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20. Stream Not Reaching YouTube

Troubleshooting issues specific to streaming to YouTube.

20.1 Common Issues

Issue Description
Encoding Warnings YouTube Studio shows encoding or quality warnings
Stream Not Appearing OBS shows streaming but nothing appears on YouTube
Debug Logs How to check YouTube-specific logs and error messages

20.2 Encoding Warnings

Issue: YouTube Studio shows stream health warnings

The relay passes the YouTube stream through unchanged, so the warnings describe what OBS sends. Fix them in OBS. For YouTube's recommended settings, see Choose live encoder settings, bitrates, and resolutions.

20.3 Stream Not Appearing

20.3.1 Symptoms

  • OBS shows "Streaming" but stream doesn't appear on YouTube
  • No errors in OBS

20.3.2 Possible Causes

20.3.2.1 Service Not Enabled

Check: Look at container logs during startup:

docker compose logs relay | grep -E "service enabled|Skipping|ERROR"

When YouTube is enabled, this line appears:

YouTube configuration complete, and service enabled.

If YouTube is not enabled, this line appears instead: YOUTUBE_KEY is not set. Skipping YouTube configuration.

Solution: If YouTube is missing: - Verify YOUTUBE_KEY is set in env/relay.env

Recreate the container so it reads the new value:

docker compose up -d --force-recreate

Confirm the service is enabled:

docker compose logs relay | grep -E "service enabled|Skipping|ERROR"

20.3.2.2 Wrong Stream Key

A key that is well-formed but wrong is accepted by the relay. The relay cannot tell it is wrong, and the log may show nothing.

Check: Confirm the relay can reach YouTube:

docker compose exec relay nc -zv a.rtmp.youtube.com 1935

Then start streaming and open YouTube Studio → Go Live. If the command above prints open and YouTube Studio → Go Live shows no incoming stream, the key is the likely cause.

Solution: Copy the key again from YouTube Studio into env/relay.env.

Recreate the container so it reads the new value:

docker compose up -d --force-recreate

Confirm the service is enabled:

docker compose logs relay | grep -E "service enabled|Skipping|ERROR"

20.3.2.3 Platform-Specific Issues

  • Verify you've scheduled a live stream or enabled "Stream now"
  • Check YouTube Studio for stream health warnings
  • Check the stream's visibility (Public/Unlisted/Private) in YouTube Studio
  • Confirm account is verified for live streaming

20.3.3 Confirm the Fix

Start streaming in OBS and open YouTube Studio → Go Live. The stream shows as receiving.

20.4 Debug Logs

For the startup lines every service prints, and which ones mean the container stopped, see Check Service Status. For more detail while streaming, see Increase Log Verbosity.

20.5 See Also