obsws-cli

A command line interface for OBS Websocket v5

For an outline of past/future changes refer to: CHANGELOG

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Table of Contents

• Installation
• Configuration
• Style
• Commands
• License

Requirements

• Python 3.10 or greater
• OBS Studio 28+

Installation

with uv

uv tool install obsws-cli

with pipx

pipx install obsws-cli

The CLI should now be discoverable as obsws-cli

Configuration

Flags

• --host/-H: Websocket host
• --port/-P Websocket port
• --password/-p: Websocket password
• --timeout/-T: Websocket timeout
• --version/-v: Print the obsws-cli version

Pass --host, --port and --password as flags on the root command, for example:

obsws-cli --host=localhost --port=4455 --password=<websocket password> --help

Environment Variables

Store and load environment variables from:

• A .env file in the cwd
• user home directory / .config / obsws-cli / obsws.env

OBS_HOST=localhost
OBS_PORT=4455
OBS_PASSWORD=<websocket password>

Flags can be used to override environment variables.

Style

Styling is opt-in, by default you will get a colourless output:

You may enable styling with the --style/-s flag:

obsws-cli --style="cyan" sceneitem list

Available styles: red, magenta, purple, blue, cyan, green, yellow, orange, white, grey, navy, black

Optionally you may disable border colouring with the --no-border flag:

obsws-cli --style="cyan" --no-border sceneitem list

Or with environment variables:

OBS_STYLE=cyan
OBS_STYLE_NO_BORDER=true

Root Typer

• obs-version: Get the OBS Client and WebSocket versions.

obsws-cli obs-version

Sub Typers

Scene

• list: List all scenes.

  • flags:

    optional

    • --uuid: Show UUIDs of scenes

obsws-cli scene list

• current: Get the current program scene.

obsws-cli scene current

• switch: Switch to a scene.
  • args: <scene_name>

obsws-cli scene switch LIVE

Scene Item

• list: List all items in a scene.

  • flags:

    optional

    • --uuid: Show UUIDs of scene items

  optional

  • args: <scene_name>
    • defaults to current scene

obsws-cli sceneitem list

obsws-cli sceneitem list LIVE

• show: Show an item in a scene.

  • flags:

    optional

    • --group: Parent group name

  • args: <scene_name> <item_name>

obsws-cli sceneitem show START "Colour Source"

• hide: Hide an item in a scene.

  • flags:

    optional

    • --group: Parent group name

  • args: <scene_name> <item_name>

obsws-cli sceneitem hide START "Colour Source"

• toggle: Toggle an item in a scene.

  • flags:

    optional

    • --group: Parent group name

  • args: <scene_name> <item_name>

obsws-cli sceneitem toggle --group=test_group START "Colour Source 3"

• visible: Check if an item in a scene is visible.

  • flags:

    optional

    • --group: Parent group name

  • args: <scene_name> <item_name>

obsws-cli sceneitem visible --group=test_group START "Colour Source 4"

• transform: Set the transform of an item in a scene.

  • flags:

    optional

    • --group: Parent group name.

    • --alignment: Alignment of the item in the scene

    • --bounds-alignment: Bounds alignment of the item in the scene

    • --bounds-height: Height of the item in the scene

    • --bounds-type: Type of bounds for the item in the scene

    • --bounds-width: Width of the item in the scene

    • --crop-to-bounds: Crop the item to the bounds

    • --crop-bottom: Bottom crop of the item in the scene

    • --crop-left: Left crop of the item in the scene

    • --crop-right: Right crop of the item in the scene

    • --crop-top: Top crop of the item in the scene

    • --position-x: X position of the item in the scene

    • --position-y: Y position of the item in the scene

    • --scale-x: X scale of the item in the scene

    • --scale-y: Y scale of the item in the scene

  • args: <scene_name> <item_name>

obsws-cli sceneitem transform \
    --rotation=5 \
    --position-x=250.8 \
    Scene "Colour Source 3"

Scene Collections

• list: List all scene collections.

obsws-cli scenecollection list

• current: Get the current scene collection.

obsws-cli scenecollection current

• switch: Switch to a scene collection.
  • args: <scene_collection_name>

obsws-cli scenecollection switch test-collection

• create: Create a new scene collection.
  • args: <scene_collection_name>

obsws-cli scenecollection create test-collection

Group

• list: List groups in a scene.

  optional

  • args: <scene_name>
    • defaults to current scene

obsws-cli group list

obsws-cli group list START

• show: Show a group in a scene.
  • args: <scene_name> <group_name>

obsws-cli group show START "test_group"

• hide: Hide a group in a scene.
  • args: <scene_name> <group_name>

obsws-cli group hide START "test_group"

• toggle: Toggle a group in a scene.
  • args: <scene_name> <group_name>

obsws-cli group toggle START "test_group"

• status: Get the status of a group in a scene.
  • args: <scene_name> <group_name>

obsws-cli group status START "test_group"

Input

• create: Create a new input.
  • args: <input_name> <input_kind>

obsws-cli input create 'stream mix' 'wasapi_input_capture'

• remove: Remove an input.
  • args: <input_name>

obsws-cli input remove 'stream mix' 

• list: List all inputs.

  • flags:

    optional

    • --input: Filter by input type.
    • --output: Filter by output type.
    • --colour: Filter by colour source type.
    • --ffmpeg: Filter by ffmpeg source type.
    • --vlc: Filter by VLC source type.
    • --uuid: Show UUIDs of inputs.

obsws-cli input list

obsws-cli input list --input --colour

• list-kinds: List all input kinds.

obsws-cli input list-kinds

• mute: Mute an input.
  • args: <input_name>

obsws-cli input mute "Mic/Aux"

• unmute: Unmute an input.
  • args: <input_name>

obsws-cli input unmute "Mic/Aux"

• toggle: Toggle an input.

obsws-cli input toggle "Mic/Aux"

• volume: Set the volume of an input.
  • args: <input_name>

obsws-cli input volume -- 'Desktop Audio' -38.9

• show: Show information for an input in the current scene.

  • args: <input_name>

  • flags:

    optional

    • --verbose: List all available input devices.

obsws-cli input show 'Mic/Aux' --verbose

• update: Name of the input to update.
  • args: <input_name> <device_name>

obsws-cli input update 'Mic/Aux' 'Voicemeeter Out B1 (VB-Audio Voicemeeter VAIO)'

Text

• current: Get the current text for a text input.
  • args: <input_name>

obsws-cli text current "My Text Input"

• update: Update the text of a text input.
  • args: <input_name> <new_text>

obsws-cli text update "My Text Input" "hi OBS!"

Record

• start: Start recording.

obsws-cli record start

• stop: Stop recording.

obsws-cli record stop

• status: Get recording status.

obsws-cli record status

• toggle: Toggle recording.

obsws-cli record toggle

• resume: Resume recording.

obsws-cli record resume

• pause: Pause recording.

obsws-cli record pause

• directory: Get or set the recording directory.

  optional

  • args: <record_directory>
    • if not passed the current record directory will be printed.

obsws-cli record directory

obsws-cli record directory "/home/me/obs-vids/"
obsws-cli record directory "C:/Users/me/Videos"

• split: Split the current recording.

obsws-cli record split

• chapter: Create a chapter in the current recording.

  optional

  • args: <chapter_name>

obsws-cli record chapter "Chapter Name"

Stream

• start: Start streaming.

obsws-cli stream start

• stop: Stop streaming.

obsws-cli stream stop

• status: Get streaming status.

obsws-cli stream status

• toggle: Toggle streaming.

obsws-cli stream toggle

Profile

• list: List profiles.

obsws-cli profile list

• current: Get the current profile.

obsws-cli profile current

• switch: Switch to a profile.
  • args: <profile_name>

obsws-cli profile switch test-profile

• create: Create a new profile.
  • args: <profile_name>

obsws-cli profile create test-profile

• remove: Remove a profile.
  • args: <profile_name>

obsws-cli profile remove test-profile

Replay Buffer

• start: Start the replay buffer.

obsws-cli replaybuffer start

• stop: Stop the replay buffer.

obsws-cli replaybuffer stop

• status: Get the status of the replay buffer.

obsws-cli replaybuffer status

• save: Save the replay buffer.

obsws-cli replaybuffer save

Studio Mode

• enable: Enable studio mode.

obsws-cli studiomode enable

• disable: Disable studio mode.

obsws-cli studiomode disable

• toggle: Toggle studio mode.

obsws-cli studiomode toggle

• status: Get the status of studio mode.

obsws-cli studiomode status

Virtual Cam

• start: Start virtual camera.

obsws-cli virtualcam start

• stop: Stop virtual camera.

obsws-cli virtualcam stop

• toggle: Toggle virtual camera.

obsws-cli virtualcam toggle

• status: Get the status of the virtual camera.

obsws-cli virtualcam status

Hotkey

• list: List all hotkeys.

obsws-cli hotkey list

• trigger: Trigger a hotkey by name.

obsws-cli hotkey trigger OBSBasic.StartStreaming

obsws-cli hotkey trigger OBSBasic.StopStreaming

• trigger-sequence: Trigger a hotkey by sequence.

  • flags:

    optional

    • --shift: Press shift.
    • --ctrl: Press control.
    • --alt: Press alt.
    • --cmd: Press command (mac).

  • args: <key_id>

    • Check obs-hotkeys.h for a full list of OBS key ids.

obsws-cli hotkey trigger-sequence OBS_KEY_F1 --ctrl

obsws-cli hotkey trigger-sequence OBS_KEY_F1 --shift --ctrl

Filter

• list: List filters for a source.

  optional

  • args: <source_name>
    • defaults to current scene

obsws-cli filter list "Mic/Aux"

• enable: Enable a filter for a source.
  • args: <source_name> <filter_name>

obsws-cli filter enable "Mic/Aux" "Gain"

• disable: Disable a filter for a source.
  • args: <source_name> <filter_name>

obsws-cli filter disable "Mic/Aux" "Gain"

• toggle: Toggle a filter for a source.
  • args: <source_name> <filter_name>

obsws-cli filter toggle "Mic/Aux" "Gain"

• status: Get the status of a filter for a source.
  • args: <source_name> <filter_name>

obsws-cli filter status "Mic/Aux" "Gain"

Projector

• list-monitors: List available monitors.

obsws-cli projector list-monitors

• open: Open a fullscreen projector for a source on a specific monitor.

  • flags:

    optional

    • --monitor-index: Index of the monitor to open the projector on.
      • defaults to 0

  optional

  • args: <source_name>
    • defaults to current scene

obsws-cli projector open

obsws-cli projector open --monitor-index=1 "test_scene"

obsws-cli projector open --monitor-index=1 "test_group"

Screenshot

• save: Take a screenshot and save it to a file.

  • flags:

    optional

    • --width:
      • defaults to 1920
    • --height:
      • defaults to 1080
    • --quality:
      • defaults to -1

  • args: <source_name> <output_path>

obsws-cli screenshot save --width=2560 --height=1440 "Scene" "C:\Users\me\Videos\screenshot.png"

Settings

• show: Show current OBS settings.

  • flags:

    optional

    • --video: Show video settings.
    • --record: Show recording settings.
    • --profile: Show profile settings.

obsws-cli settings show --video --record

• profile: Get/set OBS profile settings.
  • args:

obsws-cli settings profile SimpleOutput VBitrate

obsws-cli settings profile SimpleOutput VBitrate 6000

• stream-service: Get/set OBS stream service settings.

  • flags:
    • --key: Stream key.
    • --server: Stream server URL.

  optional

  • args:

obsws-cli settings stream-service

obsws-cli settings stream-service --key='live_xyzxyzxyzxyz' rtmp_common

• video: Get/set OBS video settings.

  • flags:

    optional

    • --base-width: Base (canvas) width.
    • --base-height: Base (canvas) height.
    • --output-width: Output (scaled) width.
    • --output-height: Output (scaled) height.
    • --fps-num: Frames per second numerator.
    • --fps-den: Frames per second denominator.

obsws-cli settings video

obsws-cli settings video --base-width=1920 --base-height=1080

Media

• cursor: Get/set the cursor position of a media input.

  • args: InputName

    optional

    • TimeString

obsws-cli media cursor "Media"

obsws-cli media cursor "Media" "00:08:30"

• play: Plays a media input.

obsws-cli media play "Media"

• pause: Pauses a media input.

obsws-cli media pause "Media"

• stop: Stops a media input.

obsws-cli media stop "Media"

• restart: Restarts a media input.

obsws-cli media restart "Media"

License

obsws-cli is distributed under the terms of the MIT license.