Auto-Starting Your Stream From a Calendar Window

Introduction

Auto-start and auto-stop are the two settings that turn a Calendar from "schedules content within a stream" into "schedules the stream itself." With them on, your stream goes live before a scheduled block begins and goes offline after the last block ends, automatically, every time, forever.

This is the right setup for any channel that doesn't run truly 24/7, weekly shows, seasonal programming, school-hours content, ministry windows, business-hours streams.

Before You Start

You need:

A Scheduled Stream with at least one block on the Calendar
An idea of how much lead time you want before scheduled content
An idea of how much trail time you want after scheduled content
An idea of your gap policy, short gaps stay live, long gaps trigger auto-stop

If you don't have a Scheduled Stream yet, see How to Schedule Your 24/7 Stream With the Calendar.

Step 1: Open the Calendar Settings

In your Scheduled Stream, click the Settings button on the Calendar (usually a gear icon in the toolbar). The lifecycle settings panel opens.

Screenshot suggestion: Calendar settings panel with Auto-Start and Auto-Stop toggles visible.

Step 2: Turn On Auto-Start

Toggle Auto-Start to on.

Set the lead time, how many minutes before a calendar block begins your stream goes live. Common values:

0 minutes: start right at the block. Risky; your audience may see a blank moment as the stream warms up.
3–5 minutes: start a few minutes early, fallback content warms the stream, then your block begins. The most common setting.
15–30 minutes: start well before. Useful if you want viewers to gather around a "show starts in 30 minutes" graphic.

For most use cases, 5 minutes is the right default.

Step 3: Turn On Auto-Stop

Toggle Auto-Stop to on.

Set the trail time, how many minutes after the last calendar block ends your stream goes offline.

0 minutes: stop immediately when the last block ends
1–2 minutes: clean sign-off, gives the stream a moment to wrap before going offline
15–60 minutes: stay live for a while after, useful if viewers chat and you want a post-show window

1–2 minutes is the sensible default.

Step 4: Set the Gap Policy

The gap tolerance controls what happens when there's a gap between two calendar blocks.

If the gap is shorter than the tolerance, the stream stays live with fallback content
If the gap is longer than the tolerance, the stream auto-stops, then auto-starts again before the next block

Common values:

15 minutes: small gaps tolerated, longer gaps trigger stop/restart
2 hours: most gaps within a day stay live
Forever: once started, the stream stays live until you stop it manually

Your decision: do you want continuous coverage through the day (set a high tolerance) or do you want windowed coverage that signs off between shows (set a low tolerance)?

Step 5: Save

Click Save. The settings apply immediately. The next time a calendar block approaches, the stream will start itself.

Examples

Weekly Show, Single Window

Tuesday 7pm–8pm interview show
Auto-Start lead: 5 minutes
Auto-Stop trail: 1 minute
Gap tolerance: 15 minutes (irrelevant here, only one block)

Result: stream is live 6:55pm–8:01pm Tuesday, offline the rest of the week.

Daily Programming, Continuous

Monday–Friday 9am–5pm programming, gaps between blocks
Auto-Start lead: 5 minutes
Auto-Stop trail: 5 minutes
Gap tolerance: 2 hours

Result: stream is live 8:55am–5:05pm Monday through Friday, with fallback content filling gaps. Offline overnight and weekends.

Always-On 24/7

Auto-Start: off
Auto-Stop: off
(Or Gap tolerance: forever)

Result: stream is always live. Use this for music channels and any truly 24/7 content.

Watch For These Pitfalls

Lead time too short. 0 minutes means your audience may see an empty stream while it warms up. 3–5 minutes is safe.
Trail time too long. 60-minute trail means you're streaming an hour of fallback after every show. Costs resources, viewers may forget.
Gap tolerance set wrong. If your shows are 30 minutes apart and gap tolerance is 10 minutes, your stream restarts between every show. Probably not what you want.
No fallback configured. If lead time fires before fallback is set up, the audience sees a black screen. Always configure fallback content.
Time zones. The Calendar uses your stream's time zone. Confirm it matches your audience's.

Pro Tips

Use a "show starts in N minutes" graphic as your lead-time content. Build a 5-minute video with a countdown overlay and use it as the fallback during lead time.
Pair with recording. Have Record to Library on so every windowed show is captured automatically.
Promote the schedule. Tell viewers when your channel is live. "Tuesdays at 7pm, see you there." Trains the habit.
Check the auto-start log. Your dashboard shows when auto-start and auto-stop fired. Useful for debugging.

Common Questions

What if my show runs over? Auto-stop fires after the last calendar block ends + trail time. If your show ran over its calendar duration, the calendar entry's actual end time is what counts.

Can I manually go-live during an off-window? Yes. Manual Go Live overrides auto-start. The stream stays live until you click End Live.

What if the calendar is empty? The stream stays offline. Auto-start only fires for scheduled content.