YouTube Live Chat in Terminal

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 (Future Step)

Once this project is on GitHub, you would clone it using:

git clone [repository-url]
cd youtube_chat_terminal

2. Create and Activate a Python Virtual Environment

It's highly recommended to use a virtual environment to manage project dependencies.

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:

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.
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:

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:

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.