I want to extract all chat messages from Twitch streams that have already ended. My goal is to analyze these messages and create summaries with some basic stats.
I know there’s a way to get live chat messages while a stream is happening, but that doesn’t help me since I need the chat data from broadcasts that are already over. I’ve looked through the Twitch API documentation but can’t find any endpoint that gives me access to historical chat logs.
Is there any API method or workaround that allows downloading complete chat histories from past streams? I’m hoping to avoid having to capture messages in real-time since I want to analyze older content.
There’s no official endpoint for historical chat data retrieval from Twitch’s API, which is a major limitation many developers face. I encountered this same issue when working on a similar project last year. The chat messages essentially disappear once the broadcast ends unless captured during the live stream. One approach I found somewhat useful was checking if the streamer uses any chat bot services like Nightbot or Streamlabs, as these sometimes maintain their own logs for moderation purposes. However, accessing these logs typically requires the streamer’s cooperation and permissions. Another avenue worth exploring is Reddit’s streaming communities or Discord servers where viewers sometimes discuss and quote memorable chat moments from past streams. While this won’t give you complete chat histories, it might provide some data points for your analysis depending on your specific research goals.
Unfortunately, Twitch doesn’t have an official API for fetching chat histories from completed broadcasts. This presents a challenge for post-stream analysis, as chat messages are generally lost when the stream concludes, unless they were logged during the event. Your best bet might be to explore third-party services that archive chats in real-time, but these often only apply to select popular streamers. If you intend to conduct future analyses, consider implementing your own logging system using Twitch’s IRC interface or EventSub webhooks to ensure you capture relevant data.