Stripchat API / bot scrapers

[ropebunnyluna]

Hi there. I'm both a cam performer and a developer and i've been trying to figure out if I can make tools that integrate different camming platforms better together for multi-streaming either personally or for other performers both for free or paid.

Stripchat has no official bot support and they don't seem to allow bot scrapers for grabbing publicly available info like tip amounts from a specific stream. I'm wondering if this is specifically just because bots are typically used to scrape information that is illegal to copy regardless like a recording of the live performance.

I'm wondering I guess what are the limits of what I am able to do and if I am free to grab info for my own personal benefit and the benefit of other streamers who opt-in to wanting to use any tools I create such as allowing it to work with other Chaturbate bots.

One such example is a Spanks Bot I made for Chaturbate recently. I'd love to be able to use it too keep track of how many spanks are given through different methods but if I decide to stream on Stripchat as well this becomes impossible to keep track of. If permission is given I could update this live on OBS and improve the performance.

I also want to try and make my own chat application so I can log tips and messages better than what Lovense provides. They already have a monopoly on toy integration and they shouldn't have a monopoly on chat integration as well. Luckily ShineModel exists as well but it doesn't support newer sites such as Joystick.tv which look interesting.

 

[ropebunnyluna]

p.s. I did contact Stripchat support about this but instead just got re-directed to the page for existing Extensions. I understand it's quite a technical question but it would be helpful to know exactly what is and isn't allowed.

 

[KingMarti]

Hi there. I'm both a cam performer and a developer and i've been trying to figure out if I can make tools that integrate different camming platforms better together for multi-streaming either personally or for other performers both for free or paid.

Stripchat has no official bot support and they don't seem to allow bot scrapers for grabbing publicly available info like tip amounts from a specific stream. I'm wondering if this is specifically just because bots are typically used to scrape information that is illegal to copy regardless like a recording of the live performance.

I'm wondering I guess what are the limits of what I am able to do and if I am free to grab info for my own personal benefit and the benefit of other streamers who opt-in to wanting to use any tools I create such as allowing it to work with other Chaturbate bots.

One such example is a Spanks Bot I made for Chaturbate recently. I'd love to be able to use it too keep track of how many spanks are given through different methods but if I decide to stream on Stripchat as well this becomes impossible to keep track of. If permission is given I could update this live on OBS and improve the performance.

I also want to try and make my own chat application so I can log tips and messages better than what Lovense provides. They already have a monopoly on toy integration and they shouldn't have a monopoly on chat integration as well. Luckily ShineModel exists as well but it doesn't support newer sites such as Joystick.tv which look interesting.

Somewhere in my post history is a pretty detailed writeup of how you can access tip data. The basic's of it is you to can directly connect to the websocket to get access to it since there is no public api. The main bulk of the post is about chaturbate but I used the same method to get the data from stripchat.

https://www.ambercutie.com/forums/threads/looking-for-member-opinions-on-custom-room-functions.44566/

 

[ropebunnyluna]

Thank you. Yeah I have a method for getting this info I just think it's against the rules even using a websocket as per the TOS: You agree not to use any automated means, including robots, crawlers or data mining tools, to download, monitor or use data or Content from the Website

I just want to know for this specific use case if it's allowed tbh because I have seen another post where it was allowed for individual purposes. I can't seem to find that post anymore but i'll post if I do again.

 

[ropebunnyluna]

Found it: https://www.ambercutie.com/forums/threads/stripchat-performer-api-documentation.40524/#post-1133776
I guess the query really is the TOS seems to ban it outright but maybe that is only for certain kinds of bots. I can understand scraping private chat, storing user data persistently and grabbing media from the site is unethical but I think tip amounts + public chat for your own stream should be ok I think for a Models personal use or to display in something like OBS. idk tbh that's kinda why i'm asking .

 

[KingMarti]

Thank you. Yeah I have a method for getting this info I just think it's against the rules even using a websocket as per the TOS: You agree not to use any automated means, including robots, crawlers or data mining tools, to download, monitor or use data or Content from the Website

I just want to know for this specific use case if it's allowed tbh because I have seen another post where it was allowed for individual purposes. I can't seem to find that post anymore but i'll post if I do again.

I remember one of the reps saying reverse engineering their api is fine (cant seem to find the post now, so could be mistaken ETA: it was further up in that same thread ). When I was working with the websocket I was chatting with some of the reps about it since I would rather have used a direct api with proper rate limiting set up (end goal was prety much the same, taking tip data having it interact with smart devices / obs and displaying the chat on the obs window) and there was never any issue with it brought up.
I would email support and get it in writing that it's fine if it's something your concerned about or drop one of the reps a message.

 

[ropebunnyluna]

I remember one of the reps saying reverse engineering their api is fine (cant seem to find the post now, so could be mistaken ETA: it was further up in that same thread ). When I was working with the websocket I was chatting with some of the reps about it since I would rather have used a direct api with proper rate limiting set up (end goal was prety much the same, taking tip data having it interact with smart devices / obs and displaying the chat on the obs window) and there was never any issue with it brought up.
I would email support and get it in writing that it's fine if it's something your concerned about or drop one of the reps a message.

Thanks for replying. Yeah I kinda got passed around support just being re-directed to FAQ and Stripchat Bot Extension pages to eventually just have the ticket dropped. It's not a typical query so it's understandable. I know at least 2 support operators who chill on Ambercutie for Stripchat who have actually helped me figure out stuff for a separate project about listing different cam sites rules so i'm probably just gonna end up waiting for them if they see this post :3.

Tbh I do feel like because Stripchat have made there own tools and they don't want an excessive amount of overlays it's definitely not a priority to make an API but yeah being able to use bots at least would be helpful.

Btw if anyone is curious the confused support response isn't just from Stripchat i've also messaged CAM4 and basically had a similar response of "what the heck are u on about lol"

 

[ropebunnyluna]

Tbh on a wider note I recently found a site called Joystick.tv and I kinda wanna mention it because the staff their have been great and they don't sandbox u into what u can do with bots like Chaturbate. I kinda hope other cam sites could maybe take it as inspiration because u have on one end Chaturbate who basically built an entire development environment around their bots and lowered the barrier of entry significantly then u have Joystick which took a more flexible possibly lower effort approach. An API doesn't have to be all bells and whistles definately just basic tip and chat info is helpful to begin with :3

 

[Vixxen81]

Tbh on a wider note I recently found a site called Joystick.tv and I kinda wanna mention it because the staff their have been great and they don't sandbox u into what u can do with bots like Chaturbate. I kinda hope other cam sites could maybe take it as inspiration because u have on one end Chaturbate who basically built an entire development environment around their bots and lowered the barrier of entry significantly then u have Joystick which took a more flexible possibly lower effort approach. An API doesn't have to be all bells and whistles definately just basic tip and chat info is helpful to begin with :3

Hi. I'm unsure how long you have been on Chaturbate. I joined in 2013 (11 years on the 8th of this month woot woot) and what was available then has vastly changed with the community building features they wanted to see on the site so I caution that what you see now is a product of what actual users on Chaturbate wanted to see implemented across a 14 year time period. The apps and bots can be as simple as you want them to be or as complicated as you want them to be. I personally have a rather complicated app running but it's been designed around my experiences with my fans and frequent tippers and not the "this is what the industry should be" kind of stuff. It's very personal to me and I appreciate we have the ability to do it.

 

[KingMarti]

"what the heck are u on about lol"

Was pretty much the response I had from MV and onlyfans too, JustForFans while not having like actual support for custom stuff were like 'thats super cool'.
From a cam site, theres so much that can be done with just tip and chat data, and start combining it with other apis

 

[ropebunnyluna]

Hi. I'm unsure how long you have been on Chaturbate. I joined in 2013 (11 years on the 8th of this month woot woot) and what was available then has vastly changed with the community building features they wanted to see on the site so I caution that what you see now is a product of what actual users on Chaturbate wanted to see implemented across a 14 year time period. The apps and bots can be as simple as you want them to be or as complicated as you want them to be. I personally have a rather complicated app running but it's been designed around my experiences with my fans and frequent tippers and not the "this is what the industry should be" kind of stuff. It's very personal to me and I appreciate we have the ability to do it.

Chaturbate was the first Cam Site I discovered. I'm into BDSM so I spent a lot of time looking at those kind of cams and the creativity of Cam Models on that site is honestly bonkers and what got me into wanting to Cam. The site still gives very early 2000s internet vibes and I love it. I can also see why some peeps just see it as chaos incarnate haha.

Tbh I know about the developer ecosystem because i've already built 2 Chaturbate Bots, one of which took me over a week called "Spanks Bot". P.s. if anyone wants a spank bot for handling different types of spanks and keeping track of them lemme know. It has like 2 downloads atm .

Despite this the complexity of Chaturbate bots can only go so far really because there is no way of breaking out of the Sandbox from what I can tell. U can't really communicate with other programs like OBS or handle cross-site bots for e.g. The events poll fills in some of these gaps though which is great.

Honestly u can tell the members had a lot of say in the development because the amount of bots on Chaturbate is absolutely insane and the development environment + inbuilt features is honestly probably the best in the world for simplicity. If u want to start coding make a Chaturbate Bot lol.

 

[Vixxen81]

Chaturbate was the first Cam Site I discovered. I'm into BDSM so I spent a lot of time looking at those kind of cams and the creativity of Cam Models on that site is honestly bonkers and what got me into wanting to Cam. The site still gives very early 2000s internet vibes and I love it. I can also see why some peeps just see it as chaos incarnate haha.

Tbh I know about the developer ecosystem because i've already built 2 Chaturbate Bots, one of which took me over a week called "Spanks Bot". P.s. if anyone wants a spank bot for handling different types of spanks and keeping track of them lemme know. It has like 2 downloads atm .

Despite this the complexity of Chaturbate bots can only go so far really because there is no way of breaking out of the Sandbox from what I can tell. U can't really communicate with other programs like OBS or handle cross-site bots for e.g. The events poll fills in some of these gaps though which is great.

Honestly u can tell the members had a lot of say in the development because the amount of bots on Chaturbate is absolutely insane and the development environment + inbuilt features is honestly probably the best in the world for simplicity. If u want to start coding make a Chaturbate Bot lol.

Because most of us wanted messages that came up with our user names and not some generic thing that any model can use. I don't think you really understand the nature of Chaturbate and that's cool.

 

[ropebunnyluna]

Because most of us wanted messages that came up with our user names and not some generic thing that any model can use. I don't think you really understand the nature of Chaturbate and that's cool.

? I'm not sure what you mean sorry

 

[Vixxen81]

? I'm not sure what you mean sorry

Most apps/bots are very generic and some of us have been able to connect with developers who will personalize the apps for us specifically. I have a lot of hard coded messages in my app that appear with certain word prompts, I have a custom filter for words that may get me banned, I have a custom slots game for people to play with pictures I specifically picked out to represent that action, I have ways to appreciate members without making it obnoxious and ways to customize notifications.

Chaturbate is a VERY community orientated site. It's basically AOL chat with visual porn. Building relationships is more important than anything else, including apps, but in the most ironic way apps build that community.

 

[ropebunnyluna]

Actually I think do know what u mean sorry my brain blanked for a bit. Yeah that does seem to the majority of bots kinda small bots built for a Cam Performers own room. I have one too I made for my Fanclub stuff. The larger bots don't stop customisation though u don't really have to know how to code to change the settings of each bot significantly. The bot i just released used placeholders anyway for the username in the form of %USER% and the theme obviously can easily be changed.

I think what I was trying to say is Chaturbate is great for lowering the barrier of entry for performers to basically make anything and obviously the profile page is helpful because u can put whatever on there but not keeping things in a Sandbox is also useful because then other developers can make more complex and useful tools for sending interactions in chat. Similarly u aren't limited to the options page for individual variables that Chaturbate provides. Although tbh it encouraged me to get really good a Regex.

 

[Vixxen81]

Actually I think do know what u mean sorry my brain blanked for a bit. Yeah that does seem to the majority of bots kinda small bots built for a Cam Performers own room. I have one too I made for my Fanclub stuff. The larger bots don't stop customisation though u don't really have to know how to code to change the settings of each bot significantly. The bot i just released used placeholders anyway for the username in the form of %USER% and the theme obviously can easily be changed.

I think what I was trying to say is Chaturbate is great for lowering the barrier of entry for performers to basically make anything and obviously the profile page is helpful because u can put whatever on there but not keeping things in a Sandbox is also useful because then other developers can make more complex and useful tools for sending interactions in chat. Similarly u aren't limited to the options page for individual variables that Chaturbate provides. Although tbh it encouraged me to get really good a Regex.

Make up my mind. Is it great for lowering the barrier so any one can get into the game or is Joystick better?

 

[ropebunnyluna]

Building relationships is more important than anything else, including apps, but in the most ironic way apps build that community.

That honestly is a perfect explanation of the platform. I don't think Chaturbate would be anywhere near as successful without the ability to customise bios, the insane amount of bot stuff u can do internally at least and the community. I can understand why people stick specifically too chaturbate for this reason as well. Most of my favourite performers only broadcast on Chaturbate.

 

[Vixxen81]

Building relationships is more important than anything else, including apps, but in the most ironic way apps build that community.

That honestly is a perfect explanation of the platform. I don't think Chaturbate would be anywhere near as successful without the ability to customise bios, the insane amount of bot stuff u can do internally at least and the community. I can understand why people stick specifically too chaturbate for this reason as well. Most of my favourite performers only broadcast on Chaturbate.

 

[ropebunnyluna]

Make up my mind. Is it great for lowering the barrier so any one can get into the game or is Joystick better?

I'm confused why you're getting annoyed tbh I never said Chaturbate was bad as a platform quite the opposite . What I said is the approach Joystick.tv took to implement bots is a lot easier on there side and you are able to do a lot more with it but it's more confusing for new developers and other Cam Peformers to use.

What I meant is Chaturbate has put so much time into making bots work well that I wonder if other cam sites look at it and think they can't replicate any part of it but Joystick.tv proves u can. Having a bare bones API for multiple different Cam sites is more helpful than none at all :3.

 

[ropebunnyluna]

I realise now I definately didn't get that across well enough in my messages sorry Vixxen haha

 

[ropebunnyluna]

But yeah um back to the original topic if anyone from Stripchat can give me the thumbs up or down for a basic bot for collecting tip + message data lemme know. The bot idea just got rejected by CAM4 like 10 minutes ago so I don't hold much hope but it would be cool

 

[Vixxen81]

I realise now I definately didn't get that across well enough in my messages sorry Vixxen haha

It happens, we're new to each other and don't know how the other thinks but this is a little insight and I'm glad to have had it. Thank you for diligently explaining.

 

[ropebunnyluna]

It happens, we're new to each other and don't know how the other thinks but this is a little insight and I'm glad to have had it. Thank you for diligently explaining.

No worries. It's cool to hear from your perspective as well as someone who has spent more time with the platform. p.s. do u know any places to share Chaturbate Bots I can't find a single place to share them other than the developer portal lol

 

[Vixxen81]

No worries. It's cool to hear from your perspective as well as someone who has spent more time with the platform. p.s. do u know any places to share Chaturbate Bots I can't find a single place to share them other than the developer portal lol

You can share them on here. Cexmetal does and Cbhours occasionally does, but as for anywhere on Cb itself, no. We kind of have to find it ourselves. You can advertise them in your bio on CB with clickable links and hang out in rooms as long as you don't spam them asking to use your apps/bots. Be ware that most savvy people will assume you have built a back door into the app so you probably shouldn't do that. Build the back door, that is.

 

[KingMarti]

Here and other forums is probably the best place if you want people to know your bits exist since it's where the people who use the bots are. I would just make a thread and then say what the bit does and a link to favorite it.

 

[ropebunnyluna]

You can share them on here. Cexmetal does and Cbhours occasionally does, but as for anywhere on Cb itself, no. We kind of have to find it ourselves. You can advertise them in your bio on CB with clickable links and hang out in rooms as long as you don't spam them asking to use your apps/bots. Be ware that most savvy people will assume you have built a back door into the app so you probably shouldn't do that. Build the back door, that is.

oooo ok. Yeah I had that issue myself tbh trying to find good bots. Haha I hadn't even thought about a backdoor. Tbh because the code is written in the developer portal u can see exactly what it's doing anyway . I possess no seeeecrets.

 

[ropebunnyluna]

Here and other forums is probably the best place if you want people to know your bits exist since it's where the people who use the bots are. I would just make a thread and then say what the bit does and a link to favorite it.

Do u know where on the forums specifically? I'm still to stream my first show so I don't think I can join the official cam performers lounge area n stuff i'm mainly making fan site photos + videos atm

 

[ropebunnyluna]

Tbh I have my poor skin to blame for this in the first place . Making bots instead of camming whilst it heals a bit

 

[KingMarti]

Tbh I have my poor skin to blame for this in the first place . Making bots instead of camming whilst it heals a bit

I would go either the general chat or the Chaturbate category under support (going under support the thread will quickly get buried by people complaining about their account being banned though)

 

[ropebunnyluna]

I would go either the general chat or the Chaturbate category under support (going under support the thread will quickly get buried by people complaining about their account being banned though)

Lol speaking of which i'm making an excel sheet of different sites and all the different ways u can get banned, it's a lot i've found.

I really chose the path of doing anything but camming haven't I lol. Oh well at least i'm gonna be prepared. Tbh I don't know anyone else who would spend almost 1 consecutive month on it so i'll fill that gap I guess.