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Building from Source

This guide is for developers who want to build the Daydream OBS plugin from source code.
For most users, we recommend downloading the pre-built releases from GitHub.

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Prerequisites

ToolVersion
CMake3.28 or later
Platform toolchainSee below

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Platform Toolchains

PlatformToolchain
macOSXcode Command Line Tools
WindowsVisual Studio 2022
LinuxGCC 11+ or Clang 14+

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macOS

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Build

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/daydreamlive/daydream-obs.git
cd daydream-obs

# Configure and build
cmake --preset macos
cmake --build build_macos --config Debug

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Install for Development

Create a symlink for rapid iteration: 
ln -sf "$(pwd)/build_macos/Debug/daydream-obs.plugin" \
  ~/Library/Application\ Support/obs-studio/plugins/
Now when you rebuild, OBS will automatically load the new version (after restart).

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Build Release

cmake --build build_macos --config Release
The plugin will be at build_macos/Release/daydream-obs.plugin.

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Windows

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Build

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/daydreamlive/daydream-obs.git
cd daydream-obs

# Configure and build
cmake --preset windows-x64
cmake --build build_windows --config Release

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Install

Copy the built plugin to OBS: 
copy build_windows\Release\daydream-obs.dll ^
  "%APPDATA%\obs-studio\plugins\daydream-obs\bin\64bit\"
Or open the solution in Visual Studio: 
start build_windows\daydream-obs.sln

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Linux

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Dependencies

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install build-essential cmake libobs-dev

# Fedora
sudo dnf install gcc-c++ cmake obs-studio-devel

# Arch
sudo pacman -S base-devel cmake obs-studio

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Build

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/daydreamlive/daydream-obs.git
cd daydream-obs

# Configure and build
cmake --preset ubuntu-x86_64
cmake --build build_ubuntu

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Install

mkdir -p ~/.config/obs-studio/plugins/daydream-obs/bin/64bit
cp build_ubuntu/daydream-obs.so \
  ~/.config/obs-studio/plugins/daydream-obs/bin/64bit/

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Project Structure

daydream-obs/
├── CMakeLists.txt           # Build configuration
├── CMakePresets.json        # Platform presets
├── src/
│   ├── daydream-filter.c    # Main OBS filter
│   ├── daydream-api.c       # Daydream API client
│   ├── daydream-auth.c      # Authentication
│   ├── daydream-encoder.c   # Video encoding
│   ├── daydream-decoder.c   # Video decoding
│   ├── daydream-broadcaster.c  # WHIP client
│   └── daydream-framebuffer.c  # Frame handling
├── lib/                     # Dependencies
└── assets/                  # Images and resources

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Development Tips

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Logging

The plugin uses OBS’s logging system: 
blog(LOG_INFO, "[Daydream] Connected to stream %s", stream_id);
blog(LOG_WARNING, "[Daydream] Reconnecting...");
blog(LOG_ERROR, "[Daydream] Failed: %s", error_message);
View logs in OBS: Help → Log Files → View Current Log

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Debugging

On macOS, you can attach a debugger: 
# Start OBS with debugger
lldb /Applications/OBS.app/Contents/MacOS/OBS
On Windows, attach Visual Studio to the running OBS process.

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Hot Reload

OBS caches plugins, so you need to restart OBS after rebuilding. For faster iteration:
  1. Use a Debug build
  2. Symlink the plugin (macOS) or copy after each build
  3. Restart OBS to test changes

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Contributing

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Create a feature branch
  3. Make your changes
  4. Submit a pull request
See the GitHub repository for contribution guidelines.

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Next Steps