VTube Studio
Published 11 Sept 2026
Open Platforms in TipLinkTipLink works with VTube Studio over its built-in plugin API. Once connected it works both ways: your model becomes something alerts can drive, and things that happen to your model become events you can build alerts on.
The VTube Studio integration is new in v1.20.0 and marked Beta. It is complete and tested, but if something behaves oddly please tell us so it can be fixed.
Requirements
- VTube Studio on the same PC as TipLink
- Its plugin API switched on, see below
- TipLink v1.20.0 or newer
Turn On the API in VTube Studio
- Open VTube Studio.
- Open the settings cog in the left toolbar.
- Scroll to General Settings and find Start API (allow plugins).
- Switch it on. Leave the port at
8001unless you have a reason to change it.
TipLink listens for the broadcast VTube Studio sends out while the API is running, so the port is filled in automatically and the Add Account screen tells you which of three things is wrong: VTube Studio is not running, it is running with the API switched off, or it is ready. You can always type the port in by hand.
Add Your VTube Studio Account in TipLink
- In TipLink, go to Platforms and click Add an Account.
- Choose VTube Studio.
- Check the readiness line at the top. When it says VTube Studio is ready, the port is already filled in.
- Click Connect.
- Switch to VTube Studio. It shows a plugin permission prompt asking whether to allow TipLink. Click Allow.
- Back in TipLink, the account finishes adding itself.
VTube Studio draws the prompt in its own window and does not raise that window for you. If nothing seems to happen, VTube Studio is probably minimised behind OBS. You have five minutes to click Allow before TipLink stops waiting.
Once you have allowed it, VTube Studio remembers TipLink. You will not be asked again unless you revoke it from VTube Studio's plugin list.
Connect
Click Connect next to the account. The button turns red and reads Disconnect when it is working.
Turn on Auto Connect in the account's settings so TipLink reconnects to VTube Studio whenever it starts.
If VTube Studio is closed, TipLink retries five times with increasing delays and then stops. That is deliberate: VTube Studio being shut is a normal state, not a fault. The next alert that targets it reconnects on demand, so you do not have to reconnect by hand after opening VTube Studio again.
If you remove TipLink from VTube Studio's plugin list, the saved token stops working permanently, and TipLink tells you rather than retrying. Delete the account in TipLink and add it again to get a fresh prompt.
Driving Your Model From Alerts
Connecting the account is only half of it. To make a tip trigger a hotkey, drop a prop or push your model's physics around, add a VTube Studio action to an alert.
There are nine of them, covering hotkeys, expressions, items, parameters, model swaps and physics. See VTube Studio Actions.
Events You Can Trigger On
Choose VTube Studio as the platform on an alert and you can trigger on any of these.
| Event | Fires when | What you can narrow it to |
|---|---|---|
| Model Loaded | A model finishes loading | A specific model by name |
| Hotkey Triggered | Any hotkey fires, from anywhere | A specific hotkey by name |
| Tracking Found / Lost | Your face enters or leaves the camera | Found only, lost only, or both |
| Item Added / Removed | An item is dropped or cleared | A specific item file |
| Model Clicked | Someone clicks your model | Which mouse button |
| Expression Turned On / Off | An expression changes state | A specific expression |
| Animation Started / Ended | A model animation starts or finishes | A specific animation |
| Background Changed | The background is swapped | A specific background |
Stop an alert re-triggering itself
Hotkey Triggered fires for every hotkey, including ones TipLink itself fired. An alert that triggers a hotkey would otherwise set itself off in a loop.
The trigger carries Ignore Hotkeys TipLink Fired, which is on by default. Leave it on unless you specifically want one TipLink alert to chain into another through a hotkey.
Tracking Found / Lost fires every time your face leaves the frame, which during a normal stream is constantly. It is in the account's Excluded Events by default. Remove it from that list if you actually want to build on it.
Model outline, art mesh tracking and model movement data are deliberately not collected. They fire between 15 and 60 times a second, and TipLink records every event it receives, so subscribing to them would flood your activity log and your database for no practical benefit.
Troubleshooting
The readiness line says VTube Studio is not running, but it is. Check that Start API (allow plugins) is on in VTube Studio's settings. If TipLink cannot listen for the broadcast at all, for example because another program holds the port, the line says nothing rather than guessing, and you can type the port in by hand.
I clicked Connect and nothing happened. The permission prompt is inside VTube Studio's window. Bring VTube Studio to the front.
My hotkey list is empty. The list comes from the model you currently have loaded, so load your model first. An unreachable VTube Studio gives an empty list rather than an error.
The connection drops when I close VTube Studio. Expected. Reopen VTube Studio; the next action reconnects, or click Connect.