I’m building a Discord bot using C# for my streaming setup. I’m pretty new to C# but have some background with C and C++.
Right now my bot can join my Discord server and respond to basic commands. That part works fine.
What I want to add next is automatic notifications in my announcements channel whenever I start streaming on Twitch. I’m stuck on how to use the Twitch API to detect when my stream goes live.
I’ve been trying to figure out how to set up the connection to Twitch but I’m not making much progress. Can someone explain how to integrate with Twitch’s API to monitor for live stream events? I need to know when my channel status changes from offline to live so the bot can post a message.
Since your bot’s already working, adding Twitch integration is pretty straightforward. First, register your app on the Twitch Developer Console to get your Client ID and Client Secret. For stream status, use the Get Streams endpoint - it returns data when live, nothing when offline. I set up a background timer that checks every few minutes instead of webhooks since it’s way easier to start with. Use HttpClient to GET https://api.twitch.tv/helix/streams with your channel ID. The response tells you if the stream’s active. Store the previous state so you only notify Discord when it actually changes from offline to live. Don’t forget the required headers with your Client ID and OAuth token.
OAuth trips up most people with Twitch API, so get that right first. App access tokens work fine for checking stream status - way easier than dealing with user tokens. Wrap your API calls in try-catch blocks since Twitch loves throwing 503 errors when traffic’s heavy. Set up exponential backoff for rate limits too. Here’s what saved me tons of headaches: grab the stream title and game when you detect someone’s live, then put that info in your Discord notification. Way more engaging than just “now live”. If you’re stuck on the HTTP client stuff, the Helix API docs have solid C# examples.
twitch webhooks r the way to go! just subscibe 2 stream.online events, and twitch will notify ur bot when u go live. safer than constantly hitting the api! set up a webhook endpoint 2 catch the calls and ur all set.