Skip to main content

MQTT

These are the MQTT messages generated by Frigate. The default topic_prefix is frigate, but can be changed in the config file.

info

MQTT requires a network connection to your broker. This is typically local, but will require internet if using a cloud-hosted MQTT broker. See Network Requirements for details.

note

Wherever a topic below includes a camera, mask, or zone name, use its ID from the config, not its friendly_name. For example, a camera with friendly_name: "Back Yard" and ID back_yard publishes to frigate/back_yard/..., not frigate/Back Yard/....

General Frigate Topics​

frigate/available​

Designed to be used as an availability topic with Home Assistant. Possible message are: "online": published once Frigate is running and has published its initial state. Note that this is published on every connection to the broker, so it is republished if the broker restarts or the connection drops and recovers, without Frigate itself restarting. "stopped": published when Frigate is stopped normally "offline": published automatically by the MQTT broker if Frigate disconnects unexpectedly (via MQTT Will Message)

frigate/restart​

Causes Frigate to exit. Docker should be configured to automatically restart the container on exit.

frigate/events​

Message published for each changed tracked object. The first message is published when the tracked object is no longer marked as a false_positive. When Frigate finds a better snapshot of the tracked object or when a zone change occurs, it will publish a message with the same id. When the tracked object ends, a final message is published with end_time set.

{
  "type": "update", // new, update, end
  "before": {
    "id": "1607123955.475377-mxklsc",
    "camera": "front_door",
    "frame_time": 1607123961.837752,
    "snapshot": {
      "frame_time": 1607123965.975463,
      "box": [415, 489, 528, 700],
      "area": 12728,
      "region": [260, 446, 660, 846],
      "score": 0.77546,
      "attributes": []
    },
    "label": "person",
    "sub_label": null,
    "top_score": 0.958984375,
    "false_positive": false,
    "start_time": 1607123955.475377,
    "end_time": null,
    "score": 0.7890625,
    "box": [424, 500, 536, 712],
    "area": 23744,
    "ratio": 2.113207,
    "region": [264, 450, 667, 853],
    "current_zones": ["driveway"],
    "entered_zones": ["yard", "driveway"],
    "thumbnail": null,
    "has_snapshot": false,
    "has_clip": false,
    "active": true, // convenience attribute, this is strictly opposite of "stationary"
    "stationary": false, // whether or not the object is considered stationary
    "motionless_count": 0, // number of frames the object has been motionless
    "position_changes": 2, // number of times the object has moved from a stationary position
    "attributes": {
      "face": 0.64
    }, // attributes with top score that have been identified on the object at any point
    "current_attributes": [], // detailed data about the current attributes in this frame
    "current_estimated_speed": 0.71, // current estimated speed (mph or kph) for objects moving through zones with speed estimation enabled
    "average_estimated_speed": 14.3, // average estimated speed (mph or kph) for objects moving through zones with speed estimation enabled
    "velocity_angle": 180, // direction of travel relative to the frame for objects moving through zones with speed estimation enabled
    "recognized_license_plate": "ABC12345", // a recognized license plate for car objects
    "recognized_license_plate_score": 0.933451
  },
  "after": {
    "id": "1607123955.475377-mxklsc",
    "camera": "front_door",
    "frame_time": 1607123962.082975,
    "snapshot": {
      "frame_time": 1607123965.975463,
      "box": [415, 489, 528, 700],
      "area": 12728,
      "region": [260, 446, 660, 846],
      "score": 0.77546,
      "attributes": []
    },
    "label": "person",
    "sub_label": ["John Smith", 0.79],
    "top_score": 0.958984375,
    "false_positive": false,
    "start_time": 1607123955.475377,
    "end_time": null,
    "score": 0.87890625,
    "box": [432, 496, 544, 854],
    "area": 40096,
    "ratio": 1.251397,
    "region": [218, 440, 693, 915],
    "current_zones": ["yard", "driveway"],
    "entered_zones": ["yard", "driveway"],
    "thumbnail": null,
    "has_snapshot": false,
    "has_clip": false,
    "active": true, // convenience attribute, this is strictly opposite of "stationary"
    "stationary": false, // whether or not the object is considered stationary
    "motionless_count": 0, // number of frames the object has been motionless
    "position_changes": 2, // number of times the object has changed position
    "attributes": {
      "face": 0.86
    }, // attributes with top score that have been identified on the object at any point
    "current_attributes": [
      // detailed data about the current attributes in this frame
      {
        "label": "face",
        "box": [442, 506, 534, 524],
        "score": 0.86
      }
    ],
    "current_estimated_speed": 0.77, // current estimated speed (mph or kph) for objects moving through zones with speed estimation enabled
    "average_estimated_speed": 14.31, // average estimated speed (mph or kph) for objects moving through zones with speed estimation enabled
    "velocity_angle": 180, // direction of travel relative to the frame for objects moving through zones with speed estimation enabled
    "recognized_license_plate": "ABC12345", // a recognized license plate for car objects
    "recognized_license_plate_score": 0.933451
  }
}

frigate/tracked_object_update​

Message published for updates to tracked object metadata. All messages include an id field which is the tracked object's event ID, and can be used to look up the event via the API or match it to items in the UI.

Generative AI Description Update​

{
  "type": "description",
  "id": "1607123955.475377-mxklsc",
  "description": "The car is a red sedan moving away from the camera."
}

Face Recognition Update​

Published after each recognition attempt, regardless of whether the score meets recognition_threshold. See the Face Recognition documentation for details on how scoring works.

{
  "type": "face",
  "id": "1607123955.475377-mxklsc",
  "name": "John", // best matching person, or null if no match
  "score": 0.95, // running weighted average across all recognition attempts
  "camera": "front_door_cam",
  "timestamp": 1607123958.748393
}

License Plate Recognition Update​

Published when a license plate is recognized on a car object. See the License Plate Recognition documentation for details.

{
  "type": "lpr",
  "id": "1607123955.475377-mxklsc",
  "name": "John's Car", // known name for the plate, or null
  "plate": "123ABC",
  "score": 0.95,
  "camera": "driveway_cam",
  "timestamp": 1607123958.748393,
  "plate_box": [917, 487, 1029, 529] // box coordinates of the detected license plate in the frame
}

Object Classification Update​

Message published when object classification reaches consensus on a classification result.

Sub label type:

{
  "type": "classification",
  "id": "1607123955.475377-mxklsc",
  "camera": "front_door_cam",
  "timestamp": 1607123958.748393,
  "model": "person_classifier",
  "sub_label": "delivery_person",
  "score": 0.87
}

Attribute type:

{
  "type": "classification",
  "id": "1607123955.475377-mxklsc",
  "camera": "front_door_cam",
  "timestamp": 1607123958.748393,
  "model": "helmet_detector",
  "attribute": "yes",
  "score": 0.92
}

frigate/reviews​

Message published for each changed review item. The first message is published when the detection or alert is initiated.

An update with the same ID will be published when:

  • The severity changes from detection to alert
  • Additional objects are detected
  • An object is recognized via face, lpr, etc.
  • A state classification model changes state

When the review activity has ended a final end message is published.

{
  "type": "update", // new, update, end
  "before": {
    "id": "1718987129.308396-fqk5ka", // review_id
    "camera": "front_cam",
    "start_time": 1718987129.308396,
    "end_time": null,
    "severity": "detection",
    "thumb_path": "/media/frigate/clips/review/thumb-front_cam-1718987129.308396-fqk5ka.webp",
    "data": {
      "detections": [
        // list of event IDs
        "1718987128.947436-g92ztx",
        "1718987148.879516-d7oq7r",
        "1718987126.934663-q5ywpt"
      ],
      "objects": ["person", "car"],
      "sub_labels": [],
      "zones": [],
      "audio": [],
      "classification_state_changes": []
    }
  },
  "after": {
    "id": "1718987129.308396-fqk5ka",
    "camera": "front_cam",
    "start_time": 1718987129.308396,
    "end_time": null,
    "severity": "alert",
    "thumb_path": "/media/frigate/clips/review/thumb-front_cam-1718987129.308396-fqk5ka.webp",
    "data": {
      "detections": [
        "1718987128.947436-g92ztx",
        "1718987148.879516-d7oq7r",
        "1718987126.934663-q5ywpt"
      ],
      "objects": ["person", "car"],
      "sub_labels": ["Bob"],
      "zones": ["front_yard"],
      "audio": [],
      "classification_state_changes": [
        // verified changes of state classification models on this camera
        {
          "model": "front_gate",
          "from": "closed",
          "to": "open",
          "timestamp": 1718987131.52
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

frigate/triggers​

Message published when a trigger defined in a camera's semantic_search configuration fires.

{
  "name": "car_trigger",
  "camera": "driveway",
  "event_id": "1751565549.853251-b69j73",
  "type": "thumbnail",
  "score": 0.85
}

frigate/stats​

Same data available at /api/stats published at a configurable interval.

frigate/camera_activity​

Returns data about each camera, its current features, and if it is detecting motion, objects, etc. Can be triggered by publishing to frigate/onConnect

frigate/profile/set​

Topic to activate or deactivate a profile. Publish a profile name to activate it, or none to deactivate the current profile.

frigate/profile/state​

Topic with the currently active profile name. Published value is the profile name or none if no profile is active. This topic is retained.

frigate/notifications/set​

Topic to turn notifications on and off for all cameras. Expected values are ON and OFF.

Only available when notifications are enabled in the config. Not persisted across Frigate restarts.

frigate/notifications/state​

Topic with current state of notifications. Published values are ON and OFF.

Frigate Camera Topics​

frigate/<camera_name>/status/<role>​

Publishes the current health status of each role that is enabled (audio, detect, record, record_sub). record_sub is only published for cameras with sub stream recording enabled, and is tracked separately from record so a healthy main stream can't hide a stalled sub stream. Possible values are:

  • online: Stream is running and being processed
  • offline: Stream is offline and is being restarted
  • disabled: Camera is currently turned off (either at runtime via the enabled/set topic, or persistently via the configuration file). See Camera state for the distinction.

These reflect the state of Frigate's process for that role, not the camera's reachability, so an unreachable camera alternates between offline and online as the watchdog restarts ffmpeg. Wait for the status to hold steady (for example with Home Assistant's for:) rather than acting on a single message.

frigate/<camera_name>/<object_name>​

Publishes the count of objects for the camera for use as a sensor in Home Assistant. all can be used as the object_name for the count of all objects for the camera.

frigate/<camera_name>/<object_name>/active​

Publishes the count of active objects for the camera for use as a sensor in Home Assistant. all can be used as the object_name for the count of all active objects for the camera.

frigate/<zone_name>/<object_name>​

Publishes the count of objects for the zone for use as a sensor in Home Assistant. all can be used as the object_name for the count of all objects for the zone.

frigate/<zone_name>/<object_name>/active​

Publishes the count of active objects for the zone for use as a sensor in Home Assistant. all can be used as the object_name for the count of all objects for the zone.

frigate/<camera_name>/<object_name>/snapshot​

Publishes a jpeg encoded frame of the detected object type. When the object is no longer detected, the highest confidence image is published or the original image is published again.

The height and crop of snapshots can be configured in the config.

frigate/<camera_name>/audio/<audio_type>​

Publishes "ON" when a type of audio is detected and "OFF" when it is not for the camera for use as a sensor in Home Assistant.

all can be used as the audio_type for the status of all audio types.

frigate/<camera_name>/audio/dBFS​

Publishes the dBFS value for audio detected on this camera.

NOTE: Requires audio detection to be enabled

frigate/<camera_name>/audio/rms​

Publishes the rms value for audio detected on this camera.

NOTE: Requires audio detection to be enabled

frigate/<camera_name>/audio/transcription​

Publishes transcribed text for audio detected on this camera.

NOTE: Requires audio detection and transcription to be enabled

frigate/<camera_name>/classification/<model_name>​

Publishes the current state detected by a state classification model for the camera. The topic name includes the model name as configured in your classification settings. The published value is the detected state class name (e.g., open, closed, on, off). The state is only published when it changes, helping to reduce unnecessary MQTT traffic.

frigate/<camera_name>/enabled/set​

Topic to turn Frigate's processing of a camera on or off at runtime. Expected values are ON and OFF. The change is persisted across Frigate restarts (see Runtime toggle persistence). To permanently change the configured value, use Settings → Global configuration → Camera management in the Frigate UI. See Camera state for the difference between turning a camera off and disabling it.

frigate/<camera_name>/enabled/state​

Topic with current runtime state of processing for a camera. Published values are ON and OFF.

frigate/<camera_name>/detect/set​

Topic to turn object detection for a camera on and off. Expected values are ON and OFF. The change is persisted across Frigate restarts (see Runtime toggle persistence).

frigate/<camera_name>/detect/state​

Topic with current state of object detection for a camera. Published values are ON and OFF.

frigate/<camera_name>/audio/set​

Topic to turn audio detection for a camera on and off. Expected values are ON and OFF. The change is persisted across Frigate restarts (see Runtime toggle persistence).

frigate/<camera_name>/audio/state​

Topic with current state of audio detection for a camera. Published values are ON and OFF.

frigate/<camera_name>/audio_transcription/set​

Topic to turn live audio transcription for a camera on and off. Expected values are ON and OFF. Transcribed text is published to frigate/<camera_name>/audio/transcription.

ON is ignored unless audio transcription is enabled in the config for the camera. Unlike the other camera toggles, this one is not persisted across Frigate restarts.

NOTE: Requires audio detection and transcription to be enabled

frigate/<camera_name>/audio_transcription/state​

Topic with current state of live audio transcription for a camera. Published values are ON and OFF.

frigate/<camera_name>/recordings/set​

Topic to turn recordings for a camera on and off. Expected values are ON and OFF. The change is persisted across Frigate restarts (see Runtime toggle persistence).

frigate/<camera_name>/recordings/state​

Topic with current state of recordings for a camera. Published values are ON and OFF.

frigate/<camera_name>/snapshots/set​

Topic to turn snapshots for a camera on and off. Expected values are ON and OFF. The change is persisted across Frigate restarts (see Runtime toggle persistence).

frigate/<camera_name>/snapshots/state​

Topic with current state of snapshots for a camera. Published values are ON and OFF.

frigate/<camera_name>/motion/set​

Topic to turn motion detection for a camera on and off. Expected values are ON and OFF. NOTE: Turning off motion detection will fail if detection is not disabled.

frigate/<camera_name>/motion​

Whether camera_name is currently detecting motion. Expected values are ON and OFF. NOTE: After motion is initially detected, ON will be set until no motion has been detected for mqtt_off_delay seconds (30 by default).

frigate/<camera_name>/motion/state​

Topic with current state of motion detection for a camera. Published values are ON and OFF.

frigate/<camera_name>/improve_contrast/set​

Topic to turn improve_contrast for a camera on and off. Expected values are ON and OFF.

frigate/<camera_name>/improve_contrast/state​

Topic with current state of improve_contrast for a camera. Published values are ON and OFF.

frigate/<camera_name>/motion_threshold/set​

Topic to adjust motion threshold for a camera. Expected value is an integer.

frigate/<camera_name>/motion_threshold/state​

Topic with current motion threshold for a camera. Published value is an integer.

frigate/<camera_name>/motion_contour_area/set​

Topic to adjust motion contour area for a camera. Expected value is an integer.

frigate/<camera_name>/motion_contour_area/state​

Topic with current motion contour area for a camera. Published value is an integer.

frigate/<camera_name>/motion_mask/<mask_name>/set​

Topic to turn a specific motion mask for a camera on and off. Expected values are ON and OFF.

frigate/<camera_name>/motion_mask/<mask_name>/state​

Topic with current state of a specific motion mask for a camera. Published values are ON and OFF.

frigate/<camera_name>/object_mask/<mask_name>/set​

Topic to turn a specific object mask for a camera on and off. Expected values are ON and OFF.

frigate/<camera_name>/object_mask/<mask_name>/state​

Topic with current state of a specific object mask for a camera. Published values are ON and OFF.

frigate/<camera_name>/zone/<zone_name>/set​

Topic to turn a specific zone for a camera on and off. Expected values are ON and OFF.

frigate/<camera_name>/zone/<zone_name>/state​

Topic with current state of a specific zone for a camera. Published values are ON and OFF.

frigate/<camera_name>/review_status​

Topic with current activity status of the camera. Possible values are NONE, DETECTION, or ALERT.

frigate/<camera_name>/ptz​

Topic to send PTZ commands to camera.

CommandDescription
preset_<preset_name>send command to move to preset with name <preset_name>
MOVE_<dir>send command to continuously move in <dir>, possible values are [UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT]
ZOOM_<dir>send command to continuously zoom <dir>, possible values are [IN, OUT]
STOPsend command to stop moving

frigate/<camera_name>/ptz_autotracker/set​

Topic to turn the PTZ autotracker for a camera on and off. Expected values are ON and OFF.

frigate/<camera_name>/ptz_autotracker/state​

Topic with current state of the PTZ autotracker for a camera. Published values are ON and OFF.

frigate/<camera_name>/ptz_autotracker/active​

Topic to determine if PTZ autotracker is actively tracking an object. Published values are ON and OFF.

frigate/<camera_name>/review_alerts/set​

Topic to turn review alerts for a camera on or off. Expected values are ON and OFF.

frigate/<camera_name>/review_alerts/state​

Topic with current state of review alerts for a camera. Published values are ON and OFF.

frigate/<camera_name>/review_detections/set​

Topic to turn review detections for a camera on or off. Expected values are ON and OFF.

frigate/<camera_name>/review_detections/state​

Topic with current state of review detections for a camera. Published values are ON and OFF.

frigate/<camera_name>/object_descriptions/set​

Topic to turn generative AI object descriptions for a camera on or off. Expected values are ON and OFF.

frigate/<camera_name>/object_descriptions/state​

Topic with current state of generative AI object descriptions for a camera. Published values are ON and OFF.

frigate/<camera_name>/review_descriptions/set​

Topic to turn generative AI review descriptions for a camera on or off. Expected values are ON and OFF.

frigate/<camera_name>/review_descriptions/state​

Topic with current state of generative AI review descriptions for a camera. Published values are ON and OFF.

frigate/<camera_name>/birdseye/set​

Topic to turn Birdseye for a camera on and off. Expected values are ON and OFF. Birdseye mode must be enabled in the configuration.

frigate/<camera_name>/birdseye/state​

Topic with current state of Birdseye for a camera. Published values are ON and OFF.

frigate/<camera_name>/birdseye_modes/set​

Topic to set the Birdseye activity types for a camera. Send one uppercase activity type or combine multiple types with commas, for example MOTION,ALERTS.

Note: Changing the value from CONTINUOUS to non-continuous activity types will take up to 30 seconds for the camera to be removed from the view.

CommandDescription
CONTINUOUSAlways included
MOTIONShown if motion was detected within the last 30 seconds
ALL_OBJECTSShown if a tracked object was present within the last 30 seconds
ALERTSShown while an alert review item is in progress
DETECTIONSShown while a detection review item is in progress
NONENever included

frigate/<camera_name>/birdseye_modes/state​

Topic with the current Birdseye activity types for a camera. Multiple enabled types are published as a comma-separated value in the order CONTINUOUS, MOTION, ALL_OBJECTS, ALERTS, DETECTIONS. NONE is published when no activity types are enabled.

frigate/<camera_name>/notifications/set​

Topic to turn notifications for a camera on and off. Expected values are ON and OFF.

ON is ignored unless notifications are enabled in the config for the camera. This is not persisted across Frigate restarts. It is the same control the UI labels Suspend until restart.

frigate/<camera_name>/notifications/state​

Topic with current state of notifications. Published values are ON and OFF. This is the authoritative topic for whether a camera will notify.

frigate/<camera_name>/notifications/suspend​

Topic to suspend notifications for a certain number of minutes. Expected value is an integer. Separate from notifications/set: it does not change notifications/state, and is ignored while notifications are off.

frigate/<camera_name>/notifications/suspended​

Topic with timestamp that notifications are suspended until. Published value is a UNIX timestamp, or 0 if there is no timed suspension.

0 does not mean notifications are enabled: notifications/set OFF clears the timed suspension, so this publishes 0 while notifications/state is OFF.