Add Or Delete A Live Stream Thumbnail

You can add your image as the thumbnail. There is only one way to add a thumbnail to a live stream, unlike videos. This guide walks through how to add a live stream thumbnail.

If you want to add a thumbnail to a video, there are two methods available - you can choose an image to upload, or you can pick a frame from the video to set as the thumbnail. To learn how to do this, please see the Add a thumbnail to your video guide.

API documentation

Choose an api.video client

The clients offered by api.video include:

Installation

To install your selected client, do the following:

Installing the api.video client

go get github.com/apivideo/api.video-go-client

Create an account

Before you can start streaming, you need to create an api.video account.

Once you are logged in to the Dashboard, select the environment of your choice (sandbox or production) and copy your API key.

Add a live stream thumbnail

You can add a thumbnail image to your live stream by uploading the picture you want to use. You have the option to choose a photo that's in .jpg, .png, or .webp format. It must be 8MB or smaller. To send your file, add the path to where it's stored and open it in binary. Then you can upload it with the client of your choice or see how it works with cURL.

Adding a live stream thumbnail

curl --request POST \
     --url https://ws.api.video/live-streams/vi4k0jvEUuaTdRAEjQ4Jfrgz/thumbnail \
     --header 'Accept: application/json' \
     --header 'Authorization: Bearer eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiJ9.eyJpYXQiOjE2NDI4MTQxNDUuMjE2Mzc2LCJuYmYiOjE2NDI4MTQxNDUuMjE2Mzc2LCJleHAiOjE2NDI4MTc3NDUuMjE2Mzc2LCJwcm9qZWN0SWQiOiJwclJ6SUpKQTdCTHNxSGpTNDVLVnBCMSJ9.GSDqqMzBxo-wOwl9IVbOnzevm8A6LSyaR5kxCWUdkEneSU0kIdoNfhwmXZBq5QWpVa-0GIT8JR59W6npNO-ayhaXmV3LA6EQpvv0mHd_dAhg3N8T96eC0ps0YIrkmw0_Oe6iRgEDI-wJ9nc6tQWi9ybbMHi1LDBjxW4rbFlq7G59C1QZGabd14QO7uqAUUSNqHC1l42z_m7BTK1AhFiBEXmMcfW7X0VmGcaEUy7NiNda8rmq_nrdvkxgN8KHguXzxMsw_4GE_d0eQwHcZvS1q-FebI6b8AoqpoltFOZvUACCrfXH_D_UPshHuJM3apXbD2dg_zQicc8oWBHVGiobLQ' \
     --header 'Content-Type: multipart/form-data' \
     --form file=@pic.jpg

Delete a live stream thumbnail

To delete a live stream thumbnail, get the live stream ID for the live stream with the thumbnail you want to remove. Then send in a request for deletion using the client of your choice. The thumbnail will be removed from your live stream!

Deleting a live stream thumbnail

curl --request DELETE \
     --url https://ws.api.video/live-streams/li400mYKSgQ6xs7taUeSaEKr/thumbnail \
     --header 'Accept: application/json' \
     --header 'Authorization: Bearer eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiJ9.eyJpYXQiOjE2NDI4MTQxNDUuMjE2Mzc2LCJuYmYiOjE2NDI4MTQxNDUuMjE2Mzc2LCJleHAiOjE2NDI4MTc3NDUuMjE2Mzc2LCJwcm9qZWN0SWQiOiJwclJ6SUpKQTdCTHNxSGpTNDVLVnBCMSJ9.GSDqqMzBxo-wOwl9IVbOnzevm8A6LSyaR5kxCWUdkEneSU0kIdoNfhwmXZBq5QWpVa-0GIT8JR59W6npNO-ayhaXmV3LA6EQpvv0mHd_dAhg3N8T96eC0ps0YIrkmw0_Oe6iRgEDI-wJ9nc6tQWi9ybbMHi1LDBjxW4rbFlq7G59C1QZGabd14QO7uqAUUSNqHC1l42z_m7BTK1AhFiBEXmMcfW7X0VmGcaEUy7NiNda8rmq_nrdvkxgN8KHguXzxMsw_4GE_d0eQwHcZvS1q-FebI6b8AoqpoltFOZvUACCrfXH_D_UPshHuJM3apXbD2dg_zQicc8oWBHVGiobLQ'

Conclusion

For live streams, you cannot pick a frame to be a thumbnail on the fly, so adding an image is the way to go.