Mimir/docs/self-hosted-live-edge.md

Self-Hosted Live Edge

Mimir's self-hosted broadcast path keeps OBS optional. Starfire owns the final program frame and audio mix; Yggdrasil owns public byte distribution.

flowchart LR
    A["Fensalir program texture"] --> B["Starfire NVENC encode"]
    C["Faust/Mimir mix"] --> B
    B --> D["SSH TCP forward"]
    D --> E["Yggdrasil localhost RTMP ingest"]
    E --> F["HLS segment ring"]
    F --> G["streampixels.gamecult.org static HTTPS"]
    G --> H["gamecult.org/livestream static viewer"]

Authority Map

• Owner: Mimir.Broadcast owns the Starfire-side encoded push command.
• Inputs: final program media, FFmpeg/NVENC capability, and the SSH-forwarded RTMP endpoint.
• Outputs: one CBR H.264/AAC RTMP stream to Yggdrasil.
• Derived state: Yggdrasil's HLS playlist and segments are derived from that encoded stream. They do not own composition, timing, or transcoding.
• Forbidden writers: Yggdrasil must not transcode the program stream in the first live edge. OBS is not the primary broadcast owner.
• Shared paths: synthetic smokes and real program pushes use the same RTMP URL: rtmp://127.0.0.1:11935/live/mimir.
• Deletion line: if a later CDN or WebRTC edge appears, keep this path as the simple origin proof or delete it. Do not keep two public stream authorities.

First Smoke

On Starfire, with an SSH local forward active to Yggdrasil's localhost RTMP port:

dotnet run --project .\src\Mimir.Broadcast\Mimir.Broadcast.csproj -- --smoke
dotnet run --project .\src\Mimir.Broadcast\Mimir.Broadcast.csproj -- --print-command

The default push target is:

rtmp://127.0.0.1:11935/live/mimir

The public HLS playlist is served on the existing Yggdrasil-routed StreamPixels domain:

https://streampixels.gamecult.org/mimir/live/hls/mimir.m3u8

The static viewer lives on the root GameCult site:

https://gamecult.org/livestream

Local Recording Before Public Push

Before pushing a live program to Yggdrasil, record the same simple stream-proof shape locally and judge sync from the artifact:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\record-stream-proof-output.ps1 -StartRavenSender -DurationSeconds 20

The recording harness listens for a Raven muxed A/V SRT feed on a private test port, overlays Kiyo Pro as picture-in-picture, mixes Raven Realtek loopback with Starfire's Scarlett capture, applies conservative FFmpeg denoise filters, and writes an MP4 under artifacts\runtime\stream-proof\.

The current routing contract is explicit:

• Starfire Realtek/default render is the chirp/speaker emission lane.
• Raven Realtek/default render loopback is the co-streamer game/program lane. It is packaged with Raven's NVENC video feed back to Starfire.
• Starfire Scarlett carries the hero mic capture and monitored local mix for judgment. Raven's Scarlett is only routing the remote shotgun into Starfire Scarlett, currently on channel 1.
• The proof recording is allowed to mix those lanes for human sync judgment, but it must not collapse their authority. Starfire Realtek proves chirp emission, Raven Realtek proves the co-streamer/game program path, and Scarlett proves the hero mic/shotgun capture path.

This is a bridge recording, not public broadcast truth. It exists so humans can judge audio/video sync and tell Mimir which offsets to apply before the RTMP/HLS edge is involved. Offset knobs are explicit:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\record-stream-proof-output.ps1 `
  -StartRavenSender `
  -RavenOffsetSeconds 0.000 `
  -KiyoOffsetSeconds 0.000 `
  -MicOffsetSeconds 0.000

If Windows firewall blocks direct SRT/UDP during a local proof, run the Raven leg through an SSH TCP tunnel instead:

Start-Process ssh.exe -ArgumentList '-o ExitOnForwardFailure=yes -N -L 6204:127.0.0.1:5204 -l "madman''s lullaby" 192.168.1.84' -WindowStyle Hidden

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\record-stream-proof-output.ps1 `
  -StartRavenSender `
  -RavenSenderListens `
  -RavenSenderTransport tcp-listener `
  -RavenInputOverride tcp://127.0.0.1:6204

That fallback keeps the proof private to the LAN/SSH path and avoids changing machine firewall policy just to capture a judging artifact.

Scaling Rule

Viewer capacity is approximately:

available Yggdrasil egress / encoded bitrate

Micro-optimizations count only when they improve target-host measurements: served Mbps, p95 segment latency, CPU, memory, syscalls, or stall rate on Yggdrasil. The first edge uses nginx static serving and kernel file paths so the hot path is byte distribution, not application code.