Frigate MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for Frigate NVR, enabling AI assistants to interact with your Frigate security camera system.

🌟 Features

• Camera Management: List and monitor all configured cameras
• Event Detection: Query detection events with filtering by camera, object type, and time
• Live Snapshots: Get current or historical camera snapshots
• Recordings: Access recording summaries and segments
• System Stats: Monitor Frigate performance, detector speed, and camera FPS
• Configuration: Retrieve complete Frigate configuration

📋 Prerequisites

• Python 3.10 or higher
• A running Frigate NVR instance
• Access to the Frigate HTTP API

🚀 Installation

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/frigate-mcp.git
cd frigate-mcp

2. Create a virtual environment

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate

3. Install dependencies

pip install -e .

4. Configure environment

Create a .env file in the project root:

# Required: URL of your Frigate instance
FRIGATE_FRIGATE_URL=http://localhost:5000

# Optional: API key if authentication is required
# FRIGATE_API_KEY=your_secret_key_here

# Optional: HTTP timeout in seconds (default: 30)
# FRIGATE_TIMEOUT=30

🔧 Configuration

The server uses environment variables for configuration. You can set them in:

1. .env file (recommended for development)
2. Environment variables (recommended for production)

Configuration Options

Variable	Description	Default	Required
FRIGATE_FRIGATE_URL	Base URL of Frigate instance	http://localhost:5000	No
FRIGATE_API_KEY	API key for authentication	None	No
FRIGATE_TIMEOUT	HTTP request timeout (seconds)	30	No
FRIGATE_SERVER_HOST	Server host for SSE/HTTP modes	0.0.0.0	No
FRIGATE_SERVER_PORT	Server port for SSE/HTTP modes	8000	No

Example Configurations

Local Frigate instance:

FRIGATE_FRIGATE_URL=http://localhost:5000

Remote Frigate with authentication:

FRIGATE_FRIGATE_URL=http://192.168.1.100:5000
FRIGATE_API_KEY=your_secret_key
FRIGATE_TIMEOUT=60

🎯 Usage

The server supports three operational modes:

1. STDIO Mode (Default)

For direct integration with MCP clients like Claude Desktop:

python -m frigate_mcp.server
# or
frigate-mcp

2. SSE Mode (Server-Sent Events)

For web-based clients with real-time updates:

frigate-mcp-sse

The server will start at http://localhost:8000/sse (configurable via environment variables).

Features:

• Real-time event streaming
• WebSocket-like experience over HTTP
• Easy to debug in browser dev tools
• Compatible with web applications

3. HTTP Mode (REST API)

For production deployments and API access:

STDIO Mode (for MCP clients):

python -m frigate_mcp.server

SSE Mode (for web clients):

frigate-mcp-sse

HTTP Mode (for REST API):

frigate-mcp-http

Integrating with MCP Clients

Claude Desktop (STDIO Mode)

Testing the Connection

Run the included test script to verify your Frigate connection:

python test_connection.py

Expected output:

============================================================
Frigate MCP Server - Connection Test
============================================================

🔧 Frigate Configuration:
   URL: http://localhost:5000
   API URL: http://localhost:5000/api
   Timeout: 30s

📹 Testing /api/config (cameras)...
   ✅ Found 1 camera(s)
      - front_door: enabled

📊 Testing /api/stats...
   ✅ Frigate version: 0.16.3
   ✅ Detectors: ['coral']
   ✅ Active cameras: ['front_door']
...

Running the MCP Server

Start the server in stdio mode (for MCP clients):

python -m frigate_mcp.server

Claude Desktop (STDIO Mode)

Add to your MCP client configuration (e.g., Claude Desktop config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "frigate": {
      "command": "/path/to/frigate-mcp/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["-m", "frigate_mcp.server"],
      "env": {
        "FRIGATE_FRIGATE_URL": "http://localhost:5000"
      }
    }
  }
}

Web Clients (SSE Mode)

Connect to the SSE endpoint for real-time updates:

const eventSource = new EventSource('http://localhost:8000/sse');

eventSource.onmessage = (event) => {
  const data = JSON.parse(event.data);
  console.log('Received:', data);
};

REST API (HTTP Mode)

Make standard HTTP requests:

# Get cameras
curl http://localhost:8000/tools/get_cameras

# Get events
curl http://localhost:8000/tools/get_events?limit=5

# Get stats
curl http://localhost:8000/tools/get_stats

Or use any HTTP client:

import requests

response = requests.post(
    'http://localhost:8000/tools/get_events',
    json={'camera': 'front_door', 'limit': 10}
)
print(response.json())   "frigate": {
      "command": "/path/to/frigate-mcp/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["-m", "frigate_mcp.server"],
      "env": {
        "FRIGATE_FRIGATE_URL": "http://localhost:5000"
      }
    }
  }
}

🛠️ Available Tools

The server provides 7 MCP tools for interacting with Frigate:

1. get_cameras()

List all configured cameras with their status and properties.

Returns:

[
  {
    "name": "front_door",
    "enabled": true,
    "width": 1920,
    "height": 1080,
    "fps": 5
  }
]

2. get_events(camera, label, limit)

Get recent detection events with optional filtering.

Parameters:

• camera (optional): Filter by camera name
• label (optional): Filter by object type (person, car, dog, etc.)
• limit (default: 10): Maximum events to return (1-100)

Example:

get_events(camera="front_door", label="person", limit=5)

Returns:

[
  {
    "id": "1234567890.123456-abcdef",
    "camera": "front_door",
    "label": "person",
    "start_time": 1704067200.5,
    "end_time": 1704067205.8,
    "has_clip": true,
    "has_snapshot": true,
    "zones": ["entrance"],
    "thumbnail": "http://localhost:5000/api/events/1234.../thumbnail.jpg"
  }
]

3. get_stats()

Get Frigate system statistics and performance metrics.

Returns:

{
  "service": {
    "uptime": 86400,
    "version": "0.16.3",
    "storage": {...}
  },
  "detectors": {
    "coral": {
      "inference_speed": 8.5,
      "detection_start": 1704067200.0
    }
  },
  "cameras": {
    "front_door": {
      "camera_fps": 5.0,
      "process_fps": 5.0,
      "detection_fps": 1.2
    }
  }
}

4. get_event_details(event_id)

Get comprehensive details about a specific event.

Parameters:

• event_id: Unique event identifier

Returns:

{
  "id": "1234567890.123456-abcdef",
  "camera": "front_door",
  "label": "person",
  "start_time": 1704067200.5,
  "end_time": 1704067205.8,
  "duration": 5.3,
  "score": 0.87,
  "zones": ["entrance"],
  "has_clip": true,
  "has_snapshot": true,
  "media": {
    "thumbnail": "http://localhost:5000/api/events/.../thumbnail.jpg",
    "snapshot": "http://localhost:5000/api/events/.../snapshot.jpg",
    "clip": "http://localhost:5000/api/events/.../clip.mp4"
  }
}

5. get_snapshot(camera, timestamp)

Get a snapshot URL from a specific camera.

Parameters:

• camera: Camera name
• timestamp (optional): Unix timestamp for historical snapshot

Returns:

{
  "camera": "front_door",
  "timestamp": "latest",
  "url": "http://localhost:5000/api/front_door/latest.jpg",
  "description": "Snapshot from front_door (latest)"
}

6. get_recordings(camera, date)

Get recording information for a specific camera and date.

Parameters:

• camera: Camera name
• date (optional): Date in YYYY-MM-DD format (defaults to today)

Returns:

{
  "camera": "front_door",
  "date": "2024-01-01",
  "recordings_count": 24,
  "total_duration": 86400,
  "recordings": [
    {
      "day": "2024-01-01",
      "hour": "10",
      "duration": 3600,
      "events": 5
    }
  ]
}

7. get_config()

Get Frigate configuration summary.

Returns:

{
  "cameras": ["front_door", "backyard", "garage"],
  "detectors": ["coral"],
  "mqtt": {
    "enabled": true,
    "host": "localhost"
  },
  "model": "path/to/model.tflite",
  "version": "0.16.3"
}

🏗️ Project Structure

frigate-mcp/
├── src/
│   └── frigate_mcp/
│       ├── __init__.py       # Package metadata
│       ├── config.py         # Configuration management
│       └── server.py         # MCP server & tools
├── test_connection.py        # Connection test script
├── pyproject.toml           # Project dependencies
├── .env                     # Environment variables (not in git)
└── README.md                # This file

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