How Go Live actually works.
Read this once before your first session. It's Instagram Live, not Zoom — you broadcast, the room watches. That's a feature, not a limitation: it scales further, stays cinematic, and removes the awkward gallery wall. Two-way moments come back when you promote a viewer.
Tl;dr
One coach broadcasting. A room of athletes watching, reacting, training.
Think Instagram Live or Twitch with a fitness brain bolted on — timers, leaderboards, XP, chat, and SROI-grade attendance data. Real two-way meetings (gallery view, everyone unmuted) are coming via "raise hand → promote to publisher" — perfect for 1:1 PT, not the default for group classes.
Publisher
You. Camera + mic up.
Subscribers
Athletes. Watch, chat, react.
Promote on demand
Raise hand → talk back.
From "Go Live" tap to wrap
The lifecycle of a live session.
- 1
60 seconds before
Set up & preflight
- Token mint
- getUserMedia
- Local preview
Why this matters: A 60-second device check (camera, mic, network) catches 90% of "I can't see you" disasters before athletes join. The preflight page mints your LiveKit token, requests browser permissions on a real user click, and previews your camera locally — none of this hits the network yet.
- 2
The moment you tap Go Live
Publish into the room
- LiveKit publish
- Stable room ID
- Sub-second latency
Why this matters: Your browser connects to LiveKit and publishes your camera and mic. The room name is deterministic — derived from your session ID — so the join link you share with athletes always points to the right room, even if you reload.
Backed by WebRTC · same family as Zoom & Meet
- 3
Athletes tap your join link
Viewers subscribe (one-way by default)
- Viewer token
- canPublish: false
- Data channel chat
Why this matters: Each athlete gets a viewer token with publish disabled — they can watch, chat and react, but their camera never broadcasts. That keeps bandwidth low, the screen calm, and safeguarding tight. They can still raise a hand and be promoted (roadmap).
See athlete view - 4
During the session
Overlays, chat & live impact
- Live chat
- Reactions
- SROI events
Why this matters: Timers, rep counters, leaderboards, reactions and the chat panel all run on top of the LiveKit feed. Attendance, effort and check-ins are streamed straight into SROI reporting — your session generates funder-grade evidence as it happens, not via a survey three weeks later.
- 5
Wrap
End, recap, repeat
- AI recap
- Attendance roll-up
- Recording (soon)
Why this matters: Tap end. The room idles out, your athletes get an AI session recap (effort, wins, next session prompt), and you get a one-screen post-session view: who showed up, who needs a nudge, what to programme next. Recording-to-Storage is on the roadmap.
How it compares
Go Live vs Zoom — and why that's the right call.
Zoom is a meeting tool. Go Live is a broadcast tool with coaching superpowers. The trade-offs are deliberate — they're what make group fitness classes feel like a class, not a 200-tile grid of strangers.
| Capability | Zoom | MEM Go Live |
|---|---|---|
| Everyone on camera | Yes | Coach only by default |
| Live chat | Yes | Yes — data channel |
| Screen share | Yes | Not yet wired |
| Recording | Yes | Not yet wired |
| Raise hand → talk | Yes | Roadmap — promote viewer to publisher |
| Waiting room | Yes | Token = instant join |
| Scales to large audiences | Up to 1,000 | Hundreds (1-way broadcast) |
| Mobile-native preview | OK | Yes — `playsInline` cinematic preview |
Coach pre-flight
60 seconds before you tap Go Live.
Camera framed
Head and shoulders for talking; full body for demos. Light on your face, window in front of you not behind.
Mic chosen
Phone earphones beat laptop mic every time. Test by saying your session title — check the meter moves.
Network solid
Hard-wire if you can; if not, sit close to the router. 5GHz Wi-Fi over 2.4GHz. Close Zoom, Drive sync, big downloads.
Safeguarding done
PAR-Q and consent collected via the booking flow. Public sessions: no minors without verified guardian.
Chat moderator named
On group classes, name a second coach or trusted athlete to watch chat so you can focus on coaching.
Demo loop ready
Have a pinned demo video or athlete you'll spotlight for each main movement. Saves you turning your back to the camera.
FAQ
Questions coaches ask in week one.
Will athletes see each other?
No. Only you broadcast. Athletes see you full-screen with overlays, plus chat and reactions. This is intentional — a 50-person gallery wall kills coaching focus, and most athletes don't want to be on camera in their living room anyway.
Can an athlete talk back if I need them to?
Today: via chat, instantly. Roadmap: a raise-hand button that you can approve, which flips their token to publisher and brings their camera and mic into the room temporarily. This is the right pattern for 1:1 PT or hot-seat moments inside a group class.
How many people can join?
Hundreds, comfortably, because it's one-way broadcast. Zoom caps at 1,000 in a meeting; a broadcast-style room scales further because viewers only receive — they don't publish. If you're consistently going past a few hundred, ping us — we'll tune the LiveKit room config.
What if my camera or mic gets blocked?
The preflight page detects it and shows a clear "Enable camera & microphone" button. You must tap it (browsers won't grant permission silently on desktop). If it's blocked at the OS or browser level, the page shows a link to the right settings panel — no guessing.
Does it record?
Not yet. LiveKit supports server-side recording (Egress) and we'll wire it into Supabase Storage so every session auto-generates a replay link, AI-chaptered highlights, and a downloadable file for compliance. Until then, use OBS or your OS screen recorder for keeper sessions.
Is it Zoom under the hood?
No. It's <strong>LiveKit</strong> — open-source, WebRTC-based, the same realtime tech family as Zoom and Google Meet, but built for product teams who need broadcast + interactive at scale (Spotify, Reddit and OpenAI's voice mode all run on it).
Open the room.
Start with a guided demo if it's your first time, or jump straight into setup and broadcast a real session.