WebRTC Camera

Home Assistant custom component for real-time viewing of almost any camera stream using WebRTC and other technologies.

Starting with version 3 the streaming server has been changed from RTSPtoWebRTC to go2rtc.

• go2rtc
• Installation
• Configuration
• Custom card
• Templates
• Two-way audio
• Snapshots to Telegram
• Cast or share stream
• Stream to camera
• FAQ
• Debug
• Known work cameras

go2rtc

This component uses the go2rtc application as a streaming server:

• lowest possible streaming latency for many supported protocols
• streaming from RTSP, RTMP, HTTP (FLV/MJPEG/JPEG), HomeKit cameras, USB cameras and other sources
• streaming to RTSP, WebRTC, MSE/MP4 or MJPEG
• support popular codec H264/H265, AAC, PCMU/PCMA, OPUS
• on-the-fly transcoding for unsupported codecs via FFmpeg
• autoselect streaming technology based on stream codecs, browser capabilities, network configuration

Read more in the go2rtc docs!

You can install go2rtc in several ways:

1. Basic users - this component will automatically download and run the latest version of go2rtc, you don't need to do anything yourself.
2. Advanced users - install the go2rtc or Frigate 12+ add-on.
3. Hakers - install go2rtc as binary or Docker on any server in LAN.

You can change the go2rtc settings by adding the go2rtc.yaml file to your Hass configuration folder.

Important. go2rtc runs its own web interface on port 1984 without a password. There you can see a list of active camera streams. Anyone on your LAN can access them without a password. You can disable this in the go2rtc config.

PS. There is also another nice card with go2rtc support - Frigate Lovelace Card.

Installation

Method 1. HACS > Integrations > Plus > WebRTC > Install

Method 2. Manually copy webrtc folder from latest release to /config/custom_components folder.

Configuration

Settings > Devices & Services > Add Integration > WebRTC

If the integration is not in the list, you need to clear the browser cache.

Component doesn't create devices and entities. It creates only two services and lovelace custom card.

Custom card

As a url you can use:

• any protocol supported by go2rtc (rtsp, rtmp, http, onvif, dvrip, homekit, roborock, etc.)
• stream name from the go2rtc config
• Jinja2 template (should render supported protocol or stream name)

As a entity you can use almost any camera from Hass.

As a poster you can use:

• http-link (should be publicly available link)
• camera entity from Hass
• stream name from the go2rtc config
• Jinja2 template (should render camera entity or stream name)

Minimal

type: 'custom:webrtc-camera'
url: 'rtsp://rtsp:12345678@192.168.1.123:554/av_stream/ch0'

or

type: 'custom:webrtc-camera'
url: 'camera1'  # stream name from go2rtc.yaml

or

type: 'custom:webrtc-camera'
entity: camera.generic_stream  # change to your camera entity_id

or

type: 'custom:webrtc-camera'
streams:
  - url: go2rtc_stream_hd
    name: HD      # name is optional
    mode: webrtc  # mode is optional
    media: video  # media is optional
  - url: go2rtc_stream_sd
    name: SD
    mode: mse
    media: audio

PS. You can change the active stream by clicking on the mode label. Or by clicking on the stream name with enabled ui: true.

Full

All settings are optional! Only required setting - url or entity or streams.

type: 'custom:webrtc-camera'

url: 'rtsp://rtsp:12345678@192.168.1.123:554/av_stream/ch0'
entity: camera.generic_stream
mode: webrtc,webrtc/tcp,mse,hls,mjpeg  # stream technology, default all of them
media: video,audio  # select only video or audio track, default both

server: http://192.168.1.123:1984/     # custom go2rtc server address, default empty

ui: true  # custom video controls, default false

digital_ptz:  # digital zoom and pan via mouse/touch, defaults:
  mouse_drag_pan: true 
  mouse_wheel_zoom: true
  mouse_double_click_zoom: true
  touch_drag_pan: true 
  touch_pinch_zoom: true  
  touch_tap_drag_zoom: true 
  persist: true  # zoom factor and viewport position survive page reloads

# digital_ptz: false  # to disable all mouse/touch digital zoom and pan

title: My super camera  # optional card title
poster: https://home-assistant.io/images/cast/splash.png  # still image when stream is loading
muted: true  # initial mute toggle state, default is false (unmuted)

intersection: 0.75  # auto stop stream when less than 75% of video element is in the screen, 50% by default
background: true  # run stream when not displayed (ex. for quick video loading), default false

shortcuts:  # custom shortcuts, default none
- name: Record
  icon: mdi:record-circle-outline
  service: switch.toggle
  service_data:
    entity_id: switch.camera_record

Pan, tilt, zoom controls: PTZ config examples.

Paused by default

type: custom:webrtc-camera
poster: dahua1-snap  # stream name from go2rtc.yaml (http-snapshot)
streams:
  - url: ''          # empty url, so only poster will be shown
  - url: dahua1      # stream name from go2rtc.yaml (rtsp-stream)

Video aspect ratio issue

style: "video {aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-fit: fill;}"

Video rotation

1. On client (free CPU):

   style: 'video {transform: rotate(90deg); aspect-ratio: 1}'

2. On server - FFmpeg transcoding (high CPU cost)

Hide mode label

style: '.mode {display: none}'

Hide fullscreen button

style: '.fullscreen {display: none}'

Hide screenshot button

style: '.screenshot {display: none}'

Hide PIP button

style: '.pictureinpicture {display: none}'

Shortcuts position

style: ".shortcuts {left: unset; top: 25px; right: 5px; display: flex; flex-direction: column}"

PTZ position

style: ".ptz {right: unset; left: 10px}"

Mode label position

style: '.header {bottom: 6px} .mode {position: absolute; bottom: 0px}'

Header line position

style: '.header {top: unset; bottom: 6px}'

Templates

New in v3.6.0.

• Card options shortcuts, style and ptz supports JavaScript templates
• In shortcuts and style you can use states related templates
• In ptz you can use streamName/streamID related templates (useful for card with multiple templates)

shortcuts:
  - name: Barn Light
    icon: ${ states['light.yeelight_lamp'].state === 'on' ? 'mdi:outdoor-lamp':'mdi:lamp' }
    service: light.toggle
    service_data:
      entity_id: light.yeelight_lamp

ptz:
  service: notify.persistent_notification
  data_left:
    message: Left for ${ this.streamName } clicked
  data_right:
    message: Rigth for ${ this.streamID } clicked

Two-way audio

New in v3.4.0.

• Only for supported sources in go2rtc
• Only for Hass with HTTPS access, this limitation is from the browsers
• Only for WebRTC mode
• HTTPS is also important for Hass Mobile App!

You should add microphone to media param. You can use two streams: one with mic, second without:

type: 'custom:webrtc-camera'
streams:
  - url: go2rtc_stream
  - url: go2rtc_stream
    mode: webrtc
    media: video,audio,microphone

PS. For Hass Mobile App ensure that you can use microphone with the built-in Assist.

Snapshots to Telegram

read more

Cast or share stream

Component support streaming to Google Cast Chromecast devices (including Android TV and Google Smart Screen). Read more in wiki.

Also component support creating a temporary or permanent link to a stream without sharing access to you Home Assistant. Read more in wiki.

Stream to camera

New in v3.1.0.

go2rtc support play audio files (ex. music or TTS) and live streams (ex. radio) on cameras with two way audio support. You need to:

1. Check if your camera has supported two way audio source
2. Setup camera stream in go2rtc.yaml config
3. Check audio codec, that your camera supports
4. Create virtual Media Players for your cameras in configuration.yaml:

media_player:
  - platform: webrtc
    name: Dahua Camera
    stream: dahua
    audio: pcmu/48000
  - platform: webrtc
    name: Tapo Camera
    stream: tapo
    audio: pcma

FAQ

Q. Exernal access with WebRTC doesn't work
A. Read more and don't create new issues.

Q. Audio doesn't work
A. Check what audio codec your camera outputs. And what technology do you use to watch videos. Different technologies support different codecs.

Debug

Add to your configuration.yaml:

logger:
  default: warning
  logs:
    custom_components.webrtc: debug

Known work cameras