How to add a pomodoro timer to a study stream

On a study stream the timer is the show. If it lives in a browser window you captured, you are the only one who can see where you are — and you are the one restarting it every twenty-five minutes.

4 steps ~5 minBeginner Updated September 2026

How do you add a pomodoro timer to a study stream?

Set a screen’s clock to pomodoro, choose the focus and break lengths, and use the cam window layout so your camera stays visible inside it. Focus and break alternate on their own, including the longer break after the cycles you set.

You set it up here

It lands here — the real overlay

Manual
LIVE👁 1,248

A focus block in a cam window, so your camera stays on screen.

What you’ll build

Focus and break blocks alternating on stream by themselves, with your camera still on screen.

Step by step

  1. 1

    Add your Kloot overlay to OBS once

    One browser source. The timer lives inside it.

  2. 2

    Set the clock to pomodoro

    Choose your focus length, short break, long break, and how many cycles before the long one. 25 / 5 / 15 every four is the default.

  3. 3

    Name the session

    A task line on the screen tells the room what this block is for, which is most of why people join a study stream.

  4. 4

    Pick the cam window layout

    It cuts a hole for your camera, so you stay on screen while the block runs.

How screens run a whole stream

One key each carries the show’s arc — Starting Soon before you go live, BRB at the break, Ending at the close. Here’s the loop, and what each side sees.

  1. Before you go live· step 1

    Fire Starting Soon, then start the stream

    Press the Starting Soon key before you hit Go Live in OBS. The scene covers the whole canvas — your title, subtitle, and an optional countdown — so early arrivals see a show warming up, not your desktop or a frozen game menu.

    You: Press Starting Soon
    Overlay: Full-screen scene + countdown
    Viewers: Sees a show about to start
  2. Show time· step 2

    Press again — your scene was under it all along

    When you’re ready, the same key clears the screen. It fades out to reveal whatever OBS was already showing — game, cam, everything. You never built a second OBS scene and you never switched one.

    You: Press it again
    Overlay: Fades out to your scene
    Viewers: The stream opens clean
  3. Breaks· step 3

    Tap BRB — it covers everything instantly

    Door, food, bathroom: one tap (your phone deck works from the kitchen) and the BRB scene covers the entire canvas in one press — game, cam, and all. Set a countdown and it can even clear itself when you’re due back.

    You: Tap BRB from your phone
    Overlay: Covers the whole canvas
    Viewers: Knows you’ll be right back
  4. Wrap up· step 4

    Fire Ending to close the show

    The thanks-for-watching scene holds the screen while you say goodbyes, plug the socials, and send the raid. Screens are one-at-a-time, so firing Ending swaps out anything else — then you end the stream on a produced note.

    You: Press Ending
    Overlay: Thanks-for-watching scene
    Viewers: A clean outro, not a hard cut

When a full-screen scene earns its press

Every stream has moments the camera shouldn’t carry alone. These are the ones a screen covers:

The pre-stream ramp

When: You go live a few minutes before you’re actually ready — and viewers arrive early.

Why it works: A countdown screen turns dead air into anticipation. Notifications land, the room fills, and you finish your setup behind a scene that looks deliberate.

Breaks without dead air

When: Bathroom, door, food delivery — the two-minute step-away every stream has.

Why it works: One tap covers the room: game, cam, and desktop all at once. Nothing awkward stays on screen, and the countdown tells viewers exactly when to drift back.

Technical difficulties cover

When: The game crashes, audio drops, or a capture card picks tonight to die.

Why it works: A calm, branded “hang tight” screen beats a frozen frame. Viewers stay seated while you fix it, instead of assuming the stream is over.

The outro that holds raiders

When: End of stream — you’re saying goodbyes, plugging socials, sending or landing a raid.

Why it works: An ending scene keeps a produced frame on screen through the whole wind-down, so the last thing anyone sees is your brand, not a hard cut to offline.

The scenes you can run

Starting Soon, Be Right Back, Stream Ending — every preview below is the real full-screen renderer with its countdown ticking, scaled down, not a mockup.

⏳
Starting Soon
Hang tight — we’re live in a few
05:00

Starting Soon — the pre-show hold

The countdown that turns early arrivals into an audience.

Fire it, go live, and finish your coffee. The purple sweep, your title, and a live 05:00 countdown hold the screen while notifications bring people in — by zero you have a room, not an empty chat.

One key up before you go live
☕
Be Right Back
Grab a snack — back in five
05:00

Be Right Back — the break cover

One tap covers everything — game, cam, desktop — instantly.

“Back in five” with a ticking timer reads as a promise, not an absence. Set the countdown to auto-hide at 00:00 and the stream uncovers itself the moment you’re due back.

Can auto-hide itself at 00:00
👋
Thanks for Watching!
See you next time

Stream Ending — the goodbye

A produced close that holds the room through the wind-down.

“Thanks for watching” stays up while you wrap, plug tomorrow’s stream, and send the raid. Retext the subtitle to your schedule once and it’s one press at the end of every show.

One key closes the show

It covers everything — that’s the point

Your Kloot source sits on top of your OBS scene, so a screen hides the whole canvas in one press — and one more press reveals the game that was under it all along. No scene collection, no switching.

Your stream · OBS output
LIVE
Covers the full canvas — everything under it is hidden Your Kloot source sits on top of the scene, so no OBS scene switch is needed

Common mistakes to avoid

  • ✕Putting the cam window over the half of the frame your camera is not in — drag the cut-out to where you actually sit.
  • ✕Setting a 50-minute focus block on a two-hour stream and never reaching a break on camera.

Frequently asked

Do the blocks switch by themselves?

Yes. Focus becomes break, break becomes the next focus, and the longer break arrives after the number of cycles you set.

Can I count how many blocks I finished?

Yes — a completed cycle can add to one of your counters, so the session total is on screen too.

Will it cover my camera?

Not with the cam window layout, which is what it is for: the screen cuts a hole where your camera sits.

Which plan do I need?

Pomodoro and the cam window layout are part of Creator ($15/mo). Free runs two screens with a countdown.

Set it up once.
Press it every stream.

One browser source. Every screen, every clock, one deck.

Free forever · Creator $99/yr or $15/mo · Pro $149/yr or $25/mo · Event Pass $9 for 3 days