Create Broadcast

Deprecated. POST /2/users/:user_id/broadcasts creates a new broadcast bound to an existing stream source, in the NOT_STARTED state. Use POST /2/broadcasts instead; this route will be removed on January 1, 2027.

This route is deprecated and will be removed on January 1, 2027, after which it returns 404. Use Go Live (POST /2/broadcasts) instead, which creates and publishes a broadcast in one call and takes the source id rather than the stream key. See the migration guide.

Creates a new broadcast bound to an existing source. Starts in NOT_STARTED.

Endpoint: POST /2/users/:user_id/broadcasts

The source doesn’t need to be receiving video yet. If the source already has a running broadcast, that broadcast is returned instead of a new one. A broadcast that is never published is deleted after 7 days. See the broadcast lifecycle overview.

Request body

{
  "source_id": "YOUR_STREAM_KEY"
}

Field	Type	Required	Description
source_id	string	Yes	Stream key of an existing source owned by this user (its id on the deprecated source routes).
region	string	No	Accepted but ignored: the source determines the ingest region.
is_low_latency	boolean	No	Accepted but ignored.

Example request

curl -X POST "https://api.x.com/2/users/172483972/broadcasts" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $USER_ACCESS_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"source_id":"YOUR_STREAM_KEY"}'

Success response

{
  "broadcast": {
    "id": "2VNLjPpqaKWoep",
    "broadcast_id": "2VNLjPpqaKWoep",
    "media_key": "28_2116610227978326016",
    "media_id": "2116610227978326016",
    "created_at_ms": "1772031973914",
    "updated_at_ms": "1772031973914",
    "twitter_user_id": "172483972",
    "state": "NOT_STARTED",
    "available_for_replay": false,
    "chat_option": 0,
    "height": 720,
    "width": 1280,
    "is_high_latency": false,
    "image_url": "https://pbs.twimg.com/lex/placeholder_live_nomargin.png",
    "image_url_medium": "https://pbs.twimg.com/lex/placeholder_live_nomargin.png",
    "image_url_small": "https://pbs.twimg.com/lex/placeholder_live_nomargin.png",
    "total_watching": "0",
    "total_watched": "0"
  },
  "video_access": {},
  "share_url": "https://x.com/i/broadcasts/2VNLjPpqaKWoep"
}

Key fields returned at creation

• id: The broadcast ID. IDs are 13 or 14 characters; don’t assume a fixed length.
• media_key / media_id: Required later for chat access.
• share_url: Public viewer link (https://x.com/i/broadcasts/{id}).
• state: Always starts "NOT_STARTED".
• video_access: Always an empty object. Playback URLs aren’t returned; share share_url with viewers.
• twitter_user_id: Your numeric X user ID (as a string). Use it for the :user_id path parameter in every endpoint.

A source_id that doesn’t exist, or belongs to another user, returns 404 ("Could not find source.").

Then start pushing video to the source’s rtmps_url with its rtmp_stream_key, if you haven’t already, and publish.