Getting Started

Create a channel, verify a TURN response in the dashboard, and move the account secret into your backend. For a runnable two-peer example, use the Xirsys Quick Start.

1. Create a Channel

1. Sign in to the Xirsys dashboard.
2. Open Connect.
3. In the Channel card, select the plus button.
4. Enter a channel name and select Add.
5. Select that channel before testing or copying configuration.

Channel names are case-sensitive complete identifiers. Use a single name such as myChannel or myOtherChannel; do not use forward slashes to create a hierarchy.

Separate channels can represent applications, environments, tenants, or rooms. Keep user-created names validated and authorize access in your application.

2. Set Up a Secure Backend

The Dynamic tab provides the API values for the selected channel: API path, account identifier, secret, and channel name. Store them in a deployment secret manager or protected server environment variables.

Your browser or mobile client must not contain the Xirsys API secret. The client calls your authenticated backend; your backend calls Xirsys over HTTPS and returns only temporary ICE credentials or signaling configuration.

See Secure API Calls for the production pattern and Quick Start for a local Node.js 18+ example.

3. Test the Channel

Use the dashboard Example action to inspect a request for the selected channel, then use Test Connection to confirm that Xirsys returns current ICE credentials.

For new WebRTC code, add webrtc=1 to the TURN request. Xirsys then returns v.iceServers as the standard WebRTC array, ready to pass directly to RTCPeerConnection. The older format=urls response is a single ICE server object and must first be wrapped in an array. Dynamic TURN credentials default to a 60-second authentication lifetime.

Continue to TURN (ICE) for expiration, geo routing, response format, and relay-only testing details.

4. Confirm Network Regions

The Your Network card is authoritative for the regions enabled on your account. New Free accounts can use all available regions during their first 30 days; after the trial they use their assigned home region until upgrading. Paid plans include the production-region coverage advertised for the plan.

Using global.xirsys.net routes the API request globally. If your backend is far from the end user, use the TURN API's end-user geo routing so TURN selection can reflect the user's location.

Optional: Static Credentials

Static TURN credentials remain valid until refreshed or deleted. Use them only in trusted, controlled infrastructure where the secret can be protected and rotated. Credentials embedded in native or mobile software can be extracted, so dynamic server-issued credentials are safer for most client applications.

New Free accounts can create and use static credentials during their first 30 days. At the end of the trial, any static credentials are retained but archived and disabled: the dashboard no longer exposes a usable secret, and TURN rejects the credentials. Upgrading to a paid plan re-enables the same credentials automatically.