FAQ.md

Frequently Asked Questions

Short answers with pointers into the full docs. See the documentation index for everything.

General

What is Strom?

A GStreamer media pipeline engine with a visual, web-based GUI. It builds, runs, and manages real-time media pipelines; the node-based editor is the interface for designing and controlling them. See the root README.

What's the relationship to Open Live?

Strom is standalone, but Open Live (with Open Live Studio) uses Strom as a media backend over its REST/WebSocket APIs. See OPEN_LIVE_SETUP.md.

Native app, web service, or both?

Both. The same egui frontend compiles to native and to WASM; the backend can run the native GUI or serve the web UI. See DEVELOPMENT.md.

Running & deployment

What's the easiest way to try it?

The one-liner installer or Docker. See the root README Quick Start.

How do I deploy with Docker?

See DOCKER.md for the full reference, or OPEN_LIVE_SETUP.md for a guided, opinionated setup.

Do I need a GPU?

No, but it's highly preferred for production. Without one, video encoding falls back to software (x264 etc.), which works for small flows but doesn't scale. See DOCKER_GPU_SETUP.md.

Is there help for setting up my host (GPU, capture cards, NDI, clock sync)?

Yes — ready-to-run host setup scripts live in scripts/setup/, each with its own README: nvidia/ (driver + container toolkit), decklink/ (Blackmagic SDI/HDMI), ndi/ (NewTek NDI SDK + plugin), and ntp/ (chrony for clock sync). They are also bundled inside the Docker images at /app/scripts/setup/, so you don't have to clone the repo — see OPEN_LIVE_SETUP.md for how to extract them.

How do I turn on authentication?

Strom is unauthenticated by default. Set a session login and an API key before exposing it to any untrusted network. See AUTHENTICATION.md.

Can I use a real database instead of JSON files?

Yes — PostgreSQL is supported for production. See POSTGRESQL.md.

How do I serve over HTTPS?

Built-in TLS (STROM_TLS_CERT / STROM_TLS_KEY) with hot-reload, or terminate TLS at a reverse proxy. See the root README HTTPS/TLS section.

Features

How do I switch between sources live (PVW/PGM)?

Use the Vision Mixer block — broadcast-style preview/program switching with transitions, DSK, fade-to-black, PiP, and multiview. See VISION_MIXER_OPERATOR_GUIDE.md.

What's the difference between the Compositor and the Vision Mixer?

The Compositor is Strom's first-generation video compositor (WIP, known limitations). The Vision Mixer is the more developed switcher and the recommended path — it's what Open Live uses. See VISION_MIXER_OPERATOR_GUIDE.md (the old compositor's writeup is in archive/COMPOSITOR_EDITOR.md).

Can I render web pages / HTML graphics as a video source?

Yes, via CEF in the strom-full image. See HTML_RENDER.md.

Which video encoders are supported?

H.264/H.265/AV1/VP9 with automatic hardware acceleration (NVENC, QSV, VA-API, AMF, software fallback). The Video Encoder block picks the best available encoder; its properties in the in-app inspector are the authoritative list.

How do I integrate with an AI assistant (Claude, etc.)?

Strom speaks the Model Context Protocol over HTTP (/api/mcp) and stdio. See MCP.md.

Troubleshooting

My input streams are out of sync.

Align them with PTP/NTP clocks and normalize_segment. See STREAM_SYNCHRONIZATION.md.

A WHIP/WHEP connection drops after a few seconds.

This was a known issue, now resolved: keep each whipserversrc in its own pipeline and set drop-on-latency=true on live RTP inputs. Background in archive/WHIP_ICE_DISCONNECT_INVESTIGATION.md.

HTML rendering / CEF crashes (SIGILL) in a long-running container.

Handled in our strom-full image via a mallinfo LD_PRELOAD shim. If you hit it on your own gstcefsrc build, see archive/CEF_SIGILL_CRASH.md.

Strom segfaults — how do I debug it?

See DEBUGGING_SEGFAULTS_WSL2.md (applies beyond WSL2).

How do I build for a Raspberry Pi / ARM64?

See CROSS_COMPILE_ARM64.md.

Contributing

How do I set up a dev environment?

See DEVELOPMENT.md, then CONTRIBUTING.md.