openvidu-vue

Source code

This tutorial is a simple video-call application built with Vue that allows:

• Joining a video call room by requesting a token from any application server.
• Publishing your camera and microphone.
• Subscribing to all other participants' video and audio tracks automatically.
• Leaving the video call room at any time.

It uses the LiveKit JS SDK to connect to the LiveKit server and interact with the video call room.

Running this tutorial

1. Run LiveKit Server

You can run LiveKit locally or you can use their free tier of LiveKit Cloud.

Alternatively, you can use OpenVidu, which is a fully compatible LiveKit distribution designed specifically for on-premises environments. It brings notable improvements in terms of performance, observability and development experience. For more information, visit What is OpenVidu?.

Run OpenVidu locallyDeploy OpenViduRun LiveKit locallyUse LiveKit Cloud

1. Download OpenVidu

   git clone https://github.com/OpenVidu/openvidu-local-deployment
   

2. Configure the local deployment

   Windows macOS Linux

   cd openvidu-local-deployment/community
   .\configure_lan_private_ip_windows.bat
   

   cd openvidu-local-deployment/community
   ./configure_lan_private_ip_macos.sh
   

   cd openvidu-local-deployment/community
   ./configure_lan_private_ip_linux.sh
   

3. Run OpenVidu

   docker compose up
   

To use a production-ready OpenVidu deployment, visit the official OpenVidu deployment guide.

Configure Webhooks

All application servers have an endpoint to receive webhooks from LiveKit. For this reason, when using a production deployment you need to configure webhooks to point to your local application server in order to make it work. Check the Send Webhooks to a Local Application Server section for more information.

Follow the official instructions to run LiveKit locally.

Configure Webhooks

All application servers have an endpoint to receive webhooks from LiveKit. For this reason, when using LiveKit locally you need to configure webhooks to point to your application server in order to make it work. Check the Webhooks section from the official documentation and follow the instructions to configure webhooks.

Use your account in LiveKit Cloud.

Configure Webhooks

All application servers have an endpoint to receive webhooks from LiveKit. For this reason, when using LiveKit Cloud you need to configure webhooks to point to your local application server in order to make it work. Check the Webhooks section from the official documentation and follow the instructions to configure webhooks.

Expose your local application server

In order to receive webhooks from LiveKit Cloud on your local machine, you need to expose your local application server to the internet. Tools like Ngrok, LocalTunnel, LocalXpose and Zrok can help you achieve this.

These tools provide you with a public URL that forwards requests to your local application server. You can use this URL to receive webhooks from LiveKit Cloud, configuring it as indicated above.

2. Download the tutorial code

git clone https://github.com/OpenVidu/openvidu-livekit-tutorials.git

3. Run a server application

Node Go Ruby Java Python Rust PHP .NET

To run this server application, you need Node installed on your device.

1. Navigate into the server directory

   cd openvidu-livekit-tutorials/application-server/node
   

2. Install dependencies

   npm install
   

3. Run the application

   npm start
   

For more information, check the Node.js tutorial.

To run this server application, you need Go installed on your device.

1. Navigate into the server directory

   cd openvidu-livekit-tutorials/application-server/go
   

2. Run the application

   go run main.go
   

For more information, check the Go tutorial.

To run this server application, you need Ruby installed on your device.

1. Navigate into the server directory

   cd openvidu-livekit-tutorials/application-server/ruby
   

2. Install dependencies

   bundle install
   

3. Run the application

   ruby app.rb
   

For more information, check the Ruby tutorial.

To run this server application, you need Java and Maven installed on your device.

1. Navigate into the server directory

   cd openvidu-livekit-tutorials/application-server/java
   

2. Run the application

   mvn spring-boot:run
   

For more information, check the Java tutorial.

To run this server application, you need Python 3 installed on your device.

1. Navigate into the server directory

   cd openvidu-livekit-tutorials/application-server/python
   

2. Create a python virtual environment

   python -m venv venv
   

3. Activate the virtual environment

   Windows macOS Linux

   .\venv\Scripts\activate
   

   . ./venv/bin/activate
   

   . ./venv/bin/activate
   

4. Install dependencies

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

5. Run the application

   python app.py
   

For more information, check the Python tutorial.

To run this server application, you need Rust installed on your device.

1. Navigate into the server directory

   cd openvidu-livekit-tutorials/application-server/rust
   

2. Run the application

   cargo run
   

For more information, check the Rust tutorial.

To run this server application, you need PHP and Composer installed on your device.

1. Navigate into the server directory

   cd openvidu-livekit-tutorials/application-server/php
   

2. Install dependencies

   composer install
   

3. Run the application

   composer start
   

Warning

LiveKit PHP SDK requires library BCMath. This is available out-of-the-box in PHP for Windows, but a manual installation might be necessary in other OS. Run sudo apt install php-bcmath or sudo yum install php-bcmath

For more information, check the PHP tutorial.

To run this server application, you need .NET installed on your device.

1. Navigate into the server directory

   cd openvidu-livekit-tutorials/application-server/dotnet
   

2. Run the application

   dotnet run
   

Warning

This .NET server application needs the LIVEKIT_API_SECRET env variable to be at least 32 characters long. Make sure to update it here and in your LiveKit Server.

For more information, check the .NET tutorial.

4. Run the client application

To run the client application tutorial, you need Node installed on your development computer.

1. Navigate into the application client directory:

   cd openvidu-livekit-tutorials/application-client/openvidu-vue
   

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install
   

3. Run the application:

   npm start
   

Once the server is up and running, you can test the application by visiting http://localhost:5080. You should see a screen like this:

Accessing your application client from other devices in your local network

One advantage of running OpenVidu locally is that you can test your application client with other devices in your local network very easily without worrying about SSL certificates.

Access your application client through https://xxx-yyy-zzz-www.openvidu-local.dev:5443, where xxx-yyy-zzz-www part of the domain is your LAN private IP address with dashes (-) instead of dots (.). For more information, see section Accessing your app from other devices in your network.

Understanding the code

This Vue project has been generated using the Vue CLI tool. You may come across various configuration files and other items that are not essential for this tutorial. Our focus will be on the key files located within the src/ directory:

• App.vue: This file defines the main application component along with its HTML template and styles. It is responsible for handling tasks such as joining a video call and managing the video calls themselves.

• VideoComponent.vue: This file defines the VideoComponent. This component is responsible for displaying video tracks along with participant's data.

• AudioComponent.vue: This file defines the AudioComponent. This component is responsible for displaying audio tracks.

To use the LiveKit JS SDK in a Vue application, you need to install the livekit-client package. This package provides the necessary classes and methods to interact with the LiveKit server. You can install it using the following command:

npm install livekit-client

Now let's see the code of the App.vue file:

type TrackInfo = {
    // (1)!
    trackPublication: RemoteTrackPublication;
    participantIdentity: string;
};

// When running OpenVidu locally, leave these variables empty
// For other deployment type, configure them with correct URLs depending on your deployment
let APPLICATION_SERVER_URL = ""; // (2)!
let LIVEKIT_URL = ""; // (3)!
configureUrls();

function configureUrls() {
    // If APPLICATION_SERVER_URL is not configured, use default value from OpenVidu Local deployment
    if (!APPLICATION_SERVER_URL) {
        if (window.location.hostname === "localhost") {
            APPLICATION_SERVER_URL = "http://localhost:6080/";
        } else {
            APPLICATION_SERVER_URL = "https://" + window.location.hostname + ":6443/";
        }
    }

    // If LIVEKIT_URL is not configured, use default value from OpenVidu Local deployment
    if (!LIVEKIT_URL) {
        if (window.location.hostname === "localhost") {
            LIVEKIT_URL = "ws://localhost:7880/";
        } else {
            LIVEKIT_URL = "wss://" + window.location.hostname + ":7443/";
        }
    }
}

const room = ref<Room>(); // (4)!
const localTrack = ref<LocalVideoTrack>(); // (5)!
const remoteTracksMap: Ref<Map<string, TrackInfo>> = ref(new Map()); // (6)!

let participantName = ref("Participant" + Math.floor(Math.random() * 100)); // (7)!
let roomName = ref("Test Room"); // (8)!

1. TrackInfo type, which groups a track publication with the participant's identity.
2. The URL of the application server.
3. The URL of the LiveKit server.
4. The room object, which represents the video call room.
5. The local video track, which represents the user's camera.
6. Map that links track SIDs with TrackInfo objects. This map is used to store remote tracks and their associated participant identities.
7. The participant's name.
8. The room name.

The App.vue file defines the following variables:

• APPLICATION_SERVER_URL: The URL of the application server. This variable is used to make requests to the server to obtain a token for joining the video call room.
• LIVEKIT_URL: The URL of the LiveKit server. This variable is used to connect to the LiveKit server and interact with the video call room.
• room: The room object, which represents the video call room.
• localTrack: The local video track, which represents the user's camera.
• remoteTracksMap: A map that links track SIDs with TrackInfo objects. This map is used to store remote tracks and their associated participant identities.
• participantName: The participant's name.
• roomName: The room name.

Configure the URLs

When running OpenVidu locally, leave APPLICATION_SERVER_URL and LIVEKIT_URL variables empty. The function configureUrls() will automatically configure them with default values. However, for other deployment type, you should configure these variables with the correct URLs depending on your deployment.

---

Joining a Room

After the user specifies their participant name and the name of the room they want to join, when they click the Join button, the joinRoom() function is called:

async function joinRoom() {
    // Initialize a new Room object
    room.value = new Room(); // (1)!

    // Specify the actions when events take place in the room
    // On every new Track received...
    room.value.on(
        RoomEvent.TrackSubscribed,
        (_track: RemoteTrack, publication: RemoteTrackPublication, participant: RemoteParticipant) => {
            // (2)!
            remoteTracksMap.value.set(publication.trackSid, {
                trackPublication: publication,
                participantIdentity: participant.identity
            });
        }
    );

    // On every Track destroyed...
    room.value.on(RoomEvent.TrackUnsubscribed, (_track: RemoteTrack, publication: RemoteTrackPublication) => {
        // (3)!
        remoteTracksMap.value.delete(publication.trackSid);
    });

    try {
        // Get a token from your application server with the room name and participant name
        const token = await getToken(roomName.value, participantName.value); // (4)!

        // Connect to the room with the LiveKit URL and the token
        await room.value.connect(LIVEKIT_URL, token); // (5)!

        // Publish your camera and microphone
        await room.value.localParticipant.enableCameraAndMicrophone(); // (6)!
        localTrack.value = room.value.localParticipant.videoTrackPublications.values().next().value.videoTrack;
    } catch (error: any) {
        console.log("There was an error connecting to the room:", error.message);
        await leaveRoom();
    }

    // Add listener for beforeunload event to leave the room when the user closes the tab
    window.addEventListener("beforeunload", leaveRoom); // (7)!
}

1. Initialize a new Room object.
2. Event handling for when a new track is received in the room.
3. Event handling for when a track is destroyed.
4. Get a token from the application server with the room name and participant name from the form.
5. Connect to the room with the LiveKit URL and the token.
6. Publish your camera and microphone.
7. Add a listener for the beforeunload event to leave the room when the user closes the tab.

The joinRoom() function performs the following actions:

1. It creates a new Room object. This object represents the video call room.

   Info

   When the room object is defined, the HTML template is automatically updated hiding the "Join room" page and showing the "Room" layout.

2. Event handling is configured for different scenarios within the room. These events are fired when new tracks are subscribed to and when existing tracks are unsubscribed.

   • RoomEvent.TrackSubscribed: This event is triggered when a new track is received in the room. It manages the storage of the new track in the remoteTracksMap, which links track SIDs with TrackInfo objects containing the track publication and the participant's identity.

   • RoomEvent.TrackUnsubscribed: This event occurs when a track is destroyed, and it takes care of removing the track from the remoteTracksMap.

   These event handlers are essential for managing the behavior of tracks within the video call. You can further extend the event handling as needed for your application.

   Take a look at all events

   You can take a look at all the events in the Livekit Documentation

3. It requests a token from the application server using the room name and participant name. This is done by calling the getToken() function:

   /**
    * --------------------------------------------
    * GETTING A TOKEN FROM YOUR APPLICATION SERVER
    * --------------------------------------------
    * The method below request the creation of a token to
    * your application server. This prevents the need to expose
    * your LiveKit API key and secret to the client side.
    *
    * In this sample code, there is no user control at all. Anybody could
    * access your application server endpoints. In a real production
    * environment, your application server must identify the user to allow
    * access to the endpoints.
    */
   async function getToken(roomName: string, participantName: string) {
       const response = await fetch(APPLICATION_SERVER_URL + "token", {
           method: "POST",
           headers: {
               "Content-Type": "application/json"
           },
           body: JSON.stringify({
               roomName,
               participantName
           })
       });
   
       if (!response.ok) {
           const error = await response.json();
           throw new Error(`Failed to get token: ${error.errorMessage}`);
       }
   
       const data = await response.json();
       return data.token;
   }
   

   This function sends a POST request using fetch() to the application server's /token endpoint. The request body contains the room name and participant name. The server responds with a token that is used to connect to the room.

4. It connects to the room using the LiveKit URL and the token.

5. It publishes the camera and microphone tracks to the room using room.localParticipant.enableCameraAndMicrophone(), which asks the user for permission to access their camera and microphone at the same time. The local video track is then stored in the localTrack variable.
6. It adds a listener for the beforeunload event to leave the room when the user closes the tab.

---

Displaying Video and Audio Tracks

In order to display participants' video and audio tracks, the main component integrates the VideoComponent and AudioComponent.

<div id="layout-container">
    <VideoComponent v-if="localTrack" :track="localTrack" :participantIdentity="participantName" :local="true" />
    <template v-for="remoteTrack of remoteTracksMap.values()" :key="remoteTrack.trackPublication.trackSid">
        <VideoComponent
            v-if="remoteTrack.trackPublication.kind === 'video'"
            :track="remoteTrack.trackPublication.videoTrack!"
            :participantIdentity="remoteTrack.participantIdentity"
        />
        <AudioComponent v-else :track="remoteTrack.trackPublication.audioTrack!" hidden />
    </template>
</div>

This code snippet does the following:

• We use the v-if directive to conditionally display the local video track using the VideoComponent. The local property is set to true to indicate that the video track belongs to the local participant.

  Info

  The audio track is not displayed for the local participant because there is no need to hear one's own audio.

• Then, we use the v-for directive to iterate over the remoteTracksMap. For each remote track, we create a VideoComponent or an AudioComponent depending on the track's kind (video or audio). The participantIdentity property is set to the participant's identity, and the track property is set to the video or audio track. The hidden attribute is added to the AudioComponent to hide the audio tracks from the layout.

Let's see now the code of the VideoComponent.vue file:

const props = withDefaults(
    defineProps<{
        track: LocalVideoTrack | RemoteVideoTrack; // (1)!
        participantIdentity: string; // (2)!
        local?: boolean; // (3)!
    }>(),
    {
        local: false
    }
);

const videoElement = ref<HTMLMediaElement | null>(null); // (4)!

onMounted(() => {
    if (videoElement.value) {
        props.track.attach(videoElement.value); // (5)!
    }
});

onUnmounted(() => {
    props.track.detach(); // (6)!
});

1. The video track object, which can be a LocalVideoTrack or a RemoteVideoTrack.
2. The participant identity associated with the video track.
3. A boolean flag that indicates whether the video track belongs to the local participant.
4. The reference to the video element in the HTML template.
5. Attach the video track to the video element when the component is mounted.
6. Detach the video track when the component is unmounted.

The VideoComponent does the following:

• It defines the properties track, participantIdentity, and local using the defineProps() function:

  • track: The video track object, which can be a LocalVideoTrack or a RemoteVideoTrack.
  • participantIdentity: The participant identity associated with the video track.
  • local: A boolean flag that indicates whether the video track belongs to the local participant. This flag is set to false by default.

• It creates a reference to the video element in the HTML template.

• It attaches the video track to the video element when the component is mounted.
• It detaches the video track when the component is unmounted.

Finally, let's see the code of the AudioComponent.vue file:

const props = defineProps<{
    track: LocalAudioTrack | RemoteAudioTrack; // (1)!
}>();
const audioElement = ref<HTMLMediaElement | null>(null); // (2)!

onMounted(() => {
    if (audioElement.value) {
        props.track.attach(audioElement.value); // (3)!
    }
});

onUnmounted(() => {
    props.track.detach(); // (4)!
});

1. The audio track object, which can be a LocalAudioTrack or a RemoteAudioTrack, although in this case, it will always be a RemoteAudioTrack.
2. The reference to the audio element in the HTML template.
3. Attach the audio track to the audio element when the component is mounted.
4. Detach the audio track when the component is unmounted.

The AudioComponent is similar to the VideoComponent but is used to display audio tracks. It defines the track property using the defineProps() function and creates a reference to the audio element in the HTML template. The audio track is attached to the audio element when the component is mounted and detached when the component is unmounted.

---

Leaving the Room

When the user wants to leave the room, they can click the Leave Room button. This action calls the leaveRoom() function:

async function leaveRoom() {
    // Leave the room by calling 'disconnect' method over the Room object
    await room.value?.disconnect(); // (1)!

    // Empty all variables
    room.value = undefined; // (2)!
    localTrack.value = undefined;
    remoteTracksMap.value.clear();

    window.removeEventListener("beforeunload", leaveRoom); // (3)!
}

onUnmounted(() => {
    // (4)!
    // On component unmount, leave the room
    leaveRoom();
});

1. Disconnect the user from the room.
2. Reset all variables to their initial state.
3. Remove the beforeunload event listener.
4. Call the leaveRoom() function when the component is unmounted.

The leaveRoom() function performs the following actions:

• It disconnects the user from the room by calling the disconnect() method on the Room object.
• It resets all variables to their initial state.
• It removes the beforeunload event listener.

The leaveRoom() function is also called when the component is unmounted using the onUnmounted() lifecycle hook. This ensures that the user leaves the room when the component is no longer needed.