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Quickstart

Updated

Build a basic Video Calling app with the Agora Video SDK.

This page provides a step-by-step guide on how to create a basic Video Calling app using the Agora Video SDK.

Understand the tech

To start a Video Calling session, implement the following steps in your app:

  • Initialize the engine: Before calling other APIs, create and initialize an engine instance.

  • Join a channel: Call methods to create and join a channel.

  • Send and receive audio and video: All users can publish streams to the channel and subscribe to audio and video streams published by other users in the channel.

Prerequisites

Set up your project

  1. Create a new directory for your Electron project in a local folder. Add the following files to the root of the project directory:

    • package.json: Manages project dependencies and scripts.
    • index.html: Defines the app's user interface.
    • main.js: The main process entry point.
    • renderer.js: The renderer process script, responsible for interacting with the Agora Electron SDK.

  2. Create a user interface for your app based on your use-case.

    A basic user interface consists of an element for local video and an element for remote video. Refer to Create a user interface to get a bare bones sample layout.

Install the SDK

Add the Video SDK to your project using npm:

  1. Configure package.json

    • macOS

      {
  "name": "electron-demo-app",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "author": "your name",
  "description": "My Electron app",
  "main": "main.js",
  "scripts": {
    "start": "electron ."
  },
  "agora_electron": {
    "platform": "darwin",
    "prebuilt": true
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "agora-electron-sdk": "latest"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "electron": "latest"
  }
}

    • Windows

      {
  "name": "electron-demo-app",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "author": "your name",
  "description": "My Electron app",
  "main": "main.js",
  "scripts": {
    "start": "electron ."
  },
  "agora_electron": {
    "platform": "win32",
    "prebuilt": true,
    "arch": "ia32"
  },
  "dependencies": { "agora-electron-sdk": "latest" },
  "devDependencies": {"electron": "latest" }
}

      Configuration parameters

      • agora-electron-sdk: Version number of the Agora Electron SDK. Set to latest for the most recent version, or specify a version number. See agora-electron-sdk on npm for available versions.
      • electron: Electron version number. Versions 5.0.0 and above are supported. For macOS devices with M1 chips, use version 11.0.0 or higher.
      • platform (Optional): Target platform. Set to darwin for macOS or win32 for Windows.
      • prebuilt (Optional): Set to true by default to prevent compatibility issues between Electron, Node.js, and the SDK.
      • arch (Optional): Target architecture. Defaults to your system architecture.

    Different versions of Electron have different environment requirements. If you see errors due to a mismatched environment when running the project, refer to the official Electron documentation to choose the appropriate Electron and Node.js versions.

  2. To install the dependencies, open a terminal in your project root directory and run the following commands::

    • macOS

      npm install

    • Windows

      npm install -D --arch=ia32 electron
npm install

  • On Windows, you must first install the 32-bit version of Electron by running npm install -D --arch=ia32 electron, and then run npm install. Otherwise, you may encounter the error: “Not a valid Win32 application.”

  • If a node_modules folder exists in the project root directory, delete it before running npm install to avoid potential errors.

Compile the latest SDK from the Electron SDK repository and integrate it into your application.

Implement Video Calling

This section guides you through the implementation of basic real-time audio and video interaction in your app.

The following figure illustrates the essential steps:

This guide includes complete sample code that demonstrates implementing basic real-time interaction. To understand the core API calls in the sample code, review the following implementation steps.

Set up the main process

The main.js file is the entry point for your Electron application. It defines the main process, which is responsible for creating and managing browser windows. This script initializes the app, loads the UI from index.html, and ensures proper behavior across platforms.

const { app, BrowserWindow } = require("electron");
const path = require("path");

// If using Electron 9.x or later, set allowRendererProcessReuse to false
app.allowRendererProcessReuse = false;

function createWindow() {
    // Create the browser window
    const mainWindow = new BrowserWindow({
        width: 800,
        height: 600,
        webPreferences: {
            // preload: path.join(__dirname, "renderer.js"),
            // Enable Node integration and disable context isolation
            nodeIntegration: true,
            contextIsolation: false,
        },
    });

    // Load the contents of the index.html file
    mainWindow.loadFile("./index.html");
    // Open the Developer Tools
    mainWindow.webContents.openDevTools();
}

// Manage the browser window for the Electron app
app.whenReady().then(() => {
    createWindow();
    // On macOS, create a new window if none are open
    app.on("activate", function () {
        if (BrowserWindow.getAllWindows().length === 0) {
            createWindow();
        }
    });
});

// Quit the Electron app when all windows are closed (except on macOS)
app.on("window-all-closed", function () {
    if (process.platform !== "darwin") app.quit();
});

Handle permissions

Perform this step only when the target platform is macOS. Starting with macOS v10.14, you must check and obtain permission before accessing the camera or microphone. Use Electron’s askForMediaAccess method to request these permissions from the user.

Add the following code to the main.js file:

// Check and request device permissions
async function checkAndApplyDeviceAccessPrivilege() {
    // Check and request camera permission
    const cameraPrivilege = systemPreferences.getMediaAccessStatus('camera');
    console.log(`Camera privilege before applying: ${cameraPrivilege}`);
    if (cameraPrivilege !== 'granted') {
        await systemPreferences.askForMediaAccess('camera');
        console.log('Requested camera access from user');
    }

    // Check and request microphone permission
    const micPrivilege = systemPreferences.getMediaAccessStatus('microphone');
    console.log(`Microphone privilege before applying: ${micPrivilege}`);
    if (micPrivilege !== 'granted') {
        await systemPreferences.askForMediaAccess('microphone');
        console.log('Requested microphone access from user');
    }
}

checkAndApplyDeviceAccessPrivilege();

Import dependencies

Import the modules and functions required to build the app using Video SDK. Add the following code to renderer.js:

const {
    createAgoraRtcEngine,
    ChannelProfileType,
    ClientRoleType,
    VideoSourceType,
    VideoViewSetupMode
} = require("agora-electron-sdk");

Specify connection parameters

Provide the App ID, temporary token, and the channel name you used when generating the token. The engine uses these values to initialize and join the channel.

// Enter your App ID
const APPID = "<-- Insert App Id -->";
// Enter your temporary token
let token = "<-- Insert Token -->";
// Enter the channel name used when generating the token
const channel = "<-- Insert Channel Name -->";
// Specify a unique user ID for this session
let uid = 123;

Initialize the engine

For real-time communication, create an IRtcEngine object by calling createAgoraRtcEngine and then call initialize with RtcEngineContext to specify the App ID. Call registerEventHandler to register a custom event handler for managing user interactions within the channel.

let rtcEngine;
const os = require("os");
const path = require("path");
const sdkLogPath = path.resolve(os.homedir(), "./test.log");

// Create RtcEngine instance
rtcEngine = createAgoraRtcEngine();

// Initialize RtcEngine instance
rtcEngine.initialize({
    appId: APPID,
    logConfig: { filePath: sdkLogPath }
});

Enable the video module

Call the enableVideo method to enable the video module, and then call startPreview to start the local video preview.

// Enable the video module
rtcEngine.enableVideo();
// Start the local video preview
rtcEngine.startPreview();

Join a channel

To join a channel, call joinChannel with the following parameters:

  • Channel name: The name of the channel to join. Clients that pass the same channel name join the same channel. If a channel with the specified name does not exist, it is created when the first user joins.

  • Authentication token: A dynamic key that authenticates a user when the client joins a channel. In a production environment, you obtain a token from a token server in your security infrastructure. For the purpose of this guide Generate a temporary token.

  • User ID: A 32-bit signed integer that identifies a user in the channel. You can specify a unique user ID for each user yourself. If you set the user ID to 0 when joining a channel, the SDK generates a random number for the user ID and returns the value in the onJoinChannelSuccess callback.

  • Channel media options: Configure ChannelMediaOptions to define publishing and subscription settings, optimize performance for your specific use-case, and set optional parameters.

For Video Calling, set the channelProfile to ChannelProfileCommunication and the clientRoleType to ClientRoleBroadcaster.

// Join the channel using a temporary token
rtcEngine.joinChannel(token, channel, uid, {
    // Set the channel profile to communication
    channelProfile: ChannelProfileType.ChannelProfileCommunication,
    // Set the user role to broadcaster; keep the default value for audience role
    clientRoleType: ClientRoleType.ClientRoleBroadcaster,
    // Publish audio collected from the microphone
    publishMicrophoneTrack: true,
    // Publish video collected from the camera
    publishCameraTrack: true,
    // Automatically subscribe to all audio streams
    autoSubscribeAudio: true,
    // Automatically subscribe to all video streams
    autoSubscribeVideo: true,
});

Register event handlers

Call the registerEventHandler method to register the following callback events:

  • onJoinChannelSuccess: Triggered when the local user successfully joins a channel. After joining, call setupLocalVideo to configure the local video window.
  • onUserJoined: Triggered when a remote user joins the current channel. After the remote user joins, call setupRemoteVideo to configure the remote video window.
  • onUserOffline: Triggered when a remote user leaves the current channel. After the remote user leaves, call setupRemoteVideo to close the remote video window.
const EventHandles = {
    // Listen for the local user joining the channel
    onJoinChannelSuccess: ({ channelId, localUid }, elapsed) => {
        console.log('Successfully joined channel: ' + channelId);
        // After the local user joins the channel, set up the local video view
        rtcEngine.setupLocalVideo({
             sourceType: VideoSourceType.VideoSourceCameraPrimary,
             uid: uid,
             view: localVideoContainer,
             setupMode: VideoViewSetupMode.VideoViewSetupAdd,
        });
    },

    // Listen for remote users joining the channel
    onUserJoined: ({ channelId, localUid }, remoteUid, elapsed) => {
        console.log('Remote user ' + remoteUid + ' joined');
        // After a remote user joins the channel, set up the remote video view
        rtcEngine.setupRemoteVideo(
            {
                sourceType: VideoSourceType.VideoSourceRemote,
                uid: remoteUid,
                view: remoteVideoContainer,
                setupMode: VideoViewSetupMode.VideoViewSetupAdd,
            },
            { channelId },
        );
    },

    // Listen for users leaving the channel
    onUserOffline: ( { channelId, localUid }, remoteUid, reason ) => {
        console.log('Remote user ' + remoteUid + ' left the channel');
        // After a remote user leaves the channel, remove the remote video view
        rtcEngine.setupRemoteVideo(
            {
                sourceType: VideoSourceType.VideoSourceRemote,
                uid: remoteUid,
                view: remoteVideoContainer,
                setupMode: VideoViewSetupMode.VideoViewSetupRemove,
            },
        );
    },
};

// Register the event handler
rtcEngine.registerEventHandler(EventHandles);

To ensure that you receive all Video SDK events, set the engine event handler before joining a channel.

Display the local video

To display the local video:

// Set up the local video view
rtcEngine.setupLocalVideo({
      sourceType: VideoSourceType.VideoSourceCameraPrimary,
      uid: uid,
      view: localVideoContainer,
      setupMode: VideoViewSetupMode.VideoViewSetupAdd,
});

Display remote video

To display the remote video, call setupRemoteVideo to configure the remote video feed.

// Set up the remote video view
rtcEngine.setupRemoteVideo(
    {
        sourceType: VideoSourceType.VideoSourceRemote,
        uid: remoteUid,
        view: remoteVideoContainer,
        setupMode: VideoViewSetupMode.VideoViewSetupAdd,
    },
    { channelId },
);

// Remove the remote video view
rtcEngine.setupRemoteVideo(
    {
        sourceType: VideoSourceType.VideoSourceRemote,
        uid: remoteUid,
        view: remoteVideoContainer,
        setupMode: VideoViewSetupMode.VideoViewSetupRemove,
    },
);

Call this method when the client receives the onUserJoined callback.

Start and close the app

When a user launches your app, start Video Calling. When a user closes the app, stop Video Calling and release resources.

  1. To start Video Calling, initialize the engine, display the local video and join a channel.

  2. When Video Calling ends, leave the channel and clean up resources:

    // Stop the preview
rtcEngine.stopPreview();
// Leave the channel
rtcEngine.leaveChannel();

    When you no longer need to interact, unregister the event handler and call release to release engine resources.

    // Unregister the event handler
rtcEngine.unregisterEventHandler(EventHandles);
// Release the engine
rtcEngine.release();

    caution

    After destroying the engine, you can no longer use SDK methods and callbacks. To use the real-time interaction functions again, create a new engine instance. See Initialize the engine for details.

Complete sample code

A complete code sample demonstrating the basic process of real-time interaction is provided for your reference. Replace the entire contents of the main.js and renderer.js with the following code samples:

main.js

Information

  • In renderer.js, replace the values for APPID, token, and channel with your App ID, the temporary token from Agora Console, and the channel name you used to generate the token.
  • If you're targeting macOS v10.14 or later, add the device permission code to main.js. For more details, see Get device permissions.

To test the complete code, see Test the sample code.

Create a user interface

To connect the sample code to your existing UI, ensure that your index.html file includes the HTML elements used to Display the local video and Display remote video.

Alternatively, use the following sample to create a minimal interface. Add the following code to index.html:

Sample code to create the user interface

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <title>Electron Quickstart</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Electron Quickstart</h1>
    <!-- Add the local video view to the interface -->
    <div
      id="join-channel-local-video"
      style="width: 300px; height: 300px; float: left"
    ></div>
    <!-- Add the remote video view to the interface -->
    <div
      id="join-channel-remote-video"
      style="width: 300px; height: 300px; float: left"
    ></div>
  </body>
  <script src="./renderer.js"></script>
</html>

Test the sample code

Take the following steps to test the sample code:

  1. Update the APPID, token, and channel parameter values in your code.

  2. To run the app, execute the following command in the project root directory:

    npm start

    You see a window pop up showing the local video.

  3. Invite a friend to run the demo app on a second device. Alternatively, use the Web demo to join the same channel.

    • If users on both devices join the channel as hosts, they can see and hear each other.
    • If one user joins as host and the other as audience, the host can see themselves in the local video window; the audience can see the host in the remote video window and hear the host.

Reference

This section contains content that completes the information on this page, or points you to documentation that explains other aspects of this product.

  • If a firewall is deployed in your network environment, refer to Connect with Cloud Proxy to use Agora services normally.

Next steps

After implementing the quickstart sample, read the following documents to learn more:

  • To ensure communication security in a test or production environment, best practice is to obtain and use a token from an authentication server. For details, see Secure authentication with tokens.

Sample project

Agora provides open source sample projects on GitHub for your reference. Download or view the JoinChannelVideo project for a more detailed example.

API Reference

Frequently asked questions

See also

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