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Getting started with nanoStream Cloud

This guide walks you through everything required to get your first live stream running on nanoStream Cloud.
You will learn how to:

  • create and manage streams with bintu (Dashboard or API),
  • push live video from the browser (nanoStream Webcaster), OBS, or Osprey Talon, and
  • validate playback with the H5Live player and analytics.
Before starting

If you don’t have an account yet you can sign up, or get in touch with our sales team via nanocosmos.net/contact or by email at sales(at)nanocosmos.net.

Need help accessing an existing organization or unsure how to proceed?
👉 Check the Authentication section in our docs for step-by-step guidance on creating an account, logging in or requesting access from your system administrator.

Quick start​

  1. Signup/login to the Dashboard: dashboard.nanostream.cloud
  2. Create a new stream in the Dashboard (or via the bintu API).
  3. Copy the Ingest URL and Stream name.
  4. Start your encoder (nanoStream Webcaster / OBS / Osprey / …) and paste the ingest details.
  5. Open the Playback URL in a browser and share it with your audience.

Prerequisite​

To create and broadcast a live stream, you need a capture device for your live content, like a webcam or external camera. You can also send a live stream from your screen (for presentations and game streaming). For sending your live video to the nanoStream platform, you will need streaming encoder software, hardware, or just your web browser.

nanoStream API

If you plan to use the REST API, you'll need the API Key / Bintu Token, available in the Dashboard under your organization's settings: dashboard.nanostream.cloud/organisation/overview. Only nanoAdmin have permission to access API keys.

Screenshot: Organisation Overview with API Access Screenshot: Organisation Overview with API Access

Create a Stream​

Using the nanoStream Dashboard or bintu REST API, you can either create a new single stream or a new multi-bitrate stream with live transcoding for Adaptive Bitrate playback (ABR).

Good to know

A multi-bitrate stream (MBR) is transcoded into streams of varying quality to enable the playback of streams with extremely low latency at low bandwidth (Adaptive Bitrate, ABR).

Read more about multi-bitrate, transcoding and adaptive bitrate streaming.

Permission Overview​

The following roles can create a stream:

nanoAdminnanoUsernanoReadOnly
✓✓✗

Rest API​

You can use the API to create a stream with the Create Stream API call and various request samples in our bintu Rest API documentation: doc.pages.nanocosmos.de/bintuapi-docs. There you can also learn how to read the responses. A cURL request may look as follows:

bintu/create_stream.sh
BINTU_APIKEY=your-bintu-apikey
curl --request POST \
  --url https://bintu.nanocosmos.de/stream \
  --header "x-bintu-apikey: $BINTU_APIKEY" \
  --header 'content-type: application/json' \
  --data '{
    "tags": ["foo", "bar"],
    "processing": [
      [
        { "id": "replay", "duration": 30 },
        { "id": "thumbs", "interval": 45 },
        { "id": "rec", "duration": null },
        { "id": "motionclip", "duration": 5, "interval": 30 }
      ]
    ]
  }'
Advanced Developer API docs

For additional languages, advanced configuration options, and complete request/response samples, please refer to the official bintu API documentation: doc.pages.nanocosmos.de/bintuapi-docs.
The API reference provides full details on all available endpoints and workflows for managing stream options, including the topic discussed in this section.

Dashboard​

Navigate to dashboard.nanostream.cloud/stream/create and set up your stream.

Create new Stream with the dashboard

To learn more about stream creation with the dashboard and setting tags, transcoding profiles, and options such as live processing, check out our dedicated documentation: Create Stream.

Screenshot: Create new Stream Screenshot: Create new Stream

Start a stream​

You can ingest streams through popular protocols such as RTMP, SRT, WHIP, and browser-based with WebRTC. nanoStream Cloud integrates easily with industry-standard tools like OBS or Osprey Talon. For instant browser-based streaming, the nanoStream Webcaster lets you broadcast directly without any plugins or third-party software.

SettingRecommendation
Video CodecH.264
Audio CodecAAC
Resolutionflexible, e.g. 640×480, 1280×720, 1920×1080
Bitrateflexible, e.g. 500 kbits/s, 1 MBit/s

OBS Studio (Open Broadcaster Software) is a free, powerful software for professional live streaming. It allows you to broadcast to nanoStream Cloud while giving full control over video quality, bitrate, and encoder settings.

OBS offers nanoStream Cloud as a streaming service for automatic setup, making configuration simple and fast.

Steps:

  1. Download & Install OBS Studio.
  2. Open OBS and go to Settings → Stream.
  3. Under Service, select Other… → nanoStream Cloud/bintu.
  4. Enter the Stream Key, known as Stream name in nanoStream Cloud Dashboard (e.g., ABCDE-XYZ12).
  5. Configure video source (add source, arrange overlays, etc.)
  6. Start Streaming around the world!
  7. Check your nanoStream Cloud Dashboard to confirm that the live stream is running.
Start Streaming

Learn how to start and share a stream, including the necessary steps and details for a seamless setup here.

If you need more guidance, read our extended blog post about Low Latency OBS: How to use OBS for Low Latency Live Encoding to nanoStream Cloud.

Video Tutorial: Set up OBS with nanoStream Cloud

Play your live stream​

Playing streams is straightforward. You can either copy the playback URL from the dashboard, figure it out through the API, or assemble it yourself:

Secure Organizations

Please note that for organisations that have secure option enabled, you either must be logged in to the dashboard, or if you're using the demo player you must include a token in the URL.

Permission Overview​

If the account that created the stream is enabled for playback token security, a secure token is required in order to play it back. The token can only be created in the dashboard or API by an nanoAdmin.

nanoAdminnanoUsernanoReadOnlyNon-logged-in Person
✓✓*✓*✓*

* For secure organisation accounts only with valid playback token

Get Stream Info Through Rest API​

You can find all the details for the Get Stream Info API Call. There you can also learn how to read the responses. The cURL request may look as follows:

bintu/get_stream_info.sh
BINTU_APIKEY=your-bintu-apikey
STREAM_ID=your-stream-id-or-streamname
curl --request GET \
  --url "https://bintu.nanocosmos.de/stream/${STREAM_ID}?asset_limit=10" \
  --header "x-bintu-apikey: ${BINTU_APIKEY}" \
  --header "accept: application/json"

Get Stream Info Through Dashboard​

The playback URL can be located in various areas of the dashboard:

  • Playout Overview
    • dashboard.nanostream.cloud/playout/YOUR-STREAM-ID
  • Stream Overview
    • dashboard.nanostream.cloud/stream/YOUR-STREAM-ID
    • dashboard.nanostream.cloud/stream/YOUR-STREAM-ID/code-snippets
  • New Stream Overview / Stream Instructions Overview
    • dashboard.nanostream.cloud/stream/new/YOUR-STREAM-ID
  • Webcaster Overview
    • dashboard.nanostream.cloud/webcaster/YOUR-STREAM-ID

Screenshot: Example Stream Overview (Streamgroup) Screenshot: Example Stream Overview (Streamgroup)

Embed the nanoPlayer on your web page​

Embedding a live stream into your own website is incredibly simple with nanoStream. Each stream has a unique code snippet that is automatically updated to your setup, requiring you to only copy and paste it into the right place.

You can choose between two types of code snippets for embedding:

  • iframe Embed Tag (recommended for quick integration)
  • JavaScript Code Snippet (for advanced customizations)

You can find these snippets in multiple locations within the dashboard:

  • dashboard.nanostream.cloud/stream/YOUR-STREAM-ID/code-snippets
  • dashboard.nanostream.cloud/stream/new/YOUR-STREAM-ID
  • dashboard.nanostream.cloud/playout/YOUR-STREAM-ID
  • dashboard.nanostream.cloud/webcaster/YOUR-STREAM-ID
Embedding the nanoPlayer
  • To see all 4 options for configuration, have a look at the nanoPlayer Getting Started section
  • To understand how to personalise the code snippet, you can take a look at the Code Snippets Settings section.

Screenshot: Code Snippets Screenshot: Code Snippets

Additional features​

The nanoStream Platform offers several features that can boost your use case, like Secure Streaming, Live Recording or Analytics.

Prerequisites

To make use of the additional features mentioned below, it must be explicitly enabled for your organization. Activation may be subject to additional pricing or service terms.

You can verify whether this feature is available by navigating to dashboard.nanostream.cloud/organisation in your dashboard.
In the Enabled Packages section, locate the entry for the feature you are looking for. If it shows Upgrade needed, please contact us.

Screenshot: Enabled Packages

To activate features or learn more about available plans, feel free to reach out via nanocosmos.net/contact. We're happy to assist you in finding the best setup for your use case.

Analytics​

nanoStream Analytics gives you clear insights into the performance, reach, and stability of your live streams. It helps you monitor QoS (Quality of Service) and QoE (Quality of Experience) in real time so you can deliver a reliable streaming experience to all viewers. Some key benefits are:

  • Comprehensive Metrics: Usage, traffic & demographics
  • Live Metrics Monitoring: Real-time performance dashboard
  • Custom Live Alerts: Proactive issue notifications
  • Business Intelligence: Advanced tagging & filtering
  • Client-side Insights: Viewer behavior analysis
  • IP and referral blocking: Active stream protection
How to utilize nanoStream Analytics

For deeper insights, we have dedicated explanations and sections for the usage of the nanoStream Analytics.

Secure Streaming​

nanoStream Cloud provides various layers of stream protection to secure both ingest and playback. Security can be applied through RTMPS, WebRTC, Geo/IP restrictions, or token-based playback control.

Common options include:

  • Encrypted ingest (e.g., RTMPS instead of RTMP)
  • Geo-blocking and IP filtering
  • Referrer protection
  • Token-based playback security (H5Live Tokens)

Example ingest comparison:

TypeExample
RTMP (non-encrypted)rtmp://bintu-stream.nanocosmos.de:1935/live/STREAM-NAME
RTMPS (encrypted)rtmps://bintu-stream.nanocosmos.de:1937/live/STREAM-NAME
SRT (encrypted)srt://bintu-srt.nanocosmos.de:5000?streamid=push:STREAM-NAME&...
Security Features
  • Read more on how to block specific IP addresses and referrers and even entire CIDR masks from accessing your stream with the nanoStream Guardian
  • Learn how nanoStream Cloud protects your account and organisation's operations with Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)

Live Recording & VOD​

Live content can also be turned into video on demand (VOD) so you can download it or replay it later. The VOD files can be found in the nanoStream Cloud Dashboard in the respective stream overview or requested via the Get Stream Info API Call.

Am I recording my live content?

You can check whether your live content is being recorded as VOD by looking at the ingest URL. If the term rec appears in the URL instead of live, it is being recorded.

TypeIngest URL Description
Not recording rtmp://bintu-stream.nanocosmos.de/live/STREAM-IDDefault, if your organization doesn't have VOD enabled - live content only
Recordingrtmp://bintu-stream.nanocosmos.de/rec/STREAM-IDDefault, if your organization has VOD enabled - Records the entire stream  

Live Recording and Processing​

Live Recording and Live Processing features enhance stream output and automate tasks during and after your live event. You can use this for recording live sessions, live replay during the session, still images/thumbnails, and live captions and translations.

Live Processing resources
  • To understand how live processes work in general, check out the Live Processing docs where you can also find examples of use cases
  • For instructions on how to use live processing in the nanoStream Cloud Dashboard, click here
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