Bot account.
Choose which Twitch account the bot posts as: the shared OverlayThing bot, your own channel, or a dedicated bot account you connect. The shared bot is the default and needs no setup.
Which account posts
Every reply, timer and alert the bot sends goes out under one account. You pick which from the Bot account section of Bot settings. Switching is instant and changes nothing else about your commands or modules.
| Account | Messages come from | Setup |
|---|---|---|
| OverlayThing | The shared bot (the default). | Nothing to set up. |
| Your channel | Your own channel name. | One-time grant. |
| A dedicated bot | A separate account you name, e.g. yourname_bot. | One-time connect link. |
The shared OverlayThing bot
The default. A single shared account joins your chat to post replies, run timers and moderate. There is nothing to create, host or manage, and it is already a known, verified bot. Most streamers never change this.
Post as your own channel
Messages come from your own channel name instead of a bot. Pick Post as (your name) and grant the one-time permission when asked. You already moderate your own channel, so there is nothing extra to mod. Your own typed commands still work as normal, because the bot only skips the messages it sent itself.
Connect a dedicated bot account
Use a separate Twitch account as your bot, for example yourname_bot. Because it is a different account, you connect it in a private window so you can sign in as the bot without logging out of your main account.
Copy the connect link
In Bot settings, pick the dedicated-bot card and copy its one-time link. The link is single-use and expires after a few minutes.
Open it in a private window
Open the link in an incognito or private browser window and sign in as your bot account, not your main account. Authorize OverlayThing.
Make it a moderator
Back in Bot settings, click Make moderator so the bot account can post without rate limits and run moderation.
Open the connect link in a private or incognito window and log in with the BOT account, not your main channel. If you accidentally sign in as your own channel we catch it and connect nothing, then let you either open a fresh link for your bot account or switch to posting under your own name instead.
A connected bot account is remembered, so you can switch away to the shared bot and back again with no re-auth. Forget removes it if you want to connect a different account.
If a connected account stops working
A connected account can lose access on Twitch's side, for example if its password or two-factor settings change, or you revoke access. When that happens the chatbot does not go silent:
Chat keeps working
Messages automatically fall back to the shared OverlayThing bot, so replies, timers and moderation keep running.
You are told
Bot settings shows a needs reconnect notice and a fallback banner, and you get an email. You can turn connection alerts off in Settings.
One click to fix
Use Forget & Reconnect on the account to clear the old link and sign in again. Once reconnected, the bot posts under that account again.
A brief Twitch outage is treated as temporary. The bot retries and returns to your chosen account on its own, without emailing you. You only hear about it when the account genuinely needs reconnecting.