Configuration

Settings live under Settings → Plugins → Live, or Live → Settings for admins. Every one of them can also be set in config/live.php, which wins over the control panel.

The defaults are the ones to run a public live blog on. Most sites change nothing.

Snapshots

Setting	Default	What it does
`snapshotsEnabled`	`true`	Each publish writes static JSON into the web root, so readers poll a file instead of waking Craft. Turn it off only if the web root isn't writable.
`snapshotPath`	`@webroot/live-feed`	Where the files are written. Must be inside the web root. Accepts aliases and environment variables.
`snapshotUrl`	`@web/live-feed`	The URL those files are served from. Accepts aliases and environment variables.
`headWindow`	`20`	How many recent updates `head.json` lists inline. Larger means a reader can catch up further without a reload.
`prerenderHtml`	`true`	Render each update's HTML at publish time through your own template, so appended updates match the page exactly.
`updateTemplate`	`''`	Site template used to render one update. Empty means `live/_update`.

With snapshots on, both snapshotPath and snapshotUrl are required: snapshotting to nowhere is a silent no-op, so the settings screen refuses it.

Reading

Setting	Default	What it does
`pollInterval`	`5`	Seconds between reader checks (1–300). Also how long a CDN may hold `head.json`.
`composerPollInterval`	`8`	Seconds between control-panel refreshes, so editors see each other's updates (2–300).
`invalidateOwnerCaches`	`false`	Whether a publish also clears the entry's template caches. Off, because the point is that the page stays cached while updates arrive around it.
`timestampFormat`	`H:i`	PHP date format for timestamps in the shipped templates.
`bodyAllowedHtml`	`''`	HTMLPurifier `HTML.Allowed` string for update bodies. Empty means Live's own list: what the composer can produce, plus links and images.

Editing (Pro)

Setting	Default	What it does
`presenceEnabled`	`true`	Show who else is in the composer.
`presenceTtl`	`60`	Seconds without a heartbeat before an editor is treated as gone (15–3600).

Server-sent events (Pro)

Setting	Default	What it does
`sseEnabled`	`false`	Push updates over an open connection instead of waiting for the next poll. Read the note on SSE before turning it on.
`sseMaxClients`	`50`	Streams beyond this are turned away and fall back to polling.
`sseMaxDuration`	`30`	Seconds before a stream asks the client to reconnect.
`ssePollInterval`	`500`	Milliseconds between checks inside an open stream.

CDN purging (Pro)

Setting	Default	What it does
`purgeDriver`	`none`	`none`, `cloudflare`, `fastly` or `webhook`.
`purgeZoneId`	`null`	Cloudflare zone ID.
`purgeToken`	`null`	Cloudflare or Fastly API token. Accepts an environment variable — store it in one.
`purgeUrl`	`null`	Webhook URL. Live POSTs `{"urls": [...]}` to it.
`purgeThrottle`	`60`	Seconds between purges of the same post, however many updates land in between (5–3600).

What gets purged, and why so rarely, is in Delivery.

Field settings

Each Live field has its own options, under the field's settings:

Option	Default	What it does
Update types	all	Which kinds of update this feed accepts. Leave all unchecked to allow every type.
Order	Newest first	Newest first reads like a news feed; oldest first reads like a commentary.
Updates per page	`50`	How many updates the composer loads at a time (5–500).
Show other editors	on	Show who else has this post open (Pro).
Allow scheduled updates	off	Offer a "post at" time in the composer (Pro).

config/live.php

Anything in this file overrides what is saved in the control panel. The settings screen does not mark overridden fields, so if a change there seems to do nothing, check this file first. It takes the usual multi-environment shape:

<?php

use craft\helpers\App;

return [
    '*' => [
        'pollInterval' => 5,
        'headWindow' => 20,
    ],
    'production' => [
        'snapshotUrl' => 'https://cdn.example.com/live-feed',
        'purgeDriver' => 'cloudflare',
        'purgeZoneId' => App::env('CLOUDFLARE_ZONE_ID'),
        'purgeToken' => '$CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN',
    ],
    'dev' => [
        'purgeDriver' => 'none',
    ],
];

Environment variables

snapshotPath, snapshotUrl and purgeToken are resolved through Craft's environment variable parsing, so $LIVE_SNAPSHOT_URL or @web/live-feed both work, whether typed in the control panel or set in config/live.php.

For the Cloudflare zone ID and the webhook URL, read the variable in config/live.php with App::env(), as above, so the resolved value is what Live sees.