1. My videos are not appearing in the gallery. What should I do?
This is the most common issue new users face. Streamly utilizes a background Auto-Scanner to parse your video files. If your videos are not appearing, ensure that you have set the correct absolute path in the Settings > Video Directory field. Secondly, verify that your video files are either in `.mp4` or `.mkv` format, as these are the currently supported containers for native processing. Finally, if you are pointing to a network drive, ensure that the machine running Streamly has the appropriate read permissions for that specific shared folder.
2. The stream buffers constantly on YouTube/Twitch. Why?
Buffering is almost exclusively caused by a mismatch between your encoded output bitrate and your available internet upload speed. If you set Streamly to output at 10,000 kbps, but your ISP only provides 8,000 kbps of reliable upload speed, FFmpeg will be forced to stall, leading to dropped frames on the server side and buffering for your viewers. Open the Settings panel, lower the Default Bitrate to a more conservative value (e.g., 4000 kbps for 720p), and ensure you are connected via a hardwired Ethernet cable, not Wi-Fi. Also, verify you aren't trying to push 4K resolution to a platform that caps ingested video at 1080p.
3. I am locked out of the dashboard by "Single Session Security". How do I regain access?
To prevent catastrophic stream collisions, Streamly strictly enforces one active administrative connection at a time. If you left a browser tab open on another device (or even on another desktop workspace) that is still connected to the Streamly backend, you will be locked out of new sessions. You have two options: locate and close the original browser tab holding the active websocket connection, or forcefully restart the Streamly background service via the Windows Task Manager, which will sever all active connections and allow you to log in anew.
4. Why is my CPU usage at 100% when streaming?
Streamly is designed to offload video encoding to your GPU's dedicated silicon. If your CPU usage is pinned at 100%, it means Streamly has fallen back to Software Encoding (`libx264`). This happens when the application fails to initialize a hardware encoder. To fix this, go to Settings and select the appropriate hardware encoder from the dropdown list (`h264_nvenc` for NVIDIA, `h264_qsv` for Intel, or `h264_amf` for AMD). Ensure that your graphics drivers are fully up to date. If you do not have a dedicated GPU, you must reduce your output resolution and FPS to lessen the burden on your CPU.
5. Can Streamly broadcast to multiple platforms simultaneously (Restreaming)?
By default, a single instance of the Streamly application is designed to orchestrate and push a single, ultra-stable RTMP feed to one specific destination endpoint. If you wish to broadcast to YouTube and Twitch simultaneously, the recommended approach is to point Streamly's RTMP URL to a third-party ingest server (such as Restream.io), or to set up a local NGINX-RTMP relay on your network. Streamly will push the master feed to NGINX, and NGINX will replicate and push the stream to multiple external destinations without requiring Streamly to encode the video twice.
6. Is an internet connection required to run the application?
No! One of Streamly's greatest strengths is its fully localized architecture. The SQLite database, the web dashboard server, and the FFmpeg engine run entirely on your local machine. You only need an internet connection to push the final RTMP stream out to your chosen platform. If you are using Streamly to broadcast to a local network screen (e.g., in a stadium or corporate office) using a local RTMP server, you can operate the entire system completely offline.
7. Which streaming platforms are supported?
Streamly supports all major platforms that accept an RTMP connection. This includes YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitch. You simply need to obtain your Stream URL and Stream Key from your chosen platform's dashboard and paste them into Streamly's Settings. It also works seamlessly with custom or self-hosted RTMP servers like NGINX-RTMP or Restream.io.
Didn't find the answer you were looking for? Contact our support team and we'll be happy to assist you.