# Start/stop stream targets with rest api

**URL:** <https://community.wowza.com/t/start-stop-stream-targets-with-rest-api/102544>\
**Category:** Wowza Video (Formerly Streaming Cloud)\
**Created:** [January 27, 2025, 3:51am UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/start-stop-stream-targets-with-rest-api/102544 "2025-01-27T03:51:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Alvin\_Ogles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@Alvin\_Ogles](https://community.wowza.com/u/Alvin_Ogles)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2025, 3:51am UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/start-stop-stream-targets-with-rest-api/102544/1 "2025-01-27T03:51:51Z")

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I’m building a stream manager interface and can start/stop streams which is awesome. For some events we have multiple sessions and use stream targets for this. Is it possible to start/stop stream targets with the rest API? I can’t find documentation for starting/stopping targets, just transcoder and streams, thanks.

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**Author:** ![Alvin\_Ogles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@Alvin\_Ogles](https://community.wowza.com/u/Alvin_Ogles)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2025, 6:05pm UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/start-stop-stream-targets-with-rest-api/102544/2 "2025-01-28T18:05:06Z")

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Cory from tech support provided the documentation for me.

> **[Transcoders](https://developer.wowza.com/docs/wowza-video/api/video/v1.11/tag/transcoders/#tag/transcoders/operation/updateTranscoderOutputOutputStreamTarget)**
>
> Operations related to transcoders, output renditions, and output stream targets.
> ### Transcoders
> Wowza Video transcoders allow you to customize transcoding processes by creating transcoders that are optimized for various network or streaming...

Thanks!

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**Author:** ![Vihari\_Kumar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@Vihari\_Kumar](https://community.wowza.com/u/Vihari_Kumar)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2025, 7:09am UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/start-stop-stream-targets-with-rest-api/102544/3 "2025-10-24T07:09:43Z")

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Hello Alvin,

Thanks for reaching out!

I’m glad to see that Cory from our technical support team was able to provide you with the necessary documentation for controlling stream targets using the REST API.

Happy streaming!

Regards,

Vihari

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**Author:** ![susanrobertsO2gaEdzf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@susanrobertsO2gaEdzf](https://community.wowza.com/u/susanrobertsO2gaEdzf)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2025, 8:41am UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/start-stop-stream-targets-with-rest-api/102544/4 "2025-11-07T08:41:27Z")

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Hey, great question!!!

The Wowza Streaming Engine REST API and similar kind of API’s currently has endpoint for starting as well as stopping applications, transcoders, and streams, but not for starting and stopping individual targets.

A transcoder or application is used to set up and manages stream targets. When the source stream goes live, they automatically turn on.

If you need to wantedly turn stream targets on or off for events or multi-session setups, there are a few ways to do this:

1. API workaround: You can change or turn off a target’s configuration using the REST API… and then restarting the stream or transcoder to make the changes take effect.

2. Automation layer: In your app, make small management layer that switches targets by changing their configuration files or API parameters and then updates the parent transcoder.

3. Feature request: It might be a good idea to suggest a dedicated endpoint for managing stream targets directly. A lot of users are asking for this kind of flexibility.