Custom Messages Guide

Overview

Stream Daemon uses a flexible message system that allows you to customize announcements for each streaming platform. Messages support variables, platform-specific sections, and fallback behavior.

Message Files:

messages.txt - Stream start announcements
end_messages.txt - Stream end messages

Both files use an INI-style format with sections for platform-specific customization.

Quick Start

Basic Setup

Create messages.txt in your project root:

[DEFAULT]
🔴 Now LIVE! Come watch: {stream_title}
Streaming {stream_title} right now!
{username} just went live!

Create end_messages.txt:

[DEFAULT]
Thanks for watching! See you next time! 💜
Stream ended! Catch the VOD!
That's a wrap! Thanks for joining!

Stream Daemon will:

Pick a random message from the file
Replace variables ({stream_title}, {username})
Post to your social platforms

File Format

INI-Style Sections

# Comments start with #
# Blank lines are ignored

[DEFAULT]
Generic message for all platforms
Another generic message
Third message option

[TWITCH]
Twitch-specific message
https://twitch.tv/{username}

[YOUTUBE]
YouTube-specific message
https://youtube.com/@{username}/live

[KICK]
Kick-specific message
https://kick.com/{username}

How Sections Work

Stream Daemon follows this priority:

Platform-specific section (e.g., [TWITCH])
- If found, uses those messages for that platform
DEFAULT section (fallback)
- If no platform section exists, uses DEFAULT
Error if neither exists
- At minimum, you need [DEFAULT]

Variables

All messages support these variables:

Variable	Description	Example
`{stream_title}`	Current stream title	`"Elden Ring Boss Rush"`
`{username}`	Platform-specific username	`"chiefgyk3d"`
`{platform}`	Streaming platform name	`"Twitch"`, `"YouTube"`, `"Kick"`

Variable Usage Examples

Simple:

[DEFAULT]
{username} is live! Playing: {stream_title}

Output: "chiefgyk3d is live! Playing: Elden Ring Boss Rush"

With URLs:

[TWITCH]
🟣 {username} is streaming on Twitch!
{stream_title}
Watch: https://twitch.tv/{username}

Multi-line:

[YOUTUBE]
📺 YouTube LIVE!
{username} is streaming: {stream_title}

Subscribe and watch: https://youtube.com/@{username}/live

Configuration Modes

Mode 1: Platform-Specific (Default)

Configuration:

# In .env
MESSAGES_USE_PLATFORM_SPECIFIC_MESSAGES=True

Behavior:

Twitch goes live → Uses [TWITCH] messages (or [DEFAULT] if no [TWITCH])
YouTube goes live → Uses [YOUTUBE] messages (or [DEFAULT] if no [YOUTUBE])
Kick goes live → Uses [KICK] messages (or [DEFAULT] if no [KICK])

Example messages.txt:

[DEFAULT]
🔴 LIVE! {stream_title}

[TWITCH]
🟣 Twitch stream LIVE! {stream_title}
https://twitch.tv/{username}

[YOUTUBE]
📺 YouTube stream starting! {stream_title}
https://youtube.com/@{username}/live

# Kick will use [DEFAULT] since no [KICK] section

Result:

Twitch: "🟣 Twitch stream LIVE! Elden Ring"
YouTube: "📺 YouTube stream starting! Elden Ring"
Kick: "🔴 LIVE! Elden Ring" (uses DEFAULT)

Mode 2: Unified (All Platforms Same)

Configuration:

# In .env
MESSAGES_USE_PLATFORM_SPECIFIC_MESSAGES=False

Behavior:

Always uses [DEFAULT] section
Platform-specific sections are ignored
Same message on every platform

Example messages.txt:

[DEFAULT]
🔴 LIVE NOW! {stream_title}
{username} is streaming!

[TWITCH]
This will be ignored!

[YOUTUBE]
This will also be ignored!

Result: All platforms use [DEFAULT] messages.

When to use:

Want same branding across all platforms
Simpler message management
Don't need platform-specific URLs

Configuration Reference

Environment Variables

Add to your .env file:

# ================================================
# MESSAGE CONFIGURATION
# ================================================

# Message files (INI format)
MESSAGES_MESSAGES_FILE=messages.txt
MESSAGES_END_MESSAGES_FILE=end_messages.txt

# Use platform-specific sections or always [DEFAULT]
# True = Use [TWITCH], [YOUTUBE], [KICK] sections when available
# False = Always use [DEFAULT] for all platforms
MESSAGES_USE_PLATFORM_SPECIFIC_MESSAGES=True

# Post "stream ended" messages when streams end
MESSAGES_POST_END_STREAM_MESSAGE=True

Custom File Paths

Want to use different file names or locations?

# Custom paths
MESSAGES_MESSAGES_FILE=/path/to/custom_live_messages.txt
MESSAGES_END_MESSAGES_FILE=/path/to/custom_end_messages.txt

Advanced Examples

Example 1: Platform URLs Only

Want same message, but add platform-specific URLs?

[DEFAULT]
🔴 LIVE NOW! {stream_title}

[TWITCH]
🔴 LIVE NOW! {stream_title}
https://twitch.tv/{username}

[YOUTUBE]
🔴 LIVE NOW! {stream_title}
https://youtube.com/@{username}/live

[KICK]
🔴 LIVE NOW! {stream_title}
https://kick.com/{username}

Example 2: Different Tone Per Platform

[DEFAULT]
Stream is live! Playing {stream_title}

[TWITCH]
🟣 LET'S GOOOO! {stream_title} LIVE ON TWITCH!
Drop by and say hi! 💜
https://twitch.tv/{username}

[YOUTUBE]
📺 New stream just started! {stream_title}
Don't forget to like and subscribe!
https://youtube.com/@{username}/live

[KICK]
🟢 LIVE ON KICK! Come hang out!
{stream_title}
https://kick.com/{username}

Example 3: Multiple Message Variants

Add variety by including multiple messages per section:

[TWITCH]
🟣 LIVE on Twitch! {stream_title} https://twitch.tv/{username}
🎮 Going live! {stream_title} - Join me! https://twitch.tv/{username}
💜 Stream starting NOW! {stream_title} https://twitch.tv/{username}
⚡ Time to stream! {stream_title} https://twitch.tv/{username}
🔴 {username} is live! Playing {stream_title} https://twitch.tv/{username}

Stream Daemon picks one randomly for each announcement.

Example 4: Minimal Setup

Simplest possible configuration:

[DEFAULT]
🔴 {username} is live! {stream_title}

That's it! Works for all platforms.

Stream End Messages

Basic End Messages

end_messages.txt:

[DEFAULT]
Thanks for watching! See you next time! 💜
Stream ended! Thanks for joining!
That's a wrap! Catch you later!

Platform-Specific End Messages

[DEFAULT]
Thanks for watching!

[TWITCH]
Thanks for the amazing stream! Catch the VOD below! 💜
That was epic! See you next time on Twitch!

[YOUTUBE]
Stream complete! Don't forget to like and subscribe! 🔴
Thanks for watching! VOD will be available soon!

[KICK]
Kick stream done! Thanks for the support! 🟢
That was fun! See you in the next one!

Disabling End Messages

Don't want "stream ended" announcements?

# In .env
MESSAGES_POST_END_STREAM_MESSAGE=False

Only stream start messages will be posted.

Best Practices

1. Include Stream URLs

Make it easy for followers to find your stream:

[TWITCH]
🟣 LIVE: {stream_title}
Watch: https://twitch.tv/{username}

Platform URLs:

Twitch: https://twitch.tv/{username}
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@{username}/live
Kick: https://kick.com/{username}

2. Use Platform Emojis

Visual branding helps:

Platform	Emoji	Example
Twitch	🟣 💜 🎮	`🟣 LIVE on Twitch!`
YouTube	🔴 📺 🎥	`📺 YouTube stream!`
Kick	🟢 ⚡ 💚	`🟢 LIVE on Kick!`

3. Add Variety

Include 5-10 messages per section to avoid repetition:

[TWITCH]
🟣 Message 1
🟣 Message 2
🟣 Message 3
🟣 Message 4
🟣 Message 5

4. Match Platform Culture

Twitch - Casual, gaming-focused:

🟣 LET'S GOOO! Time to grind in {stream_title}! 🎮

YouTube - Professional, broader audience:

📺 New stream: {stream_title}. Like and subscribe for more!

Kick - Community-focused, energetic:

🟢 LIVE NOW! Join the community! {stream_title} ⚡

5. Keep It Concise

Social platform character limits:

Bluesky: 300 characters
Mastodon: 500 characters (instance-dependent)
Discord: No strict limit (but keep under 2000 for embed descriptions)
Matrix: No strict limit (but keep reasonable)

Tip: Aim for 200-250 characters for cross-platform compatibility.

Troubleshooting

"No messages found"

Problem: Stream Daemon can't find message file

Solutions:

Check file exists:
```
ls messages.txt end_messages.txt
```

Check file path:

# In .env
MESSAGES_MESSAGES_FILE=messages.txt  # Relative to project root

Use absolute path if needed:

MESSAGES_MESSAGES_FILE=/full/path/to/messages.txt

"No [DEFAULT] section found"

Problem: Message file has no [DEFAULT] section

Solution: Add a [DEFAULT] section:

[DEFAULT]
🔴 LIVE! {stream_title}

[TWITCH]
🟣 Twitch specific

Even if you use platform-specific messages, [DEFAULT] is required as fallback.

"Variables not replaced"

Problem: {stream_title} appears literally in posts

Check:

Correct variable syntax:
- ✅ {stream_title}
- ❌ {{stream_title}}
- ❌ ${stream_title}
- ❌ %stream_title%
Variables are case-sensitive:
- ✅ {stream_title}
- ❌ {STREAM_TITLE}
- ❌ {streamtitle}
Supported variables:
- {stream_title} ✅
- {username} ✅
- {platform} ✅
- {viewer_count} ❌ (not supported in messages.txt)

"Same message every time"

Problem: No randomization happening

Cause: Only one message in the section

Solution: Add multiple messages:

[TWITCH]
Message 1
Message 2
Message 3

Stream Daemon randomly picks one.

"Platform section ignored"

Problem: Platform-specific messages not being used

Check:

Configuration:

MESSAGES_USE_PLATFORM_SPECIFIC_MESSAGES=True  # Must be True

Section names are uppercase:
- ✅ [TWITCH]
- ❌ [twitch]
- ❌ [Twitch]
Section name matches platform:
- Twitch: [TWITCH]
- YouTube: [YOUTUBE]
- Kick: [KICK]

Migration Guide

From Old Format (Separate Files)

Old setup (9 files):

messages.txt
messages_twitch.txt
messages_youtube.txt
messages_kick.txt
end_messages.txt
end_messages_twitch.txt
end_messages_youtube.txt
end_messages_kick.txt

New setup (2 files):

messages.txt:

[DEFAULT]
<contents of old messages.txt>

[TWITCH]
<contents of old messages_twitch.txt>

[YOUTUBE]
<contents of old messages_youtube.txt>

[KICK]
<contents of old messages_kick.txt>

end_messages.txt:

[DEFAULT]
<contents of old end_messages.txt>

[TWITCH]
<contents of old end_messages_twitch.txt>

[YOUTUBE]
<contents of old end_messages_youtube.txt>

[KICK]
<contents of old end_messages_kick.txt>

Benefits of New Format

✅ Fewer files - 2 instead of 9
✅ Clearer organization - All messages in one place
✅ Flexible - Easy to enable/disable platform-specific mode
✅ Easier to maintain - Edit one file instead of many
✅ Better version control - Fewer files to track

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Custom Messages Guide

Overview

Quick Start

Basic Setup

File Format

INI-Style Sections

How Sections Work

Variables

Variable Usage Examples

Configuration Modes

Mode 1: Platform-Specific (Default)

Mode 2: Unified (All Platforms Same)

Configuration Reference

Environment Variables

Custom File Paths

Advanced Examples

Example 1: Platform URLs Only

Example 2: Different Tone Per Platform

Example 3: Multiple Message Variants

Example 4: Minimal Setup

Stream End Messages

Basic End Messages

Platform-Specific End Messages

Disabling End Messages

Best Practices

1. Include Stream URLs

2. Use Platform Emojis

3. Add Variety

4. Match Platform Culture

5. Keep It Concise

Troubleshooting

"No messages found"

"No [DEFAULT] section found"

"Variables not replaced"

"Same message every time"

"Platform section ignored"

Migration Guide

From Old Format (Separate Files)

Benefits of New Format

See Also