Connect OBS
Turn on OBS's WebSocket server, connect ForgeCast to it, and use your scenes, audio and stream numbers from the app.
ForgeCast talks to OBS Studio over OBS's built-in WebSocket server. Once connected, you can see what is on air, switch scenes, mute your microphone and desktop audio, and watch how OBS is performing, from ForgeCast. Chat actions can switch scenes too.
You need OBS Studio 28 or later: the WebSocket server is built in from that version. Earlier versions need a separate plugin and aren't supported.
Once connected, the widgets, overlays and themes you press Use on are added to OBS as browser sources by themselves: see Widgets, overlays and themes.
1. Turn on OBS's WebSocket server
In OBS, open Tools → WebSocket Server Settings.
Tick Enable WebSocket server. Keep the default port, 4455.
Enable Authentication and a password are optional when OBS runs on the same computer as ForgeCast. If OBS is on another computer, turn authentication on and set a password.
Click OK.
2. Connect from ForgeCast
In the app, open Integrations. In the OBS Studio card:
- Where OBS is:
127.0.0.1for OBS on this computer. For OBS on another computer, that computer's address on your network. - Port:
4455unless you changed it in OBS. - Password: only if you set one.
- Press Connect.
The card shows Connected: OBS 31.x, which scene is on air, whether you are streaming or recording, and the share of dropped frames. ForgeCast connects again by itself next time, and if OBS is closed or restarted it keeps looking until OBS is back (Stop trying ends that).
The password is kept in Windows' credential store, not in a file. Forget the saved password removes it, and Forget this OBS removes the address and the password.
Keep it on your own network
The connection to OBS is not encrypted (it is OBS's own protocol). Use 127.0.0.1 when OBS is on this computer, and a password when it is anywhere else. ForgeCast only ever connects to the address you type.
What you can do once connected
| Where | What |
|---|---|
| Scenes | Every scene in OBS, in the order OBS lists them. The one on air is marked ON AIR. Press another to switch to it. Below, the Audio list shows your microphone and desktop audio sources, each with Mute / Unmute. |
| Home → Stream Preview | What OBS is sending out right now (its program output), refreshed every couple of seconds. |
| Home → OBS performance | Streaming and recording state with timecodes, frame rate, dropped frames, OBS's processor use, and the time it takes to render a frame. |
| Chat actions | The switch scene action changes OBS's scene when a viewer's command or an event matches. If the scene's name isn't one OBS has, the action says so in its history. |
| Integrations → OBS | Connection state, version, address, and the numbers above. |
OBS is the source of truth: scenes and audio sources you add, rename or delete in OBS show up in ForgeCast as they happen, and a scene or mute you change in OBS changes in ForgeCast too.
Try it without OBS
Turn on Preview mode (Settings → Preview & device) to try the Scenes and Home screens with a sample OBS. Everything it shows is labelled as a sample, nothing is sent to OBS, and a real OBS you connect takes over from the sample.
Troubleshooting
Connect your YouTube channel
Press Connect YouTube in the app, confirm on the website, pick your channel on Google, and the app picks it up. What happens, what is stored, and how to undo it.
Using the app
A tour of the ForgeCast desktop app - Home and your streams, the Dashboard and chat, OBS scenes, overlays, alerts, chat actions, sounds, widgets, plugins, settings and what is kept on your PC.