A small Python script that shows a "Recording..." or "Streaming..." indicator on the top-left corner of your screen whenever OBS is active.
It runs as an always-on-top, click-through overlay so you can always tell when OBS is streaming or recording — without tabbing out.
- OBS Studio 28+ (includes WebSocket by default; tested on OBS 31)
- Python 3.8+ installed and added to your PATH
-
Enable WebSocket in OBS
- Go to
Tools → WebSocket Server Settings - Check ✅ Enable WebSocket Server
- Leave port as 4455
- Set a password (e.g.
mypassword)
- Go to
-
Install dependencies
pip install PyQt5 obsws-python
-
Create Auto-Start on Windows (so you dont have to run this everytime)
- Create a new file named run_overlay.bat in the same folder as obs_live_overlay.py, and paste this:
@echo off python "%~dp0obs_live_overlay.py"
- Press Win + R, type
shell:startup, and press Enter. - Right-click inside that folder → New → Shortcut → browse to your run_overlay.bat file.
- Save the shortcut.
- Create a new file named run_overlay.bat in the same folder as obs_live_overlay.py, and paste this: