Minimum Configuration to Get Started
Basics
Stream Window
Blue Alliance Credentials (FRC Only)
Livestream
Broadcast Days
Field Locks
Signage
Off-Season FRC Events

This page is a field-by-field reference for the Event Configuration page. For the workflow view
(when and why you’d touch each field), see
Managing Events.

Only Client Admins (and system admins) edit event configuration; the one exception is the
broadcast days, which Users run. Every member sees every tab and field. For a
User or Readonly member, each section is read-only, with ”🔒 Needs Client Admin” under its title and
its Save button dimmed (see
Members and Roles).
Even for a Client Admin, individual fields can be locked by the event’s current state — a 🔒 next to
the field’s label; see Field Locks.

Minimum Configuration to Get Started

Turning a discovered event into a configured one is done from the Events list: Configure
opens a dialog titled “Configure: event code” with just two fields:

Event Name (optional) — free text; if left blank, the name from the FIRST Events API is
used.
Stream Key (required) — a dropdown of your Client’s active stream keys.

Click Configure to finish. Configuring is refused with “Event has no dates from FIRST API” when
the FIRST API hasn’t published dates for the event yet, and with “Outside your client’s district
or states” for an event outside your Client’s area.

Everything else below lives on the full Event Configuration page, reachable once the event is
configured.

Basics

Event Name — free text; placeholder shows the name from the FIRST Events API.
Timezone — an IANA timezone (e.g. America/New_York). This is normally set automatically from
the event’s own data; if that data doesn’t specify a recognizable timezone, the platform falls
back to a system-wide default (currently America/New_York) rather than guessing. Only a system
admin can change this field; a Client Admin sees it locked with “Set by system administrators”.
Even a system admin can’t change it while the event has broadcast days from today on: “Broadcast
days from today on (dates) are dates in this timezone. Remove them to change the timezone.”
Stream Key — a dropdown (”— select a key —”) of your Client’s active stream keys. It locks while
video is coming in, while the restream push is running, and once any clip has been recorded (see
Field Locks); these locks apply to system admins too. Changing the stream key releases any
signs the event was controlling, and doesn’t affect the event’s YouTube broadcasts.
YouTube Upload Channel — a dropdown of your Client’s linked channels, or ”— none (clips will
not be uploaded) —” if you don’t want clips uploaded anywhere. This is optional. Changing it on an
event that already has one asks first: “Change upload channel?” / “Clips already uploaded stay on
old channel; only new clips go to new channel.” — click Change channel to confirm.
Apply pre-roll branding video to clips from this event — a checkbox. It only appears at all if
your Client has a pre-roll video on file (see
Branding); defaults to off. A note underneath reminds you that post-roll, if
configured, is applied system-wide and isn’t a per-event setting.

Event Name, the pre-roll checkbox, the upload channel and the Blue Alliance credentials stay editable
while the event is live.

Stream Window

The Stream window section sits under Basics on the Basics tab (test events don’t have it). Its
help text reads: “When the stream key may publish, in the event’s time zone (timezone). A publish
is also accepted from a day before the start as a pre-event test.”

Stream start / Stream end — date and time, in the event’s time zone. By default the window
runs from 00:00 on FIRST’s first event day to 23:59 on its last.
When the window differs from FIRST’s dates, a note says “Differs from FIRST’s dates (start
date 00:00 – end date 23:59)”, and a Use FIRST’s dates button puts the window back.
Stream window times shown elsewhere — the Control Center’s header line and the admin Client
page’s events list — are also in the event’s time zone, with the zone’s abbreviation (for example
“Mar 26, 04:30 PM EDT”).

When FIRST Moves the Event’s Dates

A window you set by hand isn’t left pointing at the old dates. When FIRST changes a configured
event’s dates, the platform clears the hand-set window and re-derives it from the new dates (00:00
on the first day to 23:59 on the last). It keeps the hand-set window instead when:

the event is pre-live, live or completed, so a running or finished event is never moved; or
the re-derived window would overlap another event on the same stream key.

Either way, the Stream window section shows a notice until someone saves the window or clicks
Use FIRST’s dates:

“FIRST changed this event’s dates (time). The hand-set stream window was replaced with FIRST’s
new dates. Check it and save.”
“FIRST changed this event’s dates (time). The hand-set stream window was kept. Check it against
the new dates.”

Rules, with the messages you’ll see:

The start can only move while the event is still scheduled. Once video has come in it is locked
(see Field Locks); the end can still move, even while live.
“Reopen the event to change its stream window” — the event is completed.
“A test event keeps its test-mode stream window”
“The stream window can start at most 7 days before and end at most 7 days after FIRST’s event
dates”
“The stream window’s end must be after its start”
“Set both the stream window’s start and end” — one of the two is empty.
“field falls in a daylight-saving gap in the event’s time zone” — the time doesn’t exist on that
date because the clocks go forward (field is stream_start or stream_end).
“This event overlaps with ‘event name’ (start – end)” — another event on the same stream key
already covers part of that time.

Blue Alliance Credentials (FRC Only)

This tab only appears for FRC events — FTC doesn’t use The Blue Alliance, and a “skipped” Blue
Alliance status on an FTC match is expected, not an error.

Auth ID (optional) — free text, the ID half of a Blue Alliance Trusted API credential
pair for this specific event.
Auth Secret (optional) — a password-style field, placeholder “TBA Trusted API auth secret.”
The secret is never shown again after saving, to anyone. Once one is saved, a Client Admin sees
dots with the note “Secret is set. Leave blank to keep the existing value.”; members who can’t
edit see just “Secret is set.”. Leaving it blank on save keeps the existing secret. There’s no
way to clear a saved secret, only to replace it with a new one.

These credentials come from The Blue Alliance itself, scoped to your specific event, not from this
platform — if you don’t already have a Trusted API auth ID/secret pair for the event, that’s
something to obtain through The Blue Alliance, not something support here can generate for you.

Livestream

The Livestream tab’s Livestream target section:

Restream target — a choice of three radio options:
- None (default) — the event only records and clips, no live broadcast.
- YouTube channel (system-managed broadcasts) — the platform creates one YouTube broadcast per
  broadcast day through YouTube’s Live Streaming API and pushes your stream to it. A day can end up
  with several broadcasts (an ended one plus its replacement); see
  YouTube Broadcasts.
- Manual RTMP key — the push goes straight to a destination stream key you’ve saved as a
  restream key.
If set to YouTube channel:
- Livestream channel — a dropdown of your Client’s linked YouTube channels. Its help text:
  “Independent of the YouTube Upload Channel on the Basics tab — a client may restream to one
  channel and upload finished clips to another.”
- Start time (event-local, shared across all broadcast days) — a time-of-day value.
- Privacy — Public (default), Unlisted, or Private. Privacy is sent to YouTube
  when a broadcast is created.
- Thumbnail (shared across all broadcast days, JPEG/PNG, under 2MB) — an image upload used for
  the YouTube broadcasts. Remove thumbnail asks “Remove thumbnail?” / “Broadcasts created from
  now on will use YouTube’s default thumbnail.” and then confirms with “Thumbnail removed”.
If set to Manual RTMP key:
- Restream key — a dropdown of your Client’s restream keys (see
  Stream Keys and Restream Keys).

Restream target, channel, restream key, start time and privacy lock while broadcasts are open or the
push is running; see Field Locks.

System admins have separate switches for restreaming as a whole (off by default) and for manual-key
restreaming (on by default). When restreaming is turned off, Start Push and creating broadcasts
are refused with ”🔒 Turned off by system administrators”.

Broadcast Days

The Broadcast days section appears on the Livestream tab only when the saved restream target
is YouTube channel (save the target first). It lists each day with its broadcast’s status and a
watch link (or “No broadcast”), and has these controls, all available to User and above:

+ Add a day — adds the date you picked.
Create / Replace — creates that day’s YouTube broadcast, or (after asking) a new one in
place of the current one. Replacing makes a new YouTube video with a new link, so use it only when
the current broadcast has ended or was deleted.
Remove — removes a day (not while its broadcast is live).
Delete on YouTube — on a replaced broadcast’s history row; needs Client Admin.

The full procedure, including what replacing does to the link your viewers have, is in
YouTube Broadcasts
(see also
Replacing a Broadcast
and
Replaced Broadcasts and Delete on YouTube).

The Setup-day test video panel, also on the Livestream tab in YouTube channel mode, creates an
optional unlisted video for the day before the event, so operators can test all the way to YouTube
without touching the broadcast days or their public links. Create setup-day YouTube video and
Delete are available to User and above. It is always unlisted, whatever Privacy is set
to, and only your Client’s members are shown its watch link. While it is open it holds the same
locks as a broadcast day’s broadcast. See
The Setup-Day Test Video.

Field Locks

Some fields lock because of what the event is doing right now. The lock shows as a 🔒 next to the
field’s label; hover over it (or tap it) to see why. Locks apply to system admins as well, except
Timezone’s “Set by system administrators”.

Field	Locked when	Message
Restream target, Livestream channel	A broadcast is live on YouTube	”The YouTube broadcast for date is live. Stop the broadcast to change where it goes (restream mode and channel).”
	The restream push is running	”The restream push is running. Stop the push to change where it goes (restream mode and channel).”
	Broadcasts are still open (not yet ended)	“Delete or complete the N current broadcast(s) first (dates) to change the restream mode or channel.”
Restream key	A broadcast is live on YouTube	”The YouTube broadcast for date is live. Stop the broadcast to change where it goes (restream key).”
	The restream push is running	”The restream push is running. Stop the push to change where it goes (restream key).”
Privacy	A broadcast is live on YouTube	”The YouTube broadcast for date is live. Stop the broadcast to change where it goes (privacy).”
	The restream push is running	”The restream push is running. Stop the push to change where it goes (privacy).”
Start time (Livestream)	A broadcast has gone live	”The YouTube broadcast for date has gone live. Stop the broadcast to change the livestream start time.”
Timezone	Always, below system admin	”Set by system administrators”
	Broadcast days from today on exist	”Broadcast days from today on (dates) are dates in this timezone. Remove them to change the timezone.”
	A setup-day test video is open	The same message, ending “Remove them, and complete or delete the setup test, to change the timezone.”
Stream Key	Video is coming in	”The stream is live (video is coming in on this event’s stream key). Stop streaming to change the stream key.”
	The restream push is running	”The restream push is running. Stop the push to change the stream key.”
	Clips have been recorded	”Stream key cannot be changed after clips have been recorded”
Stream start	The event is live	”The stream is live (video is coming in on this event’s stream key). The end time can still change.”
	A pre-event test feed is coming in	”A pre-event test feed is coming in. Stop it to change the start time.”
	The event has streamed before	”The event has started streaming, so its start time can no longer change. The end time still can.”
Stream start and Stream end	The event is completed	”Reopen the event to change its stream window”

The same live/push messages refuse rotating or deleting a restream key that a live event uses (see
Stream Keys and Restream Keys).

Signage

AbleSign API Key — a password-style field, placeholder “ablesign.tv API key (ak_…)”, with
Connect; once connected, Replace Key and Unlink. Connecting, replacing and unlinking
need Client Admin (others see ”🔒 Needs Client Admin”). Unlink’s confirmation is titled
“Unlink ablesign.tv?” and reads:

Unlink the ablesign.tv integration?

All cached signs for this client will be removed. Signs will keep showing whatever they currently
show — nothing changes on AbleSign itself.
Per sign: a Stream Key dropdown (which event feed the sign should reflect) and a Display
dropdown (a preset, or “Custom URL…”). Assigning a sign’s stream key needs Client Admin: for
other members the Stream Key column header carries a 🔒 with “Needs Client Admin”. Switching
the Display needs User or above. See
Clips, Uploads and Signage
for the day-of-event view, including Take Control and Re-apply, and
Running a Live Event
for when an event can turn its signage on.

Off-Season FRC Events

Off-season FRC events don’t carry a district code the way in-season events do, so they don’t
automatically show up for any Client the way district-scheduled events do. This is entirely a
system-admin feature — there’s no Client Admin control for it at all:

A system admin sees an “Unassigned off-season events” panel (only if off-season polling is turned
on platform-wide) and assigns a discovered off-season event to a specific Client.
Once assigned, the event behaves like any other configured event for that Client — it shows an
“Off-season” badge next to its program tag, but otherwise works normally.
A separate system-wide setting can also hide off-season events entirely, everywhere, even ones
already assigned — if your organization runs off-season events and one isn’t appearing, ask your
system admin to check that setting before assuming the event needs reassigning. See
System Settings Reference.

If you need an off-season event assigned to your Client, contact FIRST Chesapeake technology
support at technology@firstchesapeake.org.

FIRST Chesapeake Knowledgebase

Explorer

6. Event Configuration Reference

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