1 << 5),
// Receive events in the `Outputs` category
Outputs = (1 << 6),
// Receive events in the `Scene Items` category
SceneItems = (1 << 7),
// Receive events in the `MediaInputs` category
MediaInputs = (1 << 8),
// Receive all event categories
All = (General | Config | Scenes | Inputs | Transitions | Filters | Outputs | SceneItems | MediaInputs),
// InputVolumeMeters event (high-volume)
InputVolumeMeters = (1 << 9),
// InputActiveStateChanged event (high-volume)
InputActiveStateChanged = (1 << 10),
// InputShowStateChanged event (high-volume)
InputShowStateChanged = (1 << 11),
};
Subscriptions are a bitmask system. In many languages, to generate a bitmask that subscribes to General
and Scenes
, you would do: subscriptions = ((1 << 0) | (1 << 2))
RequestStatus Enum
enum RequestStatus {
Unknown = 0,
// For internal use to signify a successful parameter check
NoError = 10,
Success = 100,
// The `requestType` key is missing from the request data
MissingRequestType = 203,
// The request type is invalid (does not exist)
UnknownRequestType = 204,
// Generic error code (comment is expected to be provided)
GenericError = 205,
// A required request parameter is missing
MissingRequestParameter = 300,
// The request does not have a valid requestData object.
MissingRequestData = 301,
// Generic invalid request parameter message
InvalidRequestParameter = 400,
// A request parameter has the wrong data type
InvalidRequestParameterDataType = 401,
// A request parameter (float or int) is out of valid range
RequestParameterOutOfRange = 402,
// A request parameter (string or array) is empty and cannot be
RequestParameterEmpty = 403,
// There are too many request parameters (eg. a request takes two optionals, where only one is allowed at a time)
TooManyRequestParameters = 404,
// An output is running and cannot be in order to perform the request (generic)
OutputRunning = 500,
// An output is not running and should be
OutputNotRunning = 501,
// Stream is running and cannot be
StreamRunning = 502,
// Stream is not running and should be
StreamNotRunning = 503,
// Record is running and cannot be
RecordRunning = 504,
// Record is not running and should be
RecordNotRunning = 505,
// Record is paused and cannot be
RecordPaused = 506,
// Replay buffer is running and cannot be
ReplayBufferRunning = 507,
// Replay buffer is not running and should be
ReplayBufferNotRunning = 508,
// Replay buffer is disabled and cannot be
ReplayBufferDisabled = 509,
// Studio mode is active and cannot be
StudioModeActive = 510,
// Studio mode is not active and should be
StudioModeNotActive = 511,
// Virtualcam is running and cannot be
VirtualcamRunning = 512,
// Virtualcam is not running and should be
VirtualcamNotRunning = 513,
// The specified source (obs_source_t) was of the invalid type (Eg. input instead of scene)
InvalidSourceType = 600,
// The specified source (obs_source_t) was not found (generic for input, filter, transition, scene)
SourceNotFound = 601,
// The specified source (obs_source_t) already exists. Applicable to inputs, filters, transitions, scenes
SourceAlreadyExists = 602,
// The specified input (obs_source_t-OBS_SOURCE_TYPE_FILTER) was not found
InputNotFound = 603,
// The specified input (obs_source_t-OBS_SOURCE_TYPE_INPUT) had the wrong kind
InvalidInputKind = 604,
// The specified filter (obs_source_t-OBS_SOURCE_TYPE_FILTER) was not found
FilterNotFound = 605,
// The specified transition (obs_source_t-OBS_SOURCE_TYPE_TRANSITION) was not found
TransitionNotFound = 606,
// The specified transition (obs_source_t-OBS_SOURCE_TYPE_TRANSITION) does not support setting its position (transition is of fixed type)
TransitionDurationFixed = 607,
// The specified scene (obs_source_t-OBS_SOURCE_TYPE_SCENE), (obs_scene_t) was not found
SceneNotFound = 608,
// The specified scene item (obs_sceneitem_t) was not found
SceneItemNotFound = 609,
// The specified scene collection was not found
SceneCollectionNotFound = 610,
// The specified profile was not found
ProfileNotFound = 611,
// The specified output (obs_output_t) was not found
OutputNotFound = 612,
// The specified encoder (obs_encoder_t) was not found
EncoderNotFound = 613,
// The specified service (obs_service_t) was not found
ServiceNotFound = 614,
// The specified hotkey was not found
HotkeyNotFound = 615,
// The specified directory was not found
DirectoryNotFound = 616,
// The specified config item (config_t) was not found. Could be section or parameter name
ConfigParameterNotFound = 617,
// The specified property (obs_properties_t) was not found
PropertyNotFound = 618,
// The specififed key (OBS_KEY_*) was not found
KeyNotFound = 619,
// The specified data realm (OBS_WEBSOCKET_DATA_REALM_*) was not found
DataRealmNotFound = 620,
// The scene collection already exists
SceneCollectionAlreadyExists = 621,
// There are not enough scene collections to perform the action
NotEnoughSceneCollections = 622,
// The profile already exists
ProfileAlreadyExists = 623,
// There are not enough profiles to perform the action
NotEnoughProfiles = 624,
// There are not enough scenes to perform the action
NotEnoughScenes = 625,
// Processing the request failed unexpectedly
RequestProcessingFailed = 700,
// Starting the Output failed
OutputStartFailed = 701,
// Duplicating the scene item failed
SceneItemDuplicationFailed = 702,
// Rendering the screenshot failed
ScreenshotRenderFailed = 703,
// Encoding the screenshot failed
ScreenshotEncodeFailed = 704,
// Saving the screenshot failed
ScreenshotSaveFailed = 705,
// Creating the directory failed
DirectoryCreationFailed = 706,
// The combination of request parameters cannot be used to perform an action
CannotAct = 707,
// Creation of a new stream service failed
StreamServiceCreationFailed = 708,
};
Message Types (OpCodes)
The following message types are the low-level message types which may be sent to and from obs-websocket.
Messages sent from the obs-websocket server or client may contain these first-level keys, known as the base object:
{
"op": number,
"d": object
}
op
is aWebSocketOpCode
OpCode.d
is an object of the data keys associated with the operation.
Hello (OpCode 0)
- Sent from: obs-websocket
- Sent to: Freshly connected websocket client
- Description: First message sent from the server immediately on client connection. Contains authentication information if auth is required. Also contains RPC version for version negotiation.
Data Keys:
{
"obsWebSocketVersion": string,
"rpcVersion": number,
"authentication": object(optional)
}
rpcVersion
is a version number which gets incremented on each breaking change to the obs-websocket protocol. Its usage in this context is to provide the current rpc version that the server would like to use.
Example Messages: Authentication is required
{
"op": 0,
"d": {
"obsWebSocketVersion": "5.0.0",
"rpcVersion": 1,
"authentication": {
"challenge": "+IxH4CnCiqpX1rM9scsNynZzbOe4KhDeYcTNS3PDaeY=",
"salt": "lM1GncleQOaCu9lT1yeUZhFYnqhsLLP1G5lAGo3ixaI="
}
}
}
Authentication is not required
{
"op": 0,
"d": {
"obsWebSocketVersion": "5.0.0",
"rpcVersion": 1
}
}
Identify (OpCode 1)
- Sent from: Freshly connected websocket client
- Sent to: obs-websocket
- Description: Response to
Hello
message, should contain authentication string if authentication is required, along with PubSub subscriptions and other session parameters.
Data Keys:
{
"rpcVersion": number,
"authentication": string(optional),
"ignoreInvalidMessages": bool(optional) = false,
"ignoreNonFatalRequestChecks": bool(optional) = false,
"eventSubscriptions": number(optional) = (EventSubscription::All)
}
rpcVersion
is the version number that the client would like the obs-websocket server to use.- When
ignoreInvalidMessages
is true, the socket will not be closed forWebSocketCloseCode
:MessageDecodeError
,UnknownMessageType
, orRequestMissingRequestId
. Instead, the message will be logged and dropped. - When
ignoreNonFatalRequestChecks
is true, requests will ignore checks which are not critical to the function of the request. Eg callingDeleteScene
when the target scene does not exist would still returnRequestStatus::Success
if this flag is enabled. eventSubscriptions
is a bitmask ofEventSubscriptions
items to subscribe to events and event categories at will. By default, all event categories are subscribed, except for events marked as high volume. High volume events must be explicitly subscribed to.
Example Message:
{
"op": 1,
"d": {
"rpcVersion": 1,
"authentication": "Dj6cLS+jrNA0HpCArRg0Z/Fc+YHdt2FQfAvgD1mip6Y=",
"eventSubscriptions": 33
}
}
Identified (OpCode 2)
- Sent from: obs-websocket
- Sent to: Freshly identified client
- Description: The identify request was received and validated, and the connection is now ready for normal operation.
Data Keys:
{
"negotiatedRpcVersion": number
}
- If rpc version negotiation succeeds, the server determines the RPC version to be used and gives it to the client as
negotiatedRpcVersion
Example Message:
{
"op": 2,
"d": {
"negotiatedRpcVersion": 1
}
}
Reidentify (OpCode 3)
- Sent from: Identified client
- Sent to: obs-websocket
- Description: Sent at any time after initial identification to update the provided session parameters.
Data Keys:
{
"ignoreInvalidMessages": bool(optional) = false,
"ignoreNonFatalRequestChecks": bool(optional) = false,
"eventSubscriptions": number(optional) = (EventSubscription::All)
}
- Only the listed parameters may be changed after initial identification. To change a parameter not listed, you must reconnect to the obs-websocket server.
Event (OpCode 5)
- Sent from: obs-websocket
- Sent to: All subscribed and identified clients
- Description: An event coming from OBS has occured. Eg scene switched, source muted.
Data Keys:
{
"eventType": string,
"eventData": object(optional)
}
Example Message:
{
"op": 2,
"d": {
"eventType": "StudioModeStateChanged",
"eventData": {
"studioModeEnabled": true
}
}
}
Request (OpCode 6)
- Sent from: Identified client
- Sent to: obs-websocket
- Description: Client is making a request to obs-websocket. Eg get current scene, create source.
Data Keys:
{
"requestType": string,
"requestId": string,
"requestData": object(optional),
}
Example Message:
{
"op": 6,
"d": {
"requestType": "SetCurrentScene",
"requestId": "f819dcf0-89cc-11eb-8f0e-382c4ac93b9c",
"requestData": {
"sceneName": "Scene 12"
}
}
}
RequestResponse (OpCode 7)
- Sent from: obs-websocket
- Sent to: Identified client which made the request
- Description: obs-websocket is responding to a request coming from a client.
Data Keys:
{
"requestType": string,
"requestId": string,
"requestStatus": object,
"responseData": object(optional)
}
- The
requestType
andrequestId
are simply mirrors of what was sent by the client.
requestStatus
object:
{
"result": bool,
"code": number,
"comment": string(optional)
}
result
istrue
if the request resulted inRequestStatus::Success
. False if otherwise.code
is aRequestStatus
code.comment
may be provided by the server on errors to offer further details on why a request failed.
Example Messages: Successful Response
{
"op": 7,
"d": {
"requestType": "SetCurrentScene",
"requestId": "f819dcf0-89cc-11eb-8f0e-382c4ac93b9c",
"requestStatus": {
"result": true,
"code": 100
}
}
}
Failure Response
{
"op": 7,
"d": {
"requestType": "SetCurrentScene",
"requestId": "f819dcf0-89cc-11eb-8f0e-382c4ac93b9c",
"requestStatus": {
"result": false,
"code": 608,
"comment": "Parameter: sceneName"
}
}
}
RequestBatch (OpCode 8)
- Sent from: Identified client
- Sent to: obs-websocket
- Description: Client is making a batch of requests for obs-websocket. Requests are processed serially (in order) by the server.
Data Keys:
{
"requestId": string,
"haltOnFailure": bool(optional) = false,
"requests": array<object>
}
- When
haltOnFailure
istrue
, the processing of requests will be halted on first failure. Returns only the processed requests inRequestBatchResponse
. - Requests in the
requests
array follow the same structure as theRequest
payload data format, howeverrequestId
is an optional key.
RequestBatchResponse (OpCode 9)
- Sent from: obs-websocket
- Sent to: Identified client which made the request
- Description: obs-websocket is responding to a request batch coming from the client.
Data Keys:
{
"requestId": string,
"results": array<object>
}