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Daily allows multiple live streaming and recording instances to run simultaneously within a single room. Each instance is independently controllable with its own layout.
Multi-instance is not the same as sending one stream to multiple destinations. A single live streaming instance already supports sending to multiple RTMP endpoints simultaneously. Multi-instance is for generating independent compositions — for example, a portrait layout for mobile and a landscape layout for desktop.

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Use cases

  • Generating a portrait layout for mobile viewers and a landscape layout for desktop viewers
  • Presenting an enhanced layout to users with more features enabled (such as premium features or moderation views)
  • Defining separate layouts for a live stream and a recording of the same event

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Architecture

Daily uses the same underlying infrastructure for recording and live streaming. Recording and live streaming instances that share an instanceId are linked — updating the layout of one updates the other. Multi-instance live streaming and recording architecture
Recording and live streaming with the same instanceId are interlinked. Updating the layout of a live streaming instance will also affect the recording instance (if any) of that ID.

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Setting up multi-instance

First, contact Daily support to configure max_streaming_instances_per_room for your domain. Then pass a unique instanceId (a valid UUID) to startLiveStreaming() or startRecording(): 
await call.startLiveStreaming({
  rtmpUrl: ['your_rtmp_url'],
  instanceId: 'YOUR_UUID',
  width: 1280,
  height: 720,
});
To update the layout for an existing live stream, use the updateLiveStreaming() or updateRecording() call object instance methods: 
await call.updateLiveStreaming({
  instanceId: 'YOUR_UUID',
  layout: { preset: 'active-participant' },
});
To stop a specific live streaming or recording instance, pass its instanceId to the stopLiveStreaming() or stopRecording() call object instance method: 
await call.stopLiveStreaming({
  instanceId: 'YOUR_UUID',
});
When instanceId is provided, all subsequent calls to updateLiveStreaming(), stopLiveStreaming(), updateRecording(), and stopRecording() must include the same instanceId. If no instanceId is provided, Daily assigns the reserved default ID 'c3df927c-f738-4471-a2b7-066fa7e95a6b'. All live streaming and recording events include an instanceId field so your app can distinguish between running instances.

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Using multi-instance with daily-react

Per-instance state The useRecording and useLiveStreaming hooks accept an optional instanceId for per-instance state: 
import { useRecording, useLiveStreaming } from '@daily-co/daily-react';

// instanceId must be a valid UUID
const PORTRAIT_INSTANCE = 'a1b2c3d4-5678-9abc-def0-1234567890ab';
const MOBILE_INSTANCE = 'c3d4e5f6-789a-bcde-f012-3456789abcde';

// State for a specific recording instance
const portraitRecording = useRecording({
  instanceId: PORTRAIT_INSTANCE,
});

// State for a specific live streaming instance
const mobileStream = useLiveStreaming({
  instanceId: MOBILE_INSTANCE,
});
When instanceId is provided, event callbacks are also filtered to only fire for that instance: 
const { isRecording } = useRecording({
  instanceId: PORTRAIT_INSTANCE,
  onRecordingStarted: (ev) => {
    // Only fires when this instance starts
    console.log('Portrait recording started');
  },
});
Aggregate state Without instanceId, hooks return aggregate state across all instances — isRecording and isLiveStreaming are true if any instance is active: 
const { isRecording } = useRecording();
// true if ANY recording instance is active
Listing all instances To get an array of all instance states, use useRecordingInstances and useLiveStreamingInstances: 
import {
  useRecordingInstances,
  useLiveStreamingInstances,
} from '@daily-co/daily-react';

const recordingInstances = useRecordingInstances();
const streamingInstances = useLiveStreamingInstances();

// Each instance has its own state (isRecording, layout, instanceId, etc.)
recordingInstances.forEach((instance) => {
  console.log(`${instance.instanceId}: ${instance.isRecording}`);
});

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Billing

Each instance is billed separately. Two instances running for 60 minutes = 120 streaming minutes billed.