Frigate

🎥 Overview

Frigate is an open-source network video recorder (NVR) with real-time AI-based object detection.
It is designed to work with IP cameras and integrates tightly with Home Assistant to provide smart, event-driven automations.

🚀 What it does

Records video streams from IP cameras
Performs real-time object detection (people, animals, vehicles, etc.)
Generates events and snapshots based on detections
Provides a web UI for live view, recordings, and review
Integrates with MQTT and Home Assistant

🌐 Website

https://frigate.video/

⚙️ Features

Real-time object detection using TensorFlow Lite
Motion detection + object classification
RTSP camera support
Event-based recording (not just continuous)
Timeline and review UI
MQTT integration for automation
Multi-camera support

🧠 AI Acceleration

Frigate works best with hardware acceleration:

Google Coral TPU (recommended) → best performance, low power
CPU-only → works but limited performance
GPU acceleration (optional, more complex)

📦 Kubernetes Deployment Notes

Requires:
- Persistent storage (recordings + config)
- Access to camera streams (RTSP)
Recommended setup:
- PVC for /config and /media
- Service + Ingress for web UI
Optional:
- Device passthrough for Coral TPU:
  - /dev/bus/usb (USB Coral)
Considerations:
- High disk I/O (video recording)
- CPU usage if no accelerator is present

📁 Storage Structure

/config → Frigate configuration (YAML)
/media → recordings, clips, snapshots

🔌 Integrations

Home Assistant (native integration)
MQTT broker (required for event communication)
RTSP cameras (e.g. Reolink)

🎥 Camera Integration

Typical flow:

Camera (RTSP) ↓ Frigate (detects objects) ↓ MQTT (events) ↓ Home Assistant (automations, notifications)

🔐 Authentication

Built-in authentication for UI
Can be secured behind:
- Reverse proxy (Ingress / NGINX)
- SSO (e.g. Authentik via OAuth2 proxy)

⚠️ Things to know

Object detection requires tuning for best results
CPU-only setups may struggle with multiple cameras
Storage grows quickly → plan retention policies
Requires stable RTSP streams from cameras

🧠 Why use it

Local, privacy-friendly camera processing
Powerful AI detection without cloud dependency
Deep integration with Home Assistant
Efficient event-based recording

🔧 Typical Stack in Undercloud

Frigate → NVR + AI detection
Home Assistant → automation + UI
MQTT (Mosquitto) → event bus
Reolink cameras → video source
Coral TPU (optional) → AI acceleration

📝 Example Config Snippet

mqtt:
  host: mqtt.apps.undercloud.dev

cameras:
  living_room:
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://user:password@camera-ip/stream
          roles:
            - detect
            - record
    detect:
      enabled: true
    objects:
      track:
        - person
        - dog
        - cat

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