Chat Picker is a live tool for picking viewers on the spot: build a list from chat messages and draw from it, or let viewers guess a number in chat and give the win to whoever gets it first. The list lives only in the page you have open; close it and it is gone.
How it differs from Giveaways
Giveaways run across several streams, use tickets and keep a record you can look up later. Chat Picker is for "right now, from chat, then throw it away". The two share no data: people picked here do not become giveaway entrants, and the other way around.
Three ways to build the list
- Timed chat: everyone who chats within N minutes of pressing Start goes on the list. The cut-off uses the time the message was sent on the platform, not the time it reached your page, so a message sent in the last second still counts even if it arrives a little late. After time is up the page waits another 5 seconds before closing the list.
- Keyword: a message that contains the keyword goes on the list. It does not have to match the whole message, and case and full-width characters do not matter. Advanced settings can add a time limit, which means "contains the keyword within the time window".
- Number guess: the default range is 1 to 100, and a message counts as a guess only if it is a single number ("42" counts, "I guess 42" does not). The first correct guess wins outright, with no list and no weights. Each guess shows too high / too low / close on screen and is never posted to chat; the "current range" on screen narrows as guesses come in.
Each viewer appears on the list once. The channel's own bot never takes part. The broadcaster can take part and counts as a regular viewer, which is handy for a quick test; to stay out, add yourself to "Ignored users" in the advanced settings. Other accounts, such as other chat bots, can go there too: people listed there are not added to the list and can't guess. The advanced settings only show what the current mode uses, so number guess mode has no weights, for example.
How weights work
Regular viewers, Tier 1 / 2 / 3 subscribers, VIPs and moderators each have a weight from 1 to 100. When someone has several of these, "Highest" uses the largest one and "Add up" sums them. With the default weights, a Tier 3 subscriber who is also a VIP gets 4 with Highest and 8 with Add up. The "regular viewer" weight only applies to people with no other role, so it is never added on top of another role; only one of Tier 1 / 2 / 3 is counted. Number guess ignores weights.
After someone is picked
The winner appears on a card that lists every message they send after being picked. With "Require a reply" on, the card also shows a timer that runs from the moment they were picked until they first speak afterwards. "Unique winners" is on by default, so a winner is removed from the list; "Pick again" marks the current winner as forfeited and picks someone else. The list, the winners and the guesses can each be exported as CSV.
Putting it on stream
The "OBS Widget" tab on the page has an OBS source URL. Add it to OBS as a Browser Source, or put it in a Stream Overlay. It shows only what viewers should see: the countdown, the head count, the guesses, the winner and their messages. It never shows the answer in Number guess and contains no settings.
- The OBS widget is fed by the dashboard page; the server only passes it along and does not keep it. It moves only while the page is open. After you close the page, OBS keeps showing the last screen. Before the page has ever been opened, the source is fully transparent and shows nothing.
- The background is transparent by default, so it sits right on top of your game. If you prefer a chroma key, switch it to green or blue.
- The countdown follows server time, so it stays accurate even when OBS runs on a different computer.
- If several picker pages are open at once, the OBS widget follows whichever page changed last.
- The URL works like a key to this source. If it leaks, press "Reset" to get a new one and the old URL stops working.
Common misunderstandings
- Keep the page open. The server only forwards chat while someone has the Chat Picker page open, and the list exists only in that page. Closing the tab or switching computers loses it, and the OBS widget stays on its last screen; if you reload by accident, reopening within 12 hours asks whether to continue where you left off. Two people with the page open do not see each other's list.
- The bot has to be in the channel. Messages reach the page through the channel's bot, and the page shows how long ago the last message arrived. If nothing arrives for two minutes, the bot is usually not in the channel, the stream is not live, or chat is just quiet.
- Announcements need the bot to be a moderator. If it is not, the announcement fails and is not resent as a normal message. Pick "Chat message" if you are not sure. YouTube has no announcements, so it always gets a normal message.
- Deleted messages do not remove anyone from the list. The page marks the message as deleted and leaves the decision to you. Timed-out or banned viewers also have to be removed by hand.
- Moderators can use it. Chat Picker is available to channel members with moderator access and above, for every broadcaster. It does not require Affiliate status or a paid plan. Only the OBS widget's source URL needs editor access or above; moderators can still run the picker and the widget still updates.
Settings
The text below is taken from the in-app help, so it stays in sync with the actual interface.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Duration (minutes) | Viewers who chat within this time after you press Start are added to the list |
| Keyword | Messages containing this text are added (case-insensitive; full-width and half-width count as the same) |
| Announcement | Announcements need the bot to be a MOD in your channel. If one fails, it is not resent as a normal message. |
| Eligibility | A viewer can join if any of their roles is allowed. The channel's own bot never joins. The broadcaster counts as a regular viewer; add yourself to Ignored users below to stay out. |
| Weight (1 ~ 100) | Higher weight means a better chance of being picked, based on the viewer's roles when they were added. Number guess ignores weights. |
| Multiple roles | Highest uses the largest weight; Add up sums the matching weights. Only one sub tier counts, and the viewer weight is used only when there is no other role. |
| Ignored users | People listed here are not added to the list and can't guess, such as chat bots |
| Unique winners | Picked viewers are removed from the list and can't be picked again this round |
| Require a reply | Shows a timer on the winner card, from the pick until the winner's first message |
| Time limit for keyword mode | When on, the keyword must appear in a message sent within the time limit |
| Close range (%) | Guesses within this share of the range width from the answer are marked as close |
| Time between guesses (seconds) | A viewer's next guess within this time doesn't count, to prevent spam |
| Set the answer yourself | If off, each round gets a random answer. A custom answer stays in this browser and is never saved to the server. |
| Messages | Leave blank to use the default. Viewer names are filled in by the server. |
Other notes
- The bot posts a message in chat when time is up.
Other settings
These settings have no additional help text in the dashboard; only their names are listed here.
- Timed chat
- Number guess
- Minimum
- Maximum
- A guess counts only when the whole message is a single number. The first correct guess wins right away; weights do not apply. Too high / too low is shown on screen only and never posted to chat.
- None
- Chat message
- Advanced settings
- Role
- Allowed
- Highest
- Add up
- Picking
- Time
- Notify when timed chat ends
- Notify when keyword mode ends
- Notifications
- Winner notification
- Winner message
- Time's up message
- Correct guess message
- Sent when a winner is picked
- Sent when timed chat or keyword mode runs out of time (the time's up notification must be on)
- Sent when someone guesses the number
- Viewer
- Tier 1 sub
- Tier 2 sub
- Tier 3 sub
- VIP
- MOD
- Picker