# Go-live posts for Twitch streams

When your Twitch stream starts, Bloopbot posts it to Bluesky, Mastodon, X, Threads, Instagram and your Facebook Page, with your title, category, a picture of the stream and your channel link, once per stream.

Video: [Going live on Twitch: the Socials pack's six go-live flows switch on, and a post lands on Bluesky, Mastodon, X, Threads, Instagram and Facebook, once per stream](https://bloopbot.com/videos/go-live-combined-v1.mp4)

## Six networks, one pack

The **Socials** pack installs a paused flow for each network, named **Post to Bluesky when you go live**, **Post to Mastodon when you go live** and so on. Switch on the ones you use; a paused flow does nothing and costs nothing.

| Network | Text limit | Picture | Link |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Bluesky](https://bloopbot.com/features/announce-on-bluesky) | 300 characters | optional | a link card when there is no picture |
| [Mastodon](https://bloopbot.com/features/announce-on-mastodon) | your server's limit, 500 on most | optional | Mastodon builds its own card |
| [X](https://bloopbot.com/features/announce-on-x) | 280, counted the way X counts | optional | X builds its own card |
| [Threads](https://bloopbot.com/features/announce-on-threads) | 500 characters | optional | a link card |
| [Instagram](https://bloopbot.com/features/announce-on-instagram) | 2,200 characters | required | not clickable in a caption |
| [Facebook](https://bloopbot.com/features/announce-on-facebook) | very long | optional | a link card, or in the photo's caption |

Posting to Threads, Instagram, Facebook and X may not be available on your channel yet. The **Connections** page shows which networks your channel can connect.

## What each flow does

Every go-live flow in the pack is the same four steps, so you can open one and change any of them.

1. **Stream starts or ends**, set to **Live**, starts it when your stream goes online.
2. **Variable is** checks that this stream hasn't already been announced on that network.
3. **Post to** the network sends the post. The starter text is your stream's title, category and channel link, for example `Live now: Speedrunning Celeste until the PB falls (Celeste) https://www.twitch.tv/yourchannel`, with a picture of the stream.
4. **Set a variable** remembers the stream, once the network confirms the post.

Anything a flow can trigger can post, too. Put a **Post to** step after a milestone or a command, not only at the start of a stream.

## Once per stream

Twitch sometimes reports a stream going online twice, for example after a short disconnect. Each network's flow remembers the last stream it announced, so a reconnect doesn't post again, your next stream gets a fresh post, and a post that fails is tried again on the next go-live event. Each network keeps its own memory, so one network being down never stops the others.

Bloopbot also sends at most 10 posts an hour to each network for your channel, so a flow that loops by mistake can't flood your account.

## What it costs

Bluesky, Mastodon, Threads, Instagram and Facebook cost nothing to post to. X charges for every post an app makes: $0.20 for a post with a link and $0.015 without, and Bloopbot passes that on. You add X balance in $5.99 top-ups, $5.00 of which goes to X, and a post that fails costs nothing. On a paid plan you can connect your own X developer app instead, and X bills you directly.

## Set it up

1. Open **Connections** and connect a network. You approve Bloopbot on the network's own page; Bloopbot never sees your password.
2. On **Flows**, press **Add** and add the **Socials** pack.
3. Open the flow for that network, change the post text if you like, and press **Send test post** to see the real post on your profile.
4. Switch the flow on. It posts when your next stream starts.