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How to get permanent links

Make VDO.Ninja guest invites, OBS browser sources, stream IDs, scenes, slots, SSO links, and invite links reusable so they keep working after refreshes or reconnects.

If your OBS browser source stops showing the right guest after they refresh, you usually need a stable stream ID.

Think of it like a phone number for a camera feed:

  • the guest link says, "publish as this ID" with &push=ALICE

  • the OBS/browser-source link says, "watch that ID" with &view=ALICE

  • if the same guest comes back with the same ID, your OBS link keeps working

Quick answer for OBS

Give each regular guest their own &push value:

https://vdo.ninja/?room=MyShow&push=AliceCamera&label=Alice

Then use the matching &view link in OBS:

https://vdo.ninja/?view=AliceCamera&solo&room=MyShow

Use a different &push value for every guest or camera. Two people cannot publish with the same stream ID at the same time.

Use a friendly label for the person, but a hard-to-guess stream ID for the URL. For example, &push=A7kP9vAliceCam and &label=Alice.

Pick the right method

Goal
Use this

One regular guest should always feed the same OBS source

Set &push=STREAMID on their guest link and use &view=STREAMID in OBS

You want VDO.Ninja to remember a generated ID for that browser

Use &permaid on the guest link

You want one OBS source per position, not per person

Use &slotmode, &slot=N, and &viewslot=N

You manually add guests to scenes and want that to recover after reconnects

Add &scenerestore to the director link

You sent an invite already and want to change where it points

Use a managed short link, such as invite.cam or another URL shortener

You want a lobby, sign-in, waiting list, and reusable host room

Use app.invite.cam

You need sign-in before a VDO.Ninja room is used

Use SSO and signed-in access, such as &auth or &requireauth

How stream IDs work

Every published camera, microphone, screen share, or media source needs a stream ID. When you use:

the guest is publishing as AliceCamera. A viewer or OBS source can watch it with:

Stream IDs are not permanent accounts. They exist while someone is actively using them. What makes a link "permanent" is reusing the same ID later.

Rules to remember:

  • stream IDs are case sensitive

  • keep them under 64 characters

  • unsupported characters may be changed to _

  • a stream ID cannot be used by two active publishers at once

  • use &label for the human name shown in the interface

Refreshing vs rejoining

If a guest joins a room without a &push value, VDO.Ninja normally generates one once they start publishing. Their address bar may update with that new &push value.

That means:

  • refreshing the same tab often keeps the same stream ID

  • reopening the original invite link may create a new stream ID

  • copying a guest's address bar after they joined can accidentally share their private stream ID with someone else

For planned shows, give each regular guest a prepared invite link with a unique &push value.

Use &permaid when you do not want to pre-name everyone

&permaid saves a stream ID in that browser's local storage.

Example:

The first time the guest opens it, VDO.Ninja creates a stream ID and saves it in that browser. The next time the same person opens a link with &permaid, that saved ID is reused.

This is useful when you want a reusable guest link, but you do not want to make up a &push ID in advance.

Important limits:

  • it depends on the same browser and browser profile

  • it can break if the guest clears site data, changes devices, or uses private/incognito mode

  • it is not a cloud account or a reserved name

You can also set the first ID yourself:

After that, &permaid without a value can reuse the saved value in that browser.

Use scenes when OBS should not care who the guest is

Sometimes you do not want an OBS source for "Alice"; you want an OBS source for "the person currently in Scene 1".

Use a scene link in OBS:

Then the director manually adds the current guest to Scene 1. The OBS source stays the same even when the person changes.

Use slots when OBS should follow positions

Slots are good when your show has fixed positions, such as Host, Guest 1, Guest 2, or Piano.

Director link:

Guest link for a preferred slot:

OBS source for that slot:

The OBS source follows whatever the director has assigned to slot 1. If the guest changes, the OBS link does not need to change.

Use &scenerestore for reconnects

&scenerestore is a director option:

It helps when you manually add a guest to a scene and that guest disconnects briefly. If the guest reconnects soon enough with the matching restore identity, the director can restore their previous scene selection.

This is not a permanent cloud scene store. It uses a temporary local restore lease, currently around 15 minutes after the last relevant scene action. It also does not bypass room security, queue, approval, or SSO.

If you are searching for scenestore, scene store, or "store scene", the current VDO.Ninja option is named &scenerestore.

Managed invite links and short links

VDO.Ninja links can get long. They also sometimes need to change after you already sent them.

Options:

  • invite.cam can encode or shorten VDO.Ninja invite links. Where enabled, its signed-in dashboard can manage reusable short links.

  • app.invite.cam gives hosts a reusable signed-in room, lobby, helper controls, and owner-managed invite links.

  • Third-party URL managers, such as Short.io, can point a friendly URL at a VDO.Ninja invite and let you update the target later.

Use a short-link manager when you want to change an invite after sending it. Use &push or &permaid when you want the same guest to keep the same stream ID.

Signed-in rooms, SSO, and browser-source links

The newer signed-in access flow uses &auth and &requireauth.

In plain language:

  • &auth turns on the signed-in VDO.Ninja access layer

  • &requireauth makes sign-in required

  • the authenticated director can generate scene, view, and solo links with a &universaltoken so OBS/browser sources can view without a person signing in inside OBS

  • &authtoken is used during sign-in redirects and is normally saved then removed from the visible URL

SSO is about identity and access. It does not replace &push, &permaid, scenes, or slots when your goal is a stable OBS source.

Which link should I give guests?

For a simple recurring guest:

For a guest whose browser should remember its own generated ID:

For a signed-in room where the access layer is enabled:

For a room where sign-in is required:

For a larger lobby or event workflow:

Common mistakes

  • Do not give two people the same &push value.

  • Do not paste a guest's already-joined address-bar URL into a public chat.

  • Do not expect &permaid to follow a person across devices.

  • Do not use a person's real name as the only stream ID if the link is public.

  • Do not confuse &view=STREAMID with a slot number. To view a slot, use &viewslot.

  • Do not rely on &scenerestore as a permanent database. It is a reconnect helper.

Related pages

What are stream IDs?&push&permaid&scenerestore&viewslotapp.invite.camSSO and signed-in access

Search words

People may search for this as: permanent link, persistent link, persistant link, reusable link, re-usable link, reusable guest invite, persistent browser source, OBS source refresh, same browser source, same stream ID, streamid, stream id, permaid, perma id, permanent ID, permaID, scene store, scenestore, scene restore, scenerestore, short link, shortener, URL shortner, URL shortener, invite manager, link management, app invite cam, invite.cam, SSO invite, signed-in room, authenticated invite.

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