Go-Live

A lightweight, high-performance WebRTC SFU (Selective Forwarding Unit) server built with Go and Pion WebRTC. Supports WHIP/WHEP protocols for streaming, room-based broadcast, recording, and comprehensive observability.

📋 Table of Contents

Features
Architecture
Quick Start
Installation
Configuration
API Reference
Documentation
Development
Docker Deployment
Alternatives
Troubleshooting
Performance
Contributing
License

✨ Features

Feature	Description
🎥 WHIP/WHEP Protocol	Standard HTTP-based WebRTC ingest and playback, compatible with OBS and modern browsers
🏠 Room-based SFU	Single publisher, multiple subscribers per room with efficient RTP forwarding
🔐 Flexible Authentication	Global token, per-room tokens, or JWT with role-based access control
📹 Recording & Upload	VP8/VP9 → IVF, Opus → OGG with automatic S3/MinIO upload
📊 Full Observability	Prometheus metrics, OpenTelemetry tracing, health check endpoints
🐳 Cloud Native	Docker and Docker Compose support, Kubernetes-ready
🌐 Embedded Web UI	Built-in publisher and player pages, ready to use out of the box
⚡ High Performance	Low-latency media forwarding with Go's concurrent programming model

🏗️ Architecture

                         ┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
                         │          HTTP Server :8080          │
                         │                                     │
    ┌──────────┐         │  ┌─────────┐    ┌─────────────┐    │
    │ Publisher│ ──WHIP──▶│  │  Auth   │───▶│    SFU      │    │
    │(OBS/Web) │         │  │Middleware│    │  Manager    │    │
    └──────────┘         │  └─────────┘    └──────┬──────┘    │
                         │                        │           │
    ┌──────────┐         │        ┌───────────────┤           │
    │  Viewer  │ ◀──WHEP──│        │               │           │
    │(Browser) │───────▶  │        ▼               ▼           │
    └──────────┘         │ ┌─────────────┐ ┌───────────┐      │
                         │ │    Room     │ │ Recording │      │
                         │ │  (Fanout)   │ │  & Upload │      │
                         │ └──────┬──────┘ └─────┬─────┘      │
                         └────────┼──────────────┼────────────┘
                                  │              │
                        ┌─────────▼──────────────▼───────────┐
                        │          Object Storage            │
                        │           (S3/MinIO)               │
                        └────────────────────────────────────┘

Request Processing Chain

HTTP Request → CORS → Rate Limiter → Auth → Handler → SFU Room

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

Go 1.22+ - Download Go
Git - For cloning the repository
Port 8080 - Available on your machine

Run from Source

# Clone and run
git clone https://github.com/LessUp/go-live.git
cd go-live
go run ./cmd/server

Verify Installation

curl http://localhost:8080/healthz
# Expected response: ok

Stream with OBS

Open OBS Studio → Settings → Stream
Service: Select WHIP
Server: http://localhost:8080/api/whip/publish/{room} (e.g., myroom)
Bearer Token: Your AUTH_TOKEN (if configured)
Click Start Streaming

💡 See OBS WHIP Guide for detailed instructions.

Run with Docker

docker run --rm -p 8080:8080 ghcr.io/lessup/go-live:latest

Access the Application

Page	URL	Description
🏠 Home	`http://localhost:8080/`	Frontend dashboard
📤 Publisher	`http://localhost:8080/web/publisher.html`	Browser-based streaming
📥 Player	`http://localhost:8080/web/player.html`	Watch live streams
📋 Records	`http://localhost:8080/web/records.html`	Recording browser
📊 Metrics	`http://localhost:8080/metrics`	Prometheus metrics
❤️ Health	`http://localhost:8080/healthz`	Health check

Quick Test Flow

Open Publisher page → Start streaming to a room
Open Player page (new tab) → Enter same room name → Watch stream
Check Metrics → See active connections

📦 Installation

Binary Download

Download pre-built binaries from GitHub Releases:

# Linux AMD64
curl -LO https://github.com/LessUp/go-live/releases/latest/download/live-webrtc-go-linux-amd64
chmod +x live-webrtc-go-linux-amd64
./live-webrtc-go-linux-amd64

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/LessUp/go-live.git
cd go-live
make build
./bin/server

⚙️ Configuration

Configuration is via environment variables. Create an .env.local file:

# Core
HTTP_ADDR=:8080
ALLOWED_ORIGIN=*

# Authentication (optional but recommended for production)
AUTH_TOKEN=change-me-in-production    # ⚠️ Use a secure random token!
ADMIN_TOKEN=your-admin-token

# Recording (optional)
RECORD_ENABLED=1
RECORD_DIR=records

# S3 Upload (optional)
UPLOAD_RECORDINGS=1
S3_ENDPOINT=minio.example.com:9000
S3_ACCESS_KEY=minioadmin
S3_SECRET_KEY=minioadmin
S3_BUCKET=recordings

⚠️ Security Warning: Never use the example tokens in production. Generate secure random tokens with openssl rand -hex 32.

Core Settings

Variable	Default	Description
`HTTP_ADDR`	`:8080`	HTTP listen address
`ALLOWED_ORIGIN`	`*`	CORS allowed origin

Authentication

Variable	Description
`AUTH_TOKEN`	Global authentication token
`ROOM_TOKENS`	Per-room tokens: `room1:tok1;room2:tok2`
`JWT_SECRET`	JWT HMAC signing key
`ADMIN_TOKEN`	Token for admin endpoints

WebRTC/ICE

Variable	Default	Description
`STUN_URLS`	`stun:stun.l.google.com:19302`	STUN servers (comma-separated)
`TURN_URLS`	-	TURN servers (comma-separated)
`TURN_USERNAME`	-	TURN username
`TURN_PASSWORD`	-	TURN password

Rate Limiting & Limits

Variable	Default	Description
`RATE_LIMIT_RPS`	`0`	Requests per second per IP (0 = disabled)
`MAX_SUBS_PER_ROOM`	`0`	Max subscribers per room (0 = unlimited)
`SDP_MAX_SIZE`	`32768`	Max SDP offer size in bytes

Recording

Variable	Default	Description
`RECORD_ENABLED`	`0`	Enable recording (`1` to enable)
`RECORD_DIR`	`records`	Recording output directory
`UPLOAD_RECORDINGS`	`0`	Enable S3 upload (`1` to enable)

S3/MinIO Upload

Variable	Default	Description
`S3_ENDPOINT`	-	S3/MinIO endpoint
`S3_ACCESS_KEY`	-	Access key
`S3_SECRET_KEY`	-	Secret key
`S3_BUCKET`	`recordings`	Bucket name
`S3_REGION`	`us-east-1`	Region
`S3_USE_SSL`	`0`	Use HTTPS (`1` to enable)

Debug

Variable	Default	Description
`PPROF`	`0`	Enable pprof endpoints (`1` to enable)
`LOG_LEVEL`	`info`	Log level: `debug`, `info`, `warn`, `error`

💡 See full configuration guide for all options including S3 upload, rate limiting, TLS, and debug settings.

🔌 API Reference

Streaming Endpoints

Method	Path	Auth	Success	Key Errors
`POST`	`/api/whip/publish/{room}`	Token/JWT	`201 Created` (SDP Answer)	`401` auth, `409` duplicate publisher
`POST`	`/api/whep/play/{room}`	Token/JWT	`201 Created` (SDP Answer)	`401` auth, `403` subscriber limit, `404` no publisher

Query Endpoints

Method	Path	Description
`GET`	`/api/bootstrap`	Runtime config for frontend
`GET`	`/api/rooms`	List active rooms
`GET`	`/api/records`	List recording files

Admin Endpoints

Method	Path	Auth	Description
`POST`	`/api/admin/rooms/{room}/close`	Admin Token	Force close a room

Health & Metrics

Method	Path	Description
`GET`	`/healthz`	Health check (returns `ok`)
`GET`	`/metrics`	Prometheus metrics

Quick Test with curl

# Health check
curl http://localhost:8080/healthz

# List rooms
curl http://localhost:8080/api/rooms

# Bootstrap config
curl http://localhost:8080/api/bootstrap | jq

# Close room (admin)
curl -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ADMIN_TOKEN" \
  http://localhost:8080/api/admin/rooms/myroom/close

💡 See complete API documentation for request/response formats and examples.

📚 Documentation

Document	Link
English Docs	https://lessup.github.io/go-live/en/
中文文档	https://lessup.github.io/go-live/zh/
Usage Guide	https://lessup.github.io/go-live/en/usage.html
Design Docs	https://lessup.github.io/go-live/en/design.html
API Reference	https://lessup.github.io/go-live/en/api.html
Changelog	https://lessup.github.io/go-live/changelog.html

🛠️ Development

Makefile Commands

make build       # Build binary to bin/
make test        # Run all tests (unit + integration + security)
make test-unit   # Run unit tests only
make test-all    # Run all tests including e2e and performance
make lint        # Run linters (gofmt + go vet + golangci-lint)
make security    # Run gosec security scan
make coverage    # Generate coverage report
make ci          # Full CI pipeline (lint + test + security)

Project Structure

├── cmd/server/           # Application entry point
│   ├── main.go           # HTTP server initialization
│   └── web/              # Embedded static files
├── internal/
│   ├── api/              # HTTP handlers and routing
│   ├── config/           # Configuration management
│   ├── sfu/              # WebRTC SFU core
│   ├── metrics/          # Prometheus metrics
│   ├── otel/             # OpenTelemetry tracing
│   ├── uploader/         # S3/MinIO upload
│   └── testutil/         # Test utilities
├── specs/                # Single Source of Truth (Specs)
├── test/                 # Test implementations
└── docs/                 # Documentation

Supported Codecs

Codec	Type	Format
VP8	Video	IVF
VP9	Video	IVF
Opus	Audio	OGG

🐳 Docker Deployment

Production Checklist

Set secure AUTH_TOKEN and ADMIN_TOKEN
Configure HTTPS/TLS (required for WebRTC in production)
Set up TURN server for NAT traversal
Configure ALLOWED_ORIGIN to your domain
Set up monitoring (Prometheus + Grafana)

Build Image

docker build -t live-webrtc-go:latest .

Basic Run

docker run --rm -p 8080:8080 live-webrtc-go:latest

Docker Compose

services:
  live-webrtc:
    build: .
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    environment:
      - AUTH_TOKEN=${AUTH_TOKEN}
      - RECORD_ENABLED=1
      - RECORD_DIR=/records
    volumes:
      - ./records:/records
    restart: unless-stopped

docker compose up -d

Full Configuration

docker run --rm -p 8080:8080 \
  -e AUTH_TOKEN=mysecret \
  -e RECORD_ENABLED=1 \
  -e RECORD_DIR=/records \
  -e UPLOAD_RECORDINGS=1 \
  -e S3_ENDPOINT=minio:9000 \
  -e S3_ACCESS_KEY=minioadmin \
  -e S3_SECRET_KEY=minioadmin \
  -e S3_BUCKET=recordings \
  -v $(pwd)/records:/records \
  live-webrtc-go:latest

💡 See Docker deployment guide for Kubernetes examples and production best practices.

🔄 Alternatives

How does go-live compare to other WebRTC servers?

Project	Type	Language	Key Difference
go-live	SFU	Go	Lightweight, WHIP/WHEP native, single binary
LiveKit	SFU	Go	Full-featured, SDK ecosystem, scalable
Mediasoup	SFU	Node.js/C++	High performance, Node.js integration
Janus	MCU/SFU	C	Multi-protocol, plugin architecture
Pionion	SFU	Go	Pion-based, microservices

Choose go-live if you want:

Single binary deployment
WHIP/WHEP protocol (OBS/browser native)
Minimal dependencies
Easy containerization

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see our Contributing Guidelines for details.

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

🔧 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Issue	Cause	Solution
ICE connection failed	STUN/TURN unreachable	Check firewall allows UDP; verify STUN_URLS
No video/audio	Publisher not connected	Verify WHIP endpoint returns 201; check browser console
Auth rejected (401)	Missing/invalid token	Ensure `Authorization: Bearer <token>` header is set
Room not found	Publisher disconnected	Rooms auto-close when publisher leaves
High latency	Network/ICE issues	Use TURN server for NAT traversal; check network

Debug Commands

# Check health
curl http://localhost:8080/healthz

# View metrics
curl http://localhost:8080/metrics

# List active rooms
curl http://localhost:8080/api/rooms

# Enable pprof (PPROF=1)
curl http://localhost:8080/debug/pprof/

Network Requirements

UDP ports: WebRTC uses dynamic UDP ports for media
STUN: UDP 3478 (outbound)
TURN: UDP/TCP 3478 (if configured)
Firewall: Allow outbound UDP; for inbound, configure TURN

💡 See Troubleshooting Guide for detailed diagnostics.

📈 Performance

Benchmarks

Metric	Value	Notes
Publisher latency	< 50ms	Local network
Subscriber fanout	1000+ per room	Depends on server resources
Memory per subscriber	~2MB	Video + audio tracks
CPU usage	~5% per 100 subs	VP8 passthrough (no transcoding)

Optimization Tips

Use TURN relay for challenging NAT environments
Increase MAX_SUBS_PER_ROOM for large audiences
Enable Prometheus to monitor resource usage
Deploy multiple instances behind a load balancer for horizontal scaling

🔗 Links

⬆ Back to Top

Made with ❤️ by LessUp

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 45 Commits
.claude		.claude
.github		.github
cmd/server		cmd/server
docs		docs
internal		internal
openspec		openspec
scripts		scripts
test		test
.dockerignore		.dockerignore
.gitattributes		.gitattributes
.gitignore		.gitignore
.golangci.yml		.golangci.yml
AGENTS.md		AGENTS.md
CHANGELOG.md		CHANGELOG.md
CLAUDE.md		CLAUDE.md
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md		CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
CONTRIBUTING.md		CONTRIBUTING.md
Dockerfile		Dockerfile
LICENSE		LICENSE
Makefile		Makefile
README.md		README.md
README.zh-CN.md		README.zh-CN.md
SECURITY.md		SECURITY.md
docker-compose.yml		docker-compose.yml
go.mod		go.mod
go.sum		go.sum

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Go-Live

📋 Table of Contents

✨ Features

🏗️ Architecture

Request Processing Chain

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

Run from Source

Verify Installation

Stream with OBS

Run with Docker

Access the Application

Quick Test Flow

📦 Installation

Binary Download

Build from Source

⚙️ Configuration

Core Settings

Authentication

WebRTC/ICE

Rate Limiting & Limits

Recording

S3/MinIO Upload

Debug

🔌 API Reference

Streaming Endpoints

Query Endpoints

Admin Endpoints

Health & Metrics

Quick Test with curl

📚 Documentation

🛠️ Development

Makefile Commands

Project Structure

Supported Codecs

🐳 Docker Deployment

Production Checklist

Build Image

Basic Run

Docker Compose

Full Configuration

🔄 Alternatives

🤝 Contributing

📄 License

🔧 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Debug Commands

Network Requirements

📈 Performance

Benchmarks

Optimization Tips

🔗 Links

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