OwnCord/docs/livekit-setup.md

LiveKit Setup Guide

LiveKit is an open-source SFU (Selective Forwarding Unit) that handles real-time voice and video. OwnCord uses it instead of rolling its own WebRTC stack -- LiveKit handles all the hard parts (DTLS, ICE, codec negotiation, simulcast) while OwnCord manages permissions, state, and room lifecycle.

There are two ways to run LiveKit alongside OwnCord:

Method	Best for	LiveKit managed by
Docker Compose	Linux servers	Docker (separate container)
Companion process	Windows / bare-metal Linux	OwnCord (auto-start)

---

Docker

When running OwnCord via docker compose, LiveKit runs as a separate container on the same internal network. OwnCord reaches it at ws://livekit:7880 via Docker's internal DNS — no port forwarding needed between containers.

Setup

1. Edit .env (in Server/) — set LIVEKIT_API_KEY and LIVEKIT_API_SECRET:

   LIVEKIT_API_KEY=my-unique-key
   LIVEKIT_API_SECRET=my-secret-at-least-32-characters-long
   

2. Edit livekit.yaml (copy from livekit.yaml.example) — use the same key/secret and set your public IP:

   port: 7880
   rtc:
     tcp_port: 7881
     port_range_start: 50000
     port_range_end: 60000
     node_ip: "YOUR_SERVER_PUBLIC_IP"   # required for remote clients
   keys:
     my-unique-key: my-secret-at-least-32-characters-long
   logging:
     level: info
   

3. Leave voice.livekit_binary unset in your config.yaml. The voice.livekit_url should be ws://livekit:7880 (Docker DNS).

4. Open firewall ports on your host:

   Port	Protocol	Purpose
   7880	TCP	LiveKit signaling
   7881	TCP	TCP fallback for WebRTC
   50000-60000	UDP	WebRTC media

node_ip is required for remote clients. Without it, LiveKit advertises internal Docker IP addresses as ICE candidates, which are unreachable from the internet. If your cloud VM has a metadata service (AWS, GCP, DigitalOcean) you can use use_external_ip: true instead.

---

Companion Process (Windows / bare-metal Linux)

1. Get the LiveKit Binary

Download livekit-server for your platform from one of:

• GitHub releases: https://github.com/livekit/livekit/releases
  • Grab the livekit-server_*_windows_amd64.zip asset
• LiveKit website: https://livekit.io/ (Docs > Self Hosting)

Extract the binary somewhere permanent (e.g. C:\livekit\livekit-server.exe).

---

2. Server Configuration

LiveKit settings live in the voice: section of config.yaml:

voice:
  livekit_api_key: "devkey"
  livekit_api_secret: "owncord-dev-secret-key-min-32chars"
  livekit_url: "ws://localhost:7880"
  livekit_binary: "C:/livekit/livekit-server.exe"
  quality: "medium"

Field	Purpose	Default
livekit_api_key	Shared API key between OwnCord and LiveKit	"devkey"
livekit_api_secret	Shared secret for JWT signing (min 32 chars)	"owncord-dev-secret-key-min-32chars"
livekit_url	LiveKit WebSocket URL	ws://localhost:7880
livekit_binary	Path to livekit-server binary. Empty = assume externally managed	"" (disabled)
quality	Default voice quality preset	"medium"

Environment variable overrides use the OWNCORD_ prefix: OWNCORD_VOICE_LIVEKIT_API_KEY, OWNCORD_VOICE_LIVEKIT_API_SECRET, etc.

Warning

: The server logs a warning at startup if you use the default dev key/secret. Always change these for production.

---

3. Ports and Firewall

Port	Protocol	Purpose
7880	TCP (HTTP/WS)	LiveKit signaling (WebSocket + REST API)
7881	TCP	LiveKit internal RTC (TURN/TCP fallback)
50000-60000	UDP	Media transport (RTP audio/video)

For LAN-only setups, ensure these ports are open on Windows Firewall. For remote access, forward these through your router or use Tailscale.

---

4. How the Companion Process Works

When livekit_binary is set, OwnCord manages LiveKit as a companion process:

1. Config generation: OwnCord auto-generates data/livekit.yaml with the API key/secret, port 7880, and UDP range 50000-60000
2. Process launch: livekit-server --config data/livekit.yaml
3. Crash recovery: Exponential backoff restart (3s -> 6s -> 12s ... up to 60s), gives up after 10 consecutive rapid failures
4. Health checks: GET http://localhost:7880/ verifies LiveKit is responding
5. Graceful shutdown: Stops the process when OwnCord shuts down (5s timeout before kill)

If livekit_binary is empty, OwnCord assumes LiveKit is managed externally (e.g. Docker, systemd, or manual start).

---

5. Token Flow

How a client joins voice:

Client                     OwnCord Server              LiveKit Server
  |                             |                           |
  |-- voice_join (channel_id)-->|                           |
  |                             |-- check CONNECT_VOICE     |
  |                             |-- persist to voice_states |
  |                             |-- GenerateToken()         |
  |<-- voice_token ------------|                           |
  |    { token, url,           |                           |
  |      direct_url }          |                           |
  |                             |                           |
  |-- connect with JWT --------|-------------------------->|
  |<--- media streams ----------|--------------------------|

Token details:

• Room name: "channel-{channelID}"
• Identity: "user-{userID}"
• TTL: 24 hours (refresh at 23h)
• canPublish is derived from the SPEAK_VOICE permission
• canSubscribe is always true
• Client can request refresh via voice_token_refresh (rate limited to 1/60s)

Client connection paths:

• Proxy path (/livekit): Client connects through OwnCord's HTTPS server. Avoids mixed-content issues.
• Direct URL (ws://localhost:7880): Used when the client is on localhost.

---

6. Webhook Integration

LiveKit sends webhooks to POST /api/v1/livekit/webhook. The endpoint verifies the JWT and handles participant_left to clean up ghost voice states when a user disconnects from LiveKit without sending a voice_leave message.

---

7. Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause	Fix
"voice not configured" error	LiveKit client failed to initialize	Check livekit_api_key and livekit_api_secret are set and secret is >= 32 chars
"failed to generate voice token"	API key/secret mismatch	Ensure config.yaml key/secret match what LiveKit is using
Voice connects but no audio	Firewall blocking UDP 50000-60000	Open UDP port range in Windows Firewall
"backend unavailable" from /livekit proxy	LiveKit not running on port 7880	Check livekit_binary path or start LiveKit manually
"too many rapid failures, giving up" in logs	LiveKit binary crashes on startup	Run livekit-server --config data/livekit.yaml manually to see errors
Mixed content / insecure WS error	Client using direct URL over HTTPS page	Client should use the /livekit proxy path
GET /api/v1/livekit/health returns degraded	LiveKit server not reachable	Verify LiveKit is running: curl http://localhost:7880

---

8. Production Checklist

• Change livekit_api_key from "devkey" to a random string
• Change livekit_api_secret to a random 32+ character string
• Open firewall ports: 7880/TCP, 50000-60000/UDP
• If using ACME/manual TLS, ensure LiveKit proxy at /livekit is working
• Test voice by joining a voice channel from two clients
• Check /api/v1/livekit/health returns {"status": "ok"}