Syntax error in PHP script for conditional Twitch stream embedding

Other Questions Twitch
1

I’m trying to create a PHP script that shows a Twitch stream embed only when the channel is currently broadcasting. However, I keep running into this error message:

FATAL ERROR syntax error, unexpected ‘http’ (T_STRING), expecting ‘,’ or ‘;’ on line number 8

Here’s my current code:

<?php
$channelName = "teststreamer";

$apiResponse = json_decode(file_get_contents("https://api.twitch.tv/kraken/streams.json?channel=$channelName"), true);

if(isset($apiResponse['streams'][0]['channel'])) {
echo "<div class='live-container'><iframe
src='https://player.twitch.tv/?channel=teststreamer'
id='stream-player'
height='100%'
width='100%'
frameborder='0'
scrolling='no'
allowfullscreen='true'>
</iframe></div>";
} else {
echo "<div class='offline-message'>Stream is currently offline</div>";
}

?>

The basic idea is to check if the stream is active using Twitch’s API and then conditionally display the embedded player. What am I doing wrong with the syntax here?

2

Your echo statement breaks across multiple lines without proper concatenation. PHP sees the line break and thinks the string ended, then hits the URL on the next line and throws a syntax error. You need to escape the newlines or concatenate properly. Try this:

echo "<div class='live-container'><iframe src='https://player.twitch.tv/?channel=teststreamer' id='stream-player' height='100%' width='100%' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' allowfullscreen='true'></iframe></div>";

You could also use heredoc syntax - it handles multiline strings much better. BTW, that Kraken API you’re using is deprecated. Switch to the newer Helix API with proper auth headers for better reliability.

3

your echo spans multiple lines without proper string handling. php treats each line as separate code. use heredoc - it’s the easiest fix:

echo <<<HTML
<div class='live-container'><iframe
src='https://player.twitch.tv/?channel=teststreamer'
id='stream-player'
height='100%'
width='100%'
frameborder='0'
scrolling='no'
allowfullscreen='true'>
</iframe></div>
HTML;

no concatenation needed and way more readable.

4

Your multiline echo is breaking because PHP sees each new line as a separate statement. That’s why you’re getting the ‘http’ error - PHP thinks the URL is a new command.

Quick fix with concatenation:

echo "<div class='live-container'><iframe " .
"src='https://player.twitch.tv/?channel=teststreamer' " .
"id='stream-player' height='100%' width='100%' " .
"frameborder='0' scrolling='no' allowfullscreen='true'>" .
"</iframe></div>";

I’d use double quotes and escape when needed - cleaner to read. Also, file_get_contents can fail silently, so add error handling for when the API request fails.