22 Jul 2026 · 4 min read
You need one value from YouTube: the stream key. The ingest URL is the same for everybody, so Loopcast fills that in for you. The whole job takes about a minute.
Open YouTube Studio and click Go live in the top right.
Choose the Stream tab rather than webcam or the mobile options.
Under stream settings, copy the value labelled Stream key.
Paste it into your Loopcast stream and save. You will not need to touch it again.
YouTube offers both single-use and persistent stream keys. For an unattended loop you want the persistent one, and it is the default. Because the key does not change between sessions, a reconnection after a network blip lands back on the same broadcast instead of orphaning it and starting a new one.
This is the quiet reason 24/7 streaming works better on YouTube than on platforms where a new session means a new endpoint. Loopcast restarts a dropped stream automatically, and the persistent key is what makes that restart invisible.
Give it thirty seconds. The first frames have to arrive before YouTube will show a preview.
Check the key was copied whole. A truncated key fails silently rather than erroring clearly.
Make sure the channel is verified for live streaming - new channels have a waiting period before the feature unlocks.
Confirm nothing else is already streaming to the same key. Two encoders on one key will fight each other.
Treat the stream key like a password. Anyone who has it can broadcast to your channel. Loopcast never shows it back to you once it is saved — the panel only tells you whether a key is set — and you can regenerate it on the platform whenever you like.