Publishing Guide

RtcPublisher publishes local media (camera, microphone, screen, or custom streams) to your WebRTC backend.

This guide focuses on practical publishing workflows, source switching, and production-oriented operational patterns.

Basic Usage

import { RtcPublisher } from '@webrtc-engine/core';

const publisher = new RtcPublisher({
  url: 'webrtc://localhost/live/mystream',
  api: 'http://localhost:1985/rtc/v1/publish/',
  source: { type: 'camera', audio: true },
  target: document.getElementById('preview') as HTMLVideoElement,
});

publisher.on('streamstart', () => console.log('Publishing started'));
publisher.on('sourcechange', (source) => console.log('Source changed:', source.type));
publisher.on('permissiondenied', ({ error }) => {
  console.error('Permission denied:', error.message);
});

await publisher.start();

Media Source Types

// Camera (optionally with microphone)
{ type: 'camera', audio: true }

// Microphone (audio-only publishing)
{ type: 'microphone' }

// Screen sharing (optionally with system audio)
{ type: 'screen', audio: true }

// Custom stream
{ type: 'custom', stream: existingMediaStream }

Switch Source During Publishing

You can switch capture sources without recreating the publishing session:

await publisher.switchSource({ type: 'screen', audio: true });

Lifecycle Management

await publisher.start(); // Start publishing
publisher.stop(); // Stop publishing
publisher.destroy(); // Release resources and destroy instance

Access Current Local Stream

const stream = publisher.getStream();

if (stream) {
  console.log('Video tracks:', stream.getVideoTracks().length);
  console.log('Audio tracks:', stream.getAudioTracks().length);
}

Best Practices

1. Handle permission denial explicitly: Listen to permissiondenied and provide clear user guidance
2. Always clean up lifecycle resources: Call destroy() when page/component is disposed
3. Use HTTPS in production: Media capture and WebRTC capabilities require secure contexts
4. Invest in observability: Combine state, error, and sourcechange for diagnostics

See RtcPublisher API and Plugin System.