Go Live in 5 Minutes

Last updated: June 30, 2026

What this page helps you do: go live on Facebook and Instagram at the same time, using the exact order the dashboard expects.

Just point OBS at Streamster once — we handle Facebook and Instagram for you. OBS sends one stream to Streamster, and Streamster fans it out to Facebook Live and Instagram Live in the cloud. You use plain OBS with a single destination — no plugins, no double bandwidth. Once your one-time setup is done, going live takes about 5 minutes.

This quickstart mirrors the Go-live stepper in your dashboard. The most important thing to remember is the order: arm your destinations in the dashboard first, then start streaming in OBS. Streamster can only attach Facebook and Instagram while the stream is idle.

Before Your First Stream (One-Time Setup)

You only need to do these five things once. After that, going live is just the 5-step flow below.

1. Connect OBS — In OBS, go to Settings → Stream, set Service to Custom, and paste the Server URL and Stream Key shown in your dashboard. Your Server URL is your private Mux ingest address, rtmps://global-live.mux.com:443/app, with a private Stream Key. See RTMP Setup for recommended encoder settings.
2. Set up payments with Stripe — Connect your Stripe account so buyers can check out in your Streamster store, which is where buyers actually purchase.
3. Connect your Facebook persistent key — From facebook.com/live/producer, choose Streaming software → Advanced → persistent stream key. Save it in Streamster once and reuse it every broadcast.
4. Read the Instagram note — Instagram requires a fresh stream key for every broadcast, so there is nothing permanent to save. You will paste today's key into the Go-live stepper each time. Instagram also needs a Professional account with 1,000+ followers, and you must keep the instagram.com tab open during the stream.
5. Add a product — Add at least one product so buyers have something to purchase in your store during the stream.

Every Time You Go Live (the 5-Step Go-Live Flow)

This is the load-bearing order. Follow it every broadcast:

1. Get ready — Open the Go-live stepper in your dashboard. Paste today's fresh Instagram stream key (Facebook's persistent key is already saved).
2. Prepare to go live — Click "Prepare to go live" in the dashboard. This arms your destinations — Streamster attaches Facebook and Instagram while the stream is idle. Do this before you start OBS.
3. Start streaming in OBS — Now press "Start Streaming" in OBS. Your single stream reaches Streamster, which fans it out to both platforms.
4. Watch per-platform status — In the dashboard, watch the per-platform status turn live for Facebook and Instagram.
5. Press each platform's "Go Live" button — Finally, press the platform's own "Go Live" button on Facebook and on Instagram. Streamster cannot press it for you.

If Your Stream Won't Attach to Facebook/Instagram

The most common cause is starting OBS too early. If you press Start Streaming in OBS before clicking Prepare to go live, attaching the destinations fails. The dashboard detects this and tells you exactly what to do:

1. Stop streaming in OBS.
2. Click "Prepare to go live" in the dashboard.
3. Press Start Streaming in OBS again.

That ordering — arm, then start — is all that is needed. If a single platform still will not attach, double-check that you pasted a fresh Instagram key for today and that your Facebook persistent key is still saved.

Show the Buy Card on Facebook & Instagram (OBS Overlay)

There are two places a buyer can see your product's buy card, and they work differently:

• On your streamster.shop watch page — the buy card appears automatically. Buyers watching there just tap it and check out as a guest. Nothing to set up.
• On Facebook & Instagram — those viewers only see the card if you burn it into your video in OBS. Streamster relays your video to both platforms but can't add graphics after the video leaves OBS, so the card has to be composited in OBS with a Browser Source.

You add that Browser Source once. It's a permanent link tied to your account, so it follows whatever you feature on every future broadcast — you never paste it again.

Install the overlay in OBS (one-time)

1. In your dashboard's "Show the buy card on Facebook & Instagram" panel, tap Copy overlay URL. This is your own link — streamster.shop/overlay/your-handle. (Every seller has their own; don't use anyone else's.)
2. In OBS: Sources → + → Browser.
3. Name it "Streamster buy card" and click OK.
4. Paste your overlay URL into the URL field.
5. Set Width 1920 and Height 1080, then click OK.
6. In the Sources list, drag "Streamster buy card" above your camera source — if it's below, the video covers it. Give the Browser Source a few seconds to load.

That's permanent. Added once, it follows whatever you feature, every future broadcast — no need to touch it again. Default position is bottom-left; append ?position=bottom-right to your URL to move it, or ?theme=brand to restyle. One thing to know: ?position only moves the card inside your OBS video — it's burned into the video pixels sent to Facebook & Instagram. The clickable card on your own streamster.shop watch page is a separate layer that sits bottom-right by default, clear of the video's bottom-left card. Moving your OBS overlay doesn't move the watch-page card, so if you change ?position, open your watch page to check the two still look good side by side. It's fully additive — it never changes your existing scenes, keys, or graphics, and you can hide it any time with the source's eye icon.

How featuring drives the card

Feature one product at a time. In your Go-live view, tapping Feature on a product sets it as the current card — featuring a new product replaces the previous one (there is no multi-feature; the overlay always shows a single card). It updates live on both surfaces within a few seconds, no OBS refresh needed.

The card is never blank by default. When you haven't explicitly featured anything — including before you go live and after you un-feature — the overlay falls back to showing your newest active product, so there's always something to buy. Un-featuring reverts to that newest product rather than going dark.

To truly clear the card, flip "Show buy card on stream" off in your Go-live view. That hides the card on Facebook/Instagram and on your watch page (your catalog below it stays shoppable). It's saved to your account, so it affects your actual viewers, not just your own screen. Featuring any product turns the card back on automatically — so you never tap Feature and wonder why nothing appeared.

Next Steps

• RTMP Setup — recommended OBS encoder settings and where to find your Server URL and Stream Key
• Simulcast to Facebook & Instagram — how the cloud fan-out works
• Platform Connections — detailed Facebook and Instagram setup

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need the obs-multi-rtmp plugin?

No. You point OBS at Streamster once with a single destination — no obs-multi-rtmp plugin and no multiple outputs. Streamster fans your stream out to Facebook and Instagram in the cloud, so you only send one stream and only use enough bandwidth for one stream.

Why do I paste a new Instagram key every time?

Instagram requires a fresh stream key for every broadcast — that is their rule, not ours. Paste today's key into the Go-live stepper right before you go live. Facebook is different: it uses a persistent key you save once and reuse for every broadcast.

Why must I click Prepare to go live before starting OBS?

Streamster can only attach the Facebook and Instagram destinations while the stream is idle. So you arm destinations first by clicking "Prepare to go live", then press "Start Streaming" in OBS. If you start OBS first, attaching fails — the dashboard detects this and tells you to stop OBS, click "Prepare to go live", then start OBS again.

How do Facebook and Instagram viewers see the product buy card?

Only if you add the OBS overlay Browser Source. Facebook/Instagram viewers watch the video Streamster relays, and we can't add graphics after the video leaves OBS — so the buy card has to be burned in inside OBS. Buyers on your own streamster.shop watch page see the card automatically, with no OBS needed. It's a one-time setup that then follows whatever you feature on every broadcast.

Can I hide the buy card, or feature more than one product at once?

You feature one product at a time — featuring a new one replaces the previous card. When nothing is featured, the card falls back to your newest active product (so it's never empty). To clear it completely, flip "Show buy card on stream" off in your Go-live view; featuring any product turns it back on.