Put a scene on screen
- Open Overlays in your pulz dashboard.It is under Stream in the sidebar.
- Open the scene and press Copy source URL in the top right of the editor.The copy button on the scene's card in the list copies the same URL, so you do not have to open the editor to get it.
- In OBS, select the scene you want the overlay on and add a new Browser source.
- Paste the URL into the URL field.
- Set Width and Height to the canvas size printed on the scene's card.A full scene is 1920 x 1080. Matching the two is what keeps your layout pixel-accurate.
- Move the browser source above your game capture in the source list.OBS paints sources bottom to top, so an overlay under a capture is invisible.
- Close the properties window.Nothing else needs configuring. You do not need to write custom CSS and you do not need to tick anything for transparency.
The URL shapes
Every overlay URL lives under /your-username/o, and the query on the end decides what it renders.
- ?scene=1 renders that one scene, always. This is what the copy button gives you, and it is the shape you map one-to-one onto an OBS scene.
- ?live=1 renders whatever scene you currently have on air in pulz. One source in OBS, switched from elsewhere - see Switching scenes live.
- ?type=chat renders a single widget on its own, the way overlays worked before scenes. Every pre-scene URL still resolves, and you can copy a fresh one from Single widgets on the Overlays page.
- &k= carries your overlay key. Copy source URL appends it for you. The Copy URL button under Single widgets does not, so a standalone widget that needs the key wants it added by hand.
What the key does
The &k= value is your overlay key. It names the channel the pulz server pushes live changes down, which your source only ever listens on, and it unlocks the widgets that need more than a username: the tip widgets, which carry a Streamlabs or StreamElements token, and the giveaway widget, which posts the entrants it saw in chat back to pulz.
- With the key: a privacy screen, a test alert, a timer start or a counter bump reaches the open source right away.
- Without it: the scene still renders, and still shows chat, alerts and stats. It falls back to its slower polls, tip widgets stay empty, and a giveaway records no entrants.
Why the page is transparent
The overlay page sets its own background to transparent and turns scrolling off, and a scene you built from scratch has no background of its own. What OBS composites is your layers over whatever sits below the source, which is why the browser source needs no custom CSS and no chroma key filter.
When you want the overlay to cover the whole frame on purpose - a starting soon screen, a be right back card, a privacy screen - that comes from a full-size widget on the canvas, not from the page.
Size and scaling
A scene is drawn at its own canvas size and then scaled as one piece to fit the browser source, keeping its proportions. A 1920 x 1080 scene inside a 1280 x 720 source still shows everything, at two thirds of the size. In a source with a different shape it is scaled to fit and centred, leaving empty space on two sides - which is usually the sign that the width and height do not match the canvas.
The source updates itself
Once the URL is in OBS you are finished with OBS. An open browser source re-reads your scene, your theme and your schedule on its own about once a minute, so edits you make in the editor arrive without you refreshing anything. Live actions fired from the dashboard - a privacy screen, a timer, a test alert - take the key's channel instead and do not wait for that cycle.
Refresh the source in OBS only when you want a design change on screen this second rather than within the minute.
FAQ
The source shows a name plate I did not build. Why?
A scene URL that does not resolve to a saved scene falls back to your lower third rather than going blank, so an old browser source never empties out mid-stream. Check that the number in ?scene= matches the number printed on the card in Overlays, which is not always the card's position in the list.
Should I tick "Shutdown source when not visible"?
Only if you want the overlay to stop completely when you leave that OBS scene. It closes the page, so anything counting or connected starts again from scratch when you come back. Leaving it off keeps one long-lived source for the whole stream, which is what the page is built for.
Can I use the same URL on a second PC or a capture machine?
Yes. It is a plain web address with no machine binding, so the same scene can run in as many browser sources as you like.
Do I need Twitch connected first?
No. You can design a whole scene before connecting, and the editor previews it with sample chat and sample events. In OBS it is your real channel or nothing, so a widget that reads Twitch has nothing to show until Twitch is connected.
Where do I get a URL for one widget instead of a whole scene?
On the Overlays page, expand Single widgets under your scene list and press Copy URL on the one you want.