# YouTube Live Chat in Terminal

---

> **ARCHIVED PROJECT**
> 
> This project is considered archived and is no longer in active development. 
> 
> **Reason:** It relies on the YouTube Data API v3, which has significant quota limitations (10,000 points/day). Continuous polling for live chat messages quickly exhausts this quota, making this approach unsustainable for long-term or frequent use.
> 
> **Recommendation:** For a more sustainable and quota-friendly solution, please refer to the **`youtube-chat-webhook-v2`** project. That project explores alternative methods for fetching YouTube live chat data that do not rely on the official API and its restrictive quotas.

---

## Project Description
This project aims to provide a customizable way to view YouTube Live Chat directly in your terminal. It is implemented in `main.py`.

## Features
*   **Real-time Live Chat Display:** Fetches and displays messages from YouTube Live Streams.
*   **OAuth 2.0 Authentication:** Securely connects to your YouTube account to access your live stream data.
*   **Terminal-based Interface:** View chat directly in your command-line interface.

### Planned Features
*   Color-coded usernames for better readability.
*   Customizable terminal output (e.g., font size, message formatting).
*   Ability to send messages back to the live chat.
*   Local web overlay for use with streaming software like OBS.

## Setup Instructions

### 1. Clone the Repository
Clone the project from your Gitea instance:
```bash
git clone https://gitea.ramforth.net/RamTech/youtube-chat-terminal.git
cd youtube-chat-terminal
```

### 2. Gitea Repository
This project is hosted on your Gitea instance at: `https://gitea.ramforth.net/RamTech/youtube-chat-terminal`

```bash
cd /home/joe/Cloud9/Documents/Obisdian/youtube_chat_terminal
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
```
*(If you are using a shell like `fish` and encounter issues with `source venv/bin/activate`, try running `bash` first, then `source venv/bin/activate` within the bash session.)*

### 3. Install Dependencies
With your virtual environment activated, install the required Python libraries:

```bash
pip install google-api-python-client google-auth-oauthlib google-auth-httplib2 prompt_toolkit
```

### 4. Google Cloud Project Setup
To allow this application to access YouTube Live Chat data, you need to set up a project in the Google Cloud Console:

1.  Go to the [Google Cloud Console](https://console.cloud.google.com/).
2.  Create a new project or select an existing one.
3.  Navigate to "APIs & Services" > "Library".
4.  Search for and **enable the "YouTube Data API v3"**.
5.  Go to "APIs & Services" > "Credentials".
6.  Click "+ CREATE CREDENTIALS" and choose **"OAuth client ID"**.
7.  For "Application type", select **"Desktop app"**.
8.  Give it a name (e.g., "YouTube Chat Terminal App") and click "CREATE".
9.  Download the JSON file containing your Client ID and Client Secret. Rename this file to `client_secret.json`.

### 5. Place `client_secret.json`
Move the downloaded `client_secret.json` file into the root directory of this project (i.e., `/home/joe/Cloud9/Documents/Obisdian/youtube_chat_terminal/`).

### 6. Initial Authentication
Run the `main.py` script for the first time to complete the OAuth 2.0 authentication flow:

```bash
python main.py
```
This will open a browser window, prompting you to log in with your Google account and grant permissions to the application. Upon successful authentication, a `token.json` file will be created in the project directory. This file stores your credentials for future use, so you won't need to re-authenticate every time.

## Usage
To view the live chat of a YouTube stream, run the script and provide the YouTube Live Stream Video ID when prompted:

```bash
python main.py
```
The script will then continuously fetch and display live chat messages in your terminal.

### Finding the YouTube Live Stream Video ID
*   Go to the live stream on YouTube.
*   The Video ID is the alphanumeric string in the URL after `v=` (e.g., in `https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOUR_VIDEO_ID`, `YOUR_VIDEO_ID` is the ID you need).

## Future Development
Contributions and suggestions are welcome! Planned enhancements include:
*   Advanced terminal formatting and styling.
*   Integration for sending chat messages.
*   Development of a local web overlay.