Auto-Record Any Twitch Stream on a VPS: Working Script (2026)

TL;DR: Use streamlink to detect when a Twitch channel goes live, pipe the HLS feed to ffmpeg for a clean MP4, and run the whole thing under systemd so it restarts itself. Below is the exact script we run on customer VPS boxes. Total setup time: ~10 minutes.

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Why a VPS, not your home PC

Recording Twitch from a home PC means: PC must stay on 24/7, your upload chokes when streams overlap, and a power blip kills the recording. A €5/mo VPS with 50 GB SSD records every stream to disk reliably, then you rsync the finished MP4s home overnight.

Minimum VPS spec for 1 channel at 1080p60:

• 1 vCPU
• 1 GB RAM
• 50 GB SSD (≈10 hours of 1080p60 per 50 GB at default Twitch bitrate)
• 25 Mbps download

Multiple channels in parallel: add 1 vCPU per stream.

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Step 1: Install dependencies

On Ubuntu 22.04 / Debian 12:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y python3-pip ffmpeg curl
sudo pip3 install --upgrade streamlink
streamlink --version
ffmpeg -version | head -1

Confirm both print versions. streamlink 6.x or newer is required for Twitch's current HLS endpoints.

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Step 2: Get a Twitch OAuth token (optional but recommended)

Without auth, Twitch injects mid-roll ads into the recording every ~10 minutes. With a Twitch Turbo or subscriber token, recordings are clean.

streamlink --twitch-disable-ads twitch.tv/CHANNEL best

To pass an auth token (find via browser dev tools → Application → Cookies → auth-token):

streamlink \
  --twitch-api-header "Authorization=OAuth YOUR_OAUTH_TOKEN" \
  --twitch-disable-ads \
  twitch.tv/CHANNEL best

Store the token in /root/.config/streamlink/config (chmod 600):

twitch-api-header=Authorization=OAuth YOUR_OAUTH_TOKEN
twitch-disable-ads

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Step 3: The recording script

Save as /usr/local/bin/twitch-record.sh and chmod +x:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

CHANNEL="${1:-}"
OUT_DIR="${OUT_DIR:-/var/recordings}"
QUALITY="${QUALITY:-best}"
RETRY_DELAY="${RETRY_DELAY:-60}"

if [[ -z "$CHANNEL" ]]; then
  echo "Usage: $0 <channel-name>" >&2
  exit 1
fi

mkdir -p "$OUT_DIR/$CHANNEL"

while true; do
  if streamlink --json "twitch.tv/$CHANNEL" "$QUALITY" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    TS="$(date -u +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)"
    OUT="$OUT_DIR/$CHANNEL/${CHANNEL}_${TS}.mp4"
    echo "[$(date -Is)] $CHANNEL is LIVE, recording to $OUT"

    streamlink \
      --twitch-disable-ads \
      --hls-live-restart \
      --retry-streams 5 \
      --retry-max 3 \
      -O "twitch.tv/$CHANNEL" "$QUALITY" \
    | ffmpeg -hide_banner -loglevel warning \
        -i pipe:0 \
        -c copy \
        -movflags +faststart \
        "$OUT" || true

    echo "[$(date -Is)] $CHANNEL stream ended"
  fi
  sleep "$RETRY_DELAY"
done

Test it manually:

sudo OUT_DIR=/var/recordings /usr/local/bin/twitch-record.sh shroud

When the channel goes live, you'll see a new .mp4 appear and grow in real time.

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Step 4: Run it as a systemd service

/etc/systemd/system/twitch-record@.service:

[Unit]
Description=Auto-record Twitch channel %i
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=root
Environment=OUT_DIR=/var/recordings
Environment=QUALITY=best
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/twitch-record.sh %i
Restart=always
RestartSec=30
StandardOutput=journal
StandardError=journal

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable per channel:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now twitch-record@shroud
sudo systemctl enable --now twitch-record@summit1g
sudo systemctl status twitch-record@shroud
journalctl -u twitch-record@shroud -f

Each channel runs in its own process. systemd restarts on crash, on reboot, on network drop.

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Step 5: Storage rotation (delete old recordings)

Daily cron at /etc/cron.daily/twitch-rotate:

#!/bin/bash
# Delete recordings older than 14 days
find /var/recordings -type f -name "*.mp4" -mtime +14 -delete
# Delete empty subdirectories
find /var/recordings -mindepth 1 -type d -empty -delete

chmod +x /etc/cron.daily/twitch-rotate. Adjust +14 to your retention.

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Optional: Auto-upload to S3 / Backblaze B2 / your home server

After ffmpeg exits, fire a hook. Replace the ffmpeg ... "$OUT" || true line with:

ffmpeg ... "$OUT" || true
if [[ -f "$OUT" && -s "$OUT" ]]; then
  rclone copy "$OUT" b2:my-bucket/twitch/$CHANNEL/ --transfers 4 \
    && rm "$OUT"
fi

Set up rclone once with rclone config for any S3-compatible target. B2 is the cheapest at $0.005/GB/month for cold storage.

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Common gotchas

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Why this beats every "Twitch recorder" SaaS

• No 7-day storage cap like most consumer recorders
• No 1080p downgrade to save the SaaS bandwidth
• No retention re-uploads to YouTube that get DMCA-flagged
• You own the file — record once, archive forever

A €5/mo Hetzner CX22 records ~6 channels in parallel comfortably. For higher concurrency or guaranteed dedicated CPU, see our streaming VPS plans — same bare-metal Ryzen hosts your OBS instances run on.

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Want this fully managed?

If you'd rather skip the systemd setup, our 24/7 OBS streaming VPS plans include automated recording out of the box: drop in your channel list, recordings land in your panel, lifecycle policy auto-rotates them. Same script under the hood, zero terminal time.