WHIP streaming

This guide explains how to push streams to Media Gateway using the WHIP protocol.

Understand the techCopy Anchor Link

WHIP (WebRTC-HTTP Ingestion Protocol) is an open standard for secure, high-bandwidth, low-latency WebRTC streaming ingestion. Compared to RTMP, WHIP is significantly more resilient to weak network conditions and has built-in load balancing.

When using the WHIP protocol to push streams to Media Gateway, the following codecs are supported:

• Video: H.264, H.265, AV1
• Audio: OPUS

Configure with OBSCopy Anchor Link

Set up WHIP streaming in OBS Studio by configuring the server and Bearer token settings.

1. In the Server field, enter your streaming domain name in the following format:

   Copy Text

   https://{streaming_domain_name}/whip

   You can use the Agora unified domain name or bind your own domain name.

   • To use the unified domain name, use whip-rtcpush-prod-{region}.agoramdn.com. Replace {region} with your actual region. Supported regions are:
     • na: North America
     • eu: Europe
     • ap: Asia, except Mainland China
     • cn: Mainland China
   • To use your own domain name, contact Agora technical support for configuration before use.

2. In the Bearer token field, enter the streaming key. To obtain a key, see Get streaming key.

If video transcoding isn't enabled on the stream's template, Media Gateway forwards the stream directly into the channel. If video transcoding is enabled, Media Gateway decodes the incoming stream first, then re-encodes it according to the template (single stream, large stream, or ABR).

Configure with FFmpegCopy Anchor Link

WHIP support landed in the FFmpeg trunk in June 2025 and first shipped in the official FFmpeg 8.0 release. As of FFmpeg 9.0.1, it's still marked experimental and isn't recommended for production use.

Before using it, confirm your FFmpeg build has WHIP support enabled:

ffmpeg -version

Check that the configuration line includes --enable-muxer=whip.

Use the Agora unified domain nameCopy Anchor Link

If your source video is H.264, H.265, or AV1 without B-frames, and your audio is already OPUS, push the stream without transcoding:

ffmpeg -re -i input.mp4 -c copy \
    -f whip -ts_buffer_size 2097152 -authorization "{streamkey}" \
    https://whip-rtcpush-prod-{region}.agoramdn.com/whip

If your audio isn't OPUS, transcode only the audio. Video still passes through untouched if it's already H.264, H.265, or AV1 without B-frames:

ffmpeg -re -i input.mp4 -c:v copy -c:a libopus -b:a 128k -ar 48000 -ac 2 \
    -f whip -ts_buffer_size 2097152 -authorization "{streamkey}" \
    https://whip-rtcpush-prod-{region}.agoramdn.com/whip

If neither your video nor your audio meets those conditions, transcode both. Adjust resolution, frame rate, and bitrate as needed, and keep the other parameters as shown:

ffmpeg -re -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -preset veryfast -tune zerolatency \
    -profile:v high -bf 0 \
    -s:v 1920x1080 -fps_mode:v cfr -b:v 3000k -r:v 30 -g:v 60 \
    -c:a libopus -b:a 128k -ar 48000 -ac 2 \
    -f whip -ts_buffer_size 2097152 -authorization "{streamkey}" \
    https://whip-rtcpush-prod-{region}.agoramdn.com/whip

Use a custom domain nameCopy Anchor Link

Replace the Agora unified domain with your own domain; the same transcoding conditions apply.

ffmpeg -re -i input.mp4 -c copy -f whip -authorization "{streamkey}" https://push.example.com/whip