OBS can play a playlist through a VLC Video source, but its documentation does not describe a built-in calendar that loads a different playlist each day. To rotate daily without manually changing the source, you need a separate automation layer and a schedule on the computer running OBS.
That approach is an implementation path inferred from OBS’s documented scripts and WebSocket control, not a tested recipe or a native daily scheduler. YouTube’s scheduled live broadcast is another task: it governs the event, not which files OBS plays inside the stream.
What OBS playlist playback does natively
OBS’s VLC Video source can play a list of media files in order, loop the list, or shuffle it. The OBS Media Sources guide describes the source and notes that VLC must be installed for it to appear in OBS. OBS’s documentation also specifies that 64-bit OBS requires 64-bit VLC.
This gives you a useful playback building block, but not a daily calendar. A playlist can repeat or shuffle according to its settings; those options do not tell OBS to load Monday’s list at one time and Tuesday’s at another. If you have been searching for a “schedule daily playlist changes” control in the source properties, the official feature guide does not document one.
For a devotional channel, for example, you might want a morning bhajan list, a different evening programme, and a separate list for a festival day. The VLC source can play any prepared list, but something else must decide when the active list changes and instruct OBS to use it.
It helps to keep three jobs distinct. OBS plays and sends the media; a local automation mechanism can choose or replace the playlist; and YouTube handles the live event’s scheduled start and status. An interruption in one job does not necessarily repair the others.
If you only need one video to repeat continuously, a daily switching system may add needless complexity. See this guide on making a YouTube live stream repeat a video automatically for that narrower case. If the channel genuinely needs distinct content by day, continue with an explicit mapping and a controlled change process.
Organise separate daily media lists
Start by deciding what “daily” means for your channel. It could mean one list for each weekday, one list per calendar date, or a weekday pattern with occasional festival or special-event overrides. Choose the simplest rule that matches your publishing plan. A date-specific list requires more preparation and maintenance than a reusable weekday pattern.
Create a stable folder structure and keep file names understandable to someone who may need to troubleshoot it later. For example, separate folders named weekday-morning, weekday-evening, and festival-special can make the intended use obvious. The actual names are up to you; the important point is to avoid depending on a vague “latest” file or an undocumented ordering that can change when files are copied.
For each list, decide whether order matters and whether the list should loop. A sequence of prayers or a news bulletin may need a fixed order; an ambience station may suit shuffle. OBS exposes loop and shuffle options for the VLC Video source, so set them deliberately and check the result with the actual media. Do not assume that the order of files in a folder is the same as your intended playlist order.
Keep the paths predictable. If an automation step refers to a media file or playlist file by path, moving the folder, renaming a file, or changing a drive letter can break the hand-off. On Windows, removable drives can receive different letters; on Linux, mount points can differ after a change. Use a location that remains available and test the exact path that the automation will use.
A simple mapping document is useful even if a script eventually does the selection. Record the day or date, the list to load, expected start time, and whether the list loops or shuffles. Also record who is allowed to change it. This is particularly helpful for a small business or a community channel where the person preparing media is not the person who monitors OBS overnight.
Do not treat OBS profiles as daily playlists. Profiles hold many output and stream settings, while scene collections store scenes; profiles do not store scenes. They can help keep channel configuration organised, but they are not a calendar or a playlist rotation mechanism. Make backups of the media lists and configuration before experimenting with automation.
If the playlist is part of a wider 24/7 operation, test it alongside the rest of the stream rather than in isolation. A media switch can be correct while the output has no sound, or while a separate connection problem has stopped the live feed. The checklist for a 24/7 stream with no sound is relevant when the audio path also needs checking.
Select or replace a playlist with automation
Once the media lists are explicit, choose how a daily change will be applied. The broad options are a script interacting with OBS, or an external controller that communicates with OBS. Either can be paired with the operating system’s scheduler. The right choice depends on your comfort with scripting, how often the schedule changes, and who will maintain it.
An OBS script can interact with scenes and sources. In principle, a script could use a date or weekday mapping to select the relevant list or update a source’s media configuration. The OBS Developer Guide documents scripts in Python or Lua and WebSocket control, but it does not provide a ready-made daily playlist scheduler. You will need to verify that the chosen method works with your OBS version and source configuration.
A controller outside OBS can instead make a request to the running OBS instance at the intended time. This can suit an operator who wants the schedule in a separate task or service, but it introduces another component to configure and monitor. If the controller is not running, cannot connect, or targets a renamed source, the playlist may not change even though OBS remains open.
This is a design outline, not a tested step-by-step recipe. OBS documents extension and control mechanisms; the exact commands, source properties, and compatibility depend on the implementation you choose. Before relying on it, establish how the automation identifies the source, what it does when the intended list is missing, and whether a failed request leaves the previous list playing or stops output.
Use clear source names and avoid building the workflow around fragile assumptions. If your script expects a source called DailyPlaylist, renaming it in OBS may break the automation. Likewise, switching media paths should not depend on a person remembering to keep a folder open or leave a particular dialog in the foreground.
An automation option is most useful when it has a defined fallback. For example, decide whether a missed switch should leave yesterday’s list playing, stop the playlist, or require a manual intervention. There is no universally correct answer: continuing the previous programme may be preferable to a blank output, but it may also mean the channel no longer reflects its published schedule. Write down that choice and test it deliberately.
If coding is not a good fit, an external controller or a maintained OBS extension may be easier to operate, but check the project’s documentation, supported operating systems, and compatibility with your installed OBS version before depending on it. OBS notes that plugins can vary by platform and version. Do not assume a hardware control surface is required or that it provides the calendar behaviour you need.
For a channel that should continue when your computer is switched off, the operating burden is different from a local OBS setup. StreamNeo can remove the specific need to leave your computer running by taking an uploaded video and running it as a YouTube live stream, but it is YouTube-only and does not turn OBS into a daily calendar scheduler. If local OBS is the requirement, the automation and machine still need to be kept available.
Use OBS WebSocket as a control mechanism
OBS WebSocket is a way for an external application or script to control OBS, not a schedule by itself. OBS describes WebSocket alongside plugins and scripts as an extension mechanism. A scheduler must still decide when to send a request, and the control logic must still know which source or media configuration to change.
Think of the components as separate responsibilities. The operating-system scheduler starts or invokes a controller; the controller connects to OBS; the controller requests a change; and OBS applies it to the intended source. If the task fails at any link, the result may be a missed change. This breakdown makes diagnosis more practical than treating “the schedule” as one mysterious feature.
Before enabling remote control, use the official OBS setup guidance and understand the access settings for your installation. A control endpoint should not be exposed casually to an untrusted network. Keep credentials and access details private, limit where the controller runs, and avoid copying a configuration example without understanding what it enables. The relevant starting point is the OBS Developer Guide, which describes the available control and scripting approaches.
Be cautious about scripts or plugins found in community discussions. Check whether they are maintained and compatible with your operating system, OBS version, and architecture. The OBS Plugins Guide explains the plugin model, but a plugin listing is not evidence that a particular daily schedule is supported or that it will recover as you expect.
WebSocket control can be useful when you need a controller separate from OBS or want to trigger a switch from a scheduled task. It also creates a dependency on the connection and on source names remaining stable. Test the controller after restarting OBS, and confirm that the expected source is still present before allowing the change to run unattended.
Schedule the trigger with the operating system
After choosing a script or controller, use the computer’s task scheduler to invoke it at the required local time. The details differ between Windows, macOS, and Linux, so use the documentation for your operating system rather than assuming a command or setting is portable. This is practical engineering guidance inferred from the documented OBS control mechanisms; the OBS guide does not prescribe a particular scheduler command.
Set an explicit time policy. In India, you may want the list change to follow India Standard Time regardless of where the machine is physically located. Check the computer’s timezone, the scheduler’s timezone interpretation, and whether it has its own date or time settings. The YouTube scheduled-video timezone interface does not configure the local machine’s OBS automation.
Decide what should happen if the computer is asleep, OBS is closed, or a scheduled run is missed. Some operating-system schedulers offer options related to missed tasks or waking a machine, but behaviour varies by system and configuration. Do not infer that a task will catch up just because it has a time and date. Test the actual machine’s sleep, restart, and sign-in behaviour.
A local computer also needs a reliable power and network path for an always-on channel. A power cut, broadband interruption, system update, or accidental shutdown can affect the live stream independently of the playlist switch. The comparison of PC electricity and cloud-service costs for 24/7 streaming can help you think through the operating trade-off, but no option removes the need to plan for interruptions.
Keep a small operating log: when the change was meant to happen, what list was expected, what OBS actually showed, and whether the stream remained live. This is not a guarantee of reliability; it gives you evidence when something goes wrong. If you run several channels, consistent naming and a written schedule matter more than adding more automation layers. The guide to keeping track of multiple 24/7 channels covers the organisation side of that problem.
Schedule the YouTube broadcast separately
A scheduled playlist change inside OBS is not the same thing as scheduling a YouTube broadcast. YouTube’s Live Streaming API models a broadcast event as a liveBroadcast and the incoming encoder feed as a liveStream. The API’s broadcast and stream implementation guide describes creating and associating those resources.
In practical terms, you can have an upcoming event on YouTube while OBS is not yet sending the expected media, or OBS can be streaming while the broadcast event is not configured to start as you intend. You need to plan both sides. The broadcast’s scheduled start, stream binding, and any auto-start behaviour are distinct from the local controller’s instruction to change a playlist.
YouTube’s broadcast lifecycle documentation explains the event’s state changes. The API also supports a transition operation for moving a broadcast between states; review the LiveBroadcasts transition reference if you are using the API. These are API controls, not OBS playlist controls.
If you are not using the API, configure the event in YouTube’s Live Control Room and verify its current live settings in YouTube Help’s live stream settings guide. Check whether the event is meant to start automatically or needs a separate action. Do not assume a scheduled event will cause OBS to change files or that a local playlist change will make a YouTube event go live.
There is another similarly named feature worth separating: scheduling publication of an uploaded video. YouTube Help’s schedule video publish time page concerns making an uploaded video public at a selected time and timezone. It does not schedule a change inside an OBS live stream.
Test the workflow before relying on it
Test the playlist and the broadcast as separate systems first, then test them together. With OBS open, manually load each intended list and confirm the order, loop or shuffle behaviour, audio, and visual layout. This catches missing files and incorrect paths before adding a scheduler to the problem.
Next, test the automation at a convenient time rather than waiting for the first overnight run. Confirm that the intended list is selected, that the controller or script can reach OBS, and that OBS continues outputting after the switch. Keep a way to return to the previous source or list if the change does not work.
Then test failure cases that matter to your setup: restart OBS, restart the computer, make a scheduled time pass while the machine is unavailable, and check what happens when a list contains a missing file. Do not describe these as proven recovery features unless you have observed them on your own configuration. A successful manual switch does not establish that the operating-system task will run after an update or a power interruption.
Use a private or unlisted test broadcast where suitable before depending on unattended public starts. Verify that YouTube shows the expected event state and that the outgoing feed contains the right media. Avoid testing a new automation for the first time during a public programme that cannot easily be interrupted.
Finally, revisit the workflow after changing OBS versions, operating systems, source names, media folders, or network arrangements. Keep a copy of the schedule and configuration, but do not treat a backup as proof that every dependency will restore correctly. The useful outcome is a routine you understand: which component chooses the list, which component triggers the change, how the live event starts, and what you will check if any part fails.
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FAQ
Does OBS have a built-in daily playlist scheduler?
OBS documents playlist playback through a VLC Video source, including order, loop, and shuffle behaviour. Its cited guide does not document a built-in daily calendar that loads different lists on different days. A daily change therefore needs a separate automation method.
Can OBS WebSocket change the playlist automatically?
WebSocket can provide a control mechanism for an external application or script, but it does not decide when to act. Pair it with a scheduler and logic that identifies the intended playlist, then verify the combination on your own OBS version. This is an inferred implementation path, not a tested recipe supplied by OBS.
Does scheduling a YouTube live event change the OBS playlist?
No. YouTube’s broadcast scheduling concerns the live event and its state, while the local OBS workflow determines what media is sent. Plan and test both tasks separately if you need a daily rotation and an unattended live start.
Does YouTube’s scheduled video publishing feature apply to a live playlist?
No. Scheduled publishing sets a time for an uploaded video to become public; it does not rotate media inside an OBS live stream. Use the live event controls for a broadcast and a separate local automation for OBS playlist changes.