How do I use Frigate MCP Server?

1. Click on "Install Server". 2. Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state. 3. In the chat, type @ followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@Frigate MCP Server show me recent motion events from the front door camera" That's it! The server will respond to your query, and you can continue using it as needed. Here is a step-by-step guide with screenshots.

Frigate MCP Server

by dedsxc

Overview Schema Related Servers Score Discussions

Python

Remote

Frigate MCP Server

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

Python Version License

🌟 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

Related MCP server: OpticMCP

📋 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:

.env file (recommended for development)
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

Made with ❤️ for the Frigate and MCP communities

This server cannot be installed

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quality - not tested

maintenance

How are these scores calculated?

Maintenance

–Maintainers

–Response time

–Release cycle

1Releases (12mo)

Commit activity

Resources

GitHub Repository

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Frigate MCP Server

🌟 Features

📋 Prerequisites

🚀 Installation

1. Clone the repository

2. Create a virtual environment

3. Install dependencies

4. Configure environment

🔧 Configuration

Configuration Options

Example Configurations

🎯 Usage

1. STDIO Mode (Default)

2. SSE Mode (Server-Sent Events)

3. HTTP Mode (REST API)

Integrating with MCP Clients

Claude Desktop (STDIO Mode)

Testing the Connection

Running the MCP Server

Claude Desktop (STDIO Mode)

Web Clients (SSE Mode)

REST API (HTTP Mode)

🛠️ Available Tools

1. get_cameras()

2. get_events(camera, label, limit)

3. get_stats()

4. get_event_details(event_id)

5. get_snapshot(camera, timestamp)

6. get_recordings(camera, date)

7. get_config()

🏗️ Project Structure

Maintenance

Resources

Looking for Admin?

Latest Blog Posts

MCP directory API

1. `get_cameras()`

2. `get_events(camera, label, limit)`

3. `get_stats()`

4. `get_event_details(event_id)`

5. `get_snapshot(camera, timestamp)`

6. `get_recordings(camera, date)`

7. `get_config()`