# Moonfire NVR API Status: **current**. ## Objective Allow a JavaScript-based web interface to list cameras and view recordings. In the future, this is likely to be expanded: * configuration support * commandline tool over a UNIX-domain socket (at least for bootstrapping web authentication) * mobile interface ## Terminology *signal:* a timeseries with an enum value. Signals might represent a camera's motion detection or day/night status. They could also represent an external input such as a burglar alarm system's zone status. ## Detailed design All requests for JSON data should be sent with the header `Accept: application/json` (exactly). ### `POST /api/login` The request should have an `application/json` body containing a dict with `username` and `password` keys. On successful authentication, the server will return an HTTP 204 (no content) with a `Set-Cookie` header for the `s` cookie, which is an opaque, HttpOnly (unavailable to Javascript) session identifier. If authentication or authorization fails, the server will return a HTTP 403 (forbidden) response. Currently the body will be a `text/plain` error message; future versions will likely be more sophisticated. ### `POST /api/logout` The request should have an `application/json` body containing a `csrf` parameter copied from the `session.csrf` of the top-level API request. On success, returns an HTTP 204 (no content) responses. On failure, returns a 4xx response with `text/plain` error message. ### `GET /api/` Returns basic information about the server, including all cameras. Valid request parameters: * `days`: a boolean indicating if the days parameter described below should be included. * `cameraConfigs`: a boolean indicating if the `camera.config` parameter described below should be included. This requires the `read_camera_configs` permission as described in `schema.proto`. Example request URI (with added whitespace between parameters): ``` /api/?days=true &cameraConfigs=true ``` The `application/json` response will have a dict as follows: * `timeZoneName`: the name of the IANA time zone the server is using to divide recordings into days as described further below. * `cameras`: a list of cameras. Each is a dict as follows: * `uuid`: in text format * `shortName`: a short name (typically one or two words) * `description`: a longer description (typically a phrase or paragraph) * `config`: (only included if request parameter `cameraConfigs` is true) a dictionary describing the configuration of the camera: * `username` * `password` * `onvif_host` * `streams`: a dict of stream type ("main" or "sub") to a dictionary describing the stream: * `retainBytes`: the configured total number of bytes of completed recordings to retain. * `minStartTime90k`: the start time of the earliest recording for this camera, in 90kHz units since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. * `maxEndTime90k`: the end time of the latest recording for this camera, in 90kHz units since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. * `totalDuration90k`: the total duration recorded, in 90 kHz units. This is no greater than `maxEndTime90k - maxStartTime90k`; it will be lesser if there are gaps in the recorded data. * `totalSampleFileBytes`: the total number of bytes of sample data (the `mdat` portion of a `.mp4` file). * `days`: (only included if request pararameter `days` is true) dictionary representing calendar days (in the server's time zone) with non-zero total duration of recordings for that day. The keys are of the form `YYYY-mm-dd`; the values are objects with the following attributes: * `totalDuration90k` is the total duration recorded during that day. If a recording spans a day boundary, some portion of it is accounted to each day. * `startTime90k` is the start of that calendar day in the server's time zone. * `endTime90k` is the end of that calendar day in the server's time zone. It is usually 24 hours after the start time. It might be 23 hours or 25 hours during spring forward or fall back, respectively. * `signals`: a list of all signals known to the server. Each is a dictionary with the following properties: * `id`: an integer identifier. * `shortName`: a unique, human-readable description of the signal * `cameras`: a map of associated cameras' UUIDs to the type of association: `direct` or `indirect`. See `db/schema.sql` for more description. * `type`: a UUID, expected to match one of `signalTypes`. * `days`: as in `cameras.streams.days` above. **status: unimplemented** * `signalTypes`: a list of all known signal types. * `uuid`: in text format. * `states`: a map of all possible states of the enumeration to more information about them: * `color`: a recommended color to use in UIs to represent this state, as in the [HTML specification](https://html.spec.whatwg.org/#colours). * `motion`: if present and true, directly associated cameras will be considered to have motion when this signal is in this state. * `session`: if logged in, a dict with the following properties: * `username` * `csrf`: a cross-site request forgery token for use in `POST` requests. Example response: ```json { "timeZoneName": "America/Los_Angeles", "cameras": [ { "uuid": "fd20f7a2-9d69-4cb3-94ed-d51a20c3edfe", "shortName": "driveway", "description": "Hikvision DS-2CD2032 overlooking the driveway from east", "config": { "onvif_host": "192.168.1.100", "user": "admin", "password": "12345", }, "streams": { "main": { "retainBytes": 536870912000, "minStartTime90k": 130888729442361, "maxEndTime90k": 130985466591817, "totalDuration90k": 96736169725, "totalSampleFileBytes": 446774393937, "days": { "2016-05-01": { "endTime90k": 131595516000000, "startTime90k": 131587740000000, "totalDuration90k": 52617609 }, "2016-05-02": { "endTime90k": 131603292000000, "startTime90k": 131595516000000, "totalDuration90k": 20946022 } } } } }, ... ], "signals": [ { "id": 1, "shortName": "driveway motion", "cameras": { "fd20f7a2-9d69-4cb3-94ed-d51a20c3edfe": "direct" }, "type": "ee66270f-d9c6-4819-8b33-9720d4cbca6b", "days": { "2016-05-01": { "endTime90k": 131595516000000, "startTime90k": 131587740000000, "totalDuration90k": 5400000 } } } ], "signalTypes": [ { "uuid": "ee66270f-d9c6-4819-8b33-9720d4cbca6b", "states": { 0: { "name": "unknown", "color": "#000000" }, 1: { "name": "off", "color": "#888888" }, 2: { "name": "on", "color": "#ff8888", "motion": true } } } ], "session": { "username": "slamb", "csrf": "2DivvlnKUQ9JD4ao6YACBJm8XK4bFmOc" } } ``` ### `GET /api/cameras//` Returns information for the camera with the given URL. As in the like section of `GET /api/` with the `days` parameter set and the `cameraConfigs` parameter unset. Example response: ```json { "description": "", "streams": { "main": { "days": { "2016-05-01": { "endTime90k": 131595516000000, "startTime90k": 131587740000000, "totalDuration90k": 52617609 }, "2016-05-02": { "endTime90k": 131603292000000, "startTime90k": 131595516000000, "totalDuration90k": 20946022 } }, "maxEndTime90k": 131598273666690, "minStartTime90k": 131590386129355, "retainBytes": 104857600, "totalDuration90k": 73563631, "totalSampleFileBytes": 98901406 } }, "shortName": "driveway" } ``` ### `GET /api/cameras///recordings` Returns information about recordings. Valid request parameters: * `startTime90k` and and `endTime90k` limit the data returned to only recordings which overlap with the given half-open interval. Either or both may be absent; they default to the beginning and end of time, respectively. * `split90k` causes long runs of recordings to be split at the next convenient boundary after the given duration. * TODO(slamb): `continue` to support paging. (If data is too large, the server should return a `continue` key which is expected to be returned on following requests.) Returns a JSON object. Under the key `recordings` is an array of recordings in arbitrary order. Each recording object has the following properties: * `startId`. The id of this recording, which can be used with `/view.mp4` to retrieve its content. * `endId` (optional). If absent, this object describes a single recording. If present, this indicates that recordings `startId-endId` (inclusive) together are as described. Adjacent recordings from the same RTSP session may be coalesced in this fashion to reduce the amount of redundant data transferred. * `firstUncommitted` (optional). If this range is not fully committed to the database, the first id that is uncommitted. This is significant because it's possible that after a crash and restart, this id will refer to a completely different recording. That recording will have a different `openId`. * `growing` (optional). If this boolean is true, the recording `endId` is still being written to. Accesses to this id (such as `view.mp4`) may retrieve more data than described here if not bounded by duration. Additionally, if `startId` == `endId`, the start time of the recording is "unanchored" and may change in subsequent accesses. * `openId`. Each time Moonfire NVR starts in read-write mode, it is assigned an increasing "open id". This field is the open id as of when these recordings were written. This can be used to disambiguate ids referring to uncommitted recordings. * `startTime90k`: the start time of the given recording. Note this may be less than the requested `startTime90k` if this recording was ongoing at the requested time. * `endTime90k`: the end time of the given recording. Note this may be greater than the requested `endTime90k` if this recording was ongoing at the requested time. * `videoSampleEntryId`: a reference to an entry in the `videoSampleEntries` map. These ids are strings so that they can serve as JSON object keys. * `videoSamples`: the number of samples (aka frames) of video in this recording. Under the property `videoSampleEntries`, an object mapping ids to objects with the following properties: * `sha1`: a SHA-1 hash of the ISO/IEC 14496-12 section 8.5.2 `VisualSampleEntry` bytes. The actual bytes can be retrieved, wrapped into an initialization segment `.mp4`, at the URL `/api/init/.mp4`. * `width`: the stored width in pixels. * `height`: the stored height in pixels. * `pixelHSpacing`: the relative width of a pixel, as in a ISO/IEC 14496-12 section 12.1.4.3 `PixelAspectRatioBox`. If absent, assumed to be 1. * `pixelVSpacing`: the relative height of a pixel, as in a ISO/IEC 14496-12 section 12.1.4.3 `PixelAspectRatioBox`. If absent, assumed to be 1. Example request URI (with added whitespace between parameters): ``` /api/cameras/fd20f7a2-9d69-4cb3-94ed-d51a20c3edfe/main/recordings ?startTime90k=130888729442361 &endTime90k=130985466591817 ``` Example response: ```json { "recordings": [ { "startId": 1, "startTime90k": 130985461191810, "endTime90k": 130985466591817, "sampleFileBytes": 8405564, "videoSampleEntryId": "1", }, { "endTime90k": 130985461191810, ... }, ... ], "videoSampleEntries": { "1": { "sha1": "81710c9c51a02cc95439caa8dd3bc12b77ffe767", "width": 1280, "height": 720 } }, } ``` ### `GET /api/cameras///view.mp4` Requires the `view_video` permission. Returns a `.mp4` file, with an etag and support for range requests. The MIME type will be `video/mp4`, with a `codecs` parameter as specified in [RFC 6381][rfc-6381]. Expected query parameters: * `s` (one or more): a string of the form `START_ID[-END_ID][@OPEN_ID][.[REL_START_TIME]-[REL_END_TIME]]`. This specifies recording segments to include. The produced `.mp4` file will be a concatenation of the segments indicated by all `s` parameters. The ids to retrieve are as returned by the `/recordings` URL. The open id is optional and will be enforced if present; it's recommended for disambiguation when the requested range includes uncommitted recordings. The optional start and end times are in 90k units and relative to the start of the first specified id. These can be used to clip the returned segments. Note they can be used to skip over some ids entirely; this is allowed so that the caller doesn't need to know the start time of each interior id. If there is no key frame at the desired relative start time, frames back to the last key frame will be included in the returned data, and an edit list will instruct the viewer to skip to the desired start time. * `ts` (optional): should be set to `true` to request a subtitle track be added with human-readable recording timestamps. Example request URI to retrieve all of recording id 1 from the given camera: ``` /api/cameras/fd20f7a2-9d69-4cb3-94ed-d51a20c3edfe/main/view.mp4?s=1 ``` Example request URI to retrieve all of recording ids 1–5 from the given camera, with timestamp subtitles: ``` /api/cameras/fd20f7a2-9d69-4cb3-94ed-d51a20c3edfe/main/view.mp4?s=1-5&ts=true ``` Example request URI to retrieve recording id 1, skipping its first 26 90,000ths of a second: ``` /api/cameras/fd20f7a2-9d69-4cb3-94ed-d51a20c3edfe/main/view.mp4?s=1.26 ``` TODO: error behavior on missing segment. It should be a 404, likely with an `application/json` body describing what portion if any (still) exists. ### `GET /api/cameras///view.mp4.txt` Returns a `text/plain` debugging string for the `.mp4` generated by the same URL minus the `.txt` suffix. ### `GET /api/cameras///view.m4s` Returns a `.mp4` suitable for use as a [HTML5 Media Source Extensions media segment][media-segment]. The MIME type will be `video/mp4`, with a `codecs` parameter as specified in [RFC 6381][rfc-6381]. Expected query parameters: * `s` (one or more): as with the `.mp4` URL, except that media segments can't contain edit lists so none will be generated. TODO: maybe add a `Leading-Time:` header to indicate how many leading 90,000ths of a second are present, so that the caller can trim it in some other way. It's recommended that each `.m4s` retrieval be for at most one Moonfire NVR recording segment for several reasons: * The Media Source Extension API appears structured for adding a complete segment at a time. Large media segments thus impose significant latency on seeking. * There is currently a hard limit of 4 GiB of data because the `.m4s` uses a single `moof` followed by a single `mdat`; the former references the latter with 32-bit offsets. * There's currently no way to generate an initialization segment for more than one video sample entry, so a `.m4s` that uses more than one video sample entry can't be used. ### `GET /api/cameras///view.m4s.txt` Returns a `text/plain` debugging string for the `.mp4` generated by the same URL minus the `.txt` suffix. ### `GET /api/cameras///live.m4s` Initiate a WebSocket stream for chunks of video. Expects the standard WebSocket headers as described in [RFC 6455][rfc-6455] and (if authentication is required) the `s` cookie. The server will send a sequence of binary messages. Each message corresponds to one run (GOP) of video: a key (IDR) frame and all other frames which depend on it. These are encoded as a `.mp4` media segment. The following headers will be included: * `X-Recording-Id`: the open id, a period, and the recording id of the recording these frames belong to. * `X-Recording-Start`: the timestamp (in Moonfire NVR's usual 90,000ths of a second) of the start of the recording. Note that if the recording is "unanchored" (as described in `GET /api/.../recordings`), the recording's start time may change before it is completed. * `X-Time-Range`: the relative start and end times of these frames within the recording, in the same format as `REL_START_TIME` and `REL_END_TIME` above. Cameras are typically configured to have about one key frame per second, so there will be one part per second when the stream is working. If the stream is not connected, the HTTP GET request will wait until the stream is established, possibly forever. Example request URI: ``` /api/cameras/fd20f7a2-9d69-4cb3-94ed-d51a20c3edfe/main/live.m4s ``` Example binary message sequence: ``` Content-Type: video/mp4; codecs="avc1.640028" X-Recording-Id: 42.5680 X-Recording-Start: 130985461191810 X-Time-Range: 5220058-5400061 X-Video-Sample-Entry-Sha1: 25fad1b92c344dadc0473a783dff957b0d7d56bb binary mp4 data ``` ``` Content-Type: video/mp4; codecs="avc1.640028" X-Recording-Id: 42.5681 X-Recording-Start: 130985461191822 X-Time-Range: 0-180002 X-Video-Sample-Entry-Sha1: 25fad1b92c344dadc0473a783dff957b0d7d56bb binary mp4 data ``` ``` Content-Type: video/mp4; codecs="avc1.640028" X-Recording-Id: 42.5681 X-Recording-Start: 130985461191822 X-Time-Range: 180002-360004 X-Video-Sample-Entry-Sha1: 25fad1b92c344dadc0473a783dff957b0d7d56bb binary mp4 data ``` These segments are exactly the same as ones that can be retrieved at the following URLs, respectively: * `/api/cameras/fd20f7a2-9d69-4cb3-94ed-d51a20c3edfe/main/view.m4s?s=5680@42.5220058-5400061` * `/api/cameras/fd20f7a2-9d69-4cb3-94ed-d51a20c3edfe/main/view.m4s?s=5681@42.0-180002` * `/api/cameras/fd20f7a2-9d69-4cb3-94ed-d51a20c3edfe/main/view.m4s?s=5681@42.180002-360004` Note: an earlier version of this API used a `multipart/mixed` segment instead, compatible with the [multipart-stream-js][multipart-stream-js] library. The problem with this approach is that browsers have low limits on the number of active HTTP/1.1 connections: six in Chrome's case. The WebSocket limit is much higher (256), allowing browser-side Javascript to stream all active camera streams simultaneously as well as making other simultaneous HTTP requests. ### `GET /api/init/.mp4` Returns a `.mp4` suitable for use as a [HTML5 Media Source Extensions initialization segment][init-segment]. The MIME type will be `video/mp4`, with a `codecs` parameter as specified in [RFC 6381][rfc-6381]. ### `GET /api/init/.mp4.txt` Returns a `text/plain` debugging string for the `.mp4` generated by the same URL minus the `.txt` suffix. ### `GET /api/signals` Returns an `application/json` response with state of every signal for the requested timespan. Valid request parameters: * `startTime90k` and and `endTime90k` limit the data returned to only events relevant to the given half-open interval. Either or both may be absent; they default to the beginning and end of time, respectively. This will return the current state as of the latest change (to any signal) before the start time (if any), then all changes in the interval. This allows the caller to determine the state at every moment during the selected timespan, as well as observe all events (even instantaneous ones). Responses are several parallel arrays for each observation: * `times90k`: the time of each event. Events are given in ascending order. * `signalIds`: the id of the relevant signal; expected to match one in the `signals` field of the `/api/` response. * `states`: the new state. Example request URI (with added whitespace between parameters): ``` /api/signals ?startTime90k=130888729442361 &endTime90k=130985466591817 ``` Example response: ```json { "signalIds": [1, 1, 1], "states": [1, 2, 1], "times90k": [130888729440000, 130985424000000, 130985418600000] } ``` This represents the following observations: 1. time 130888729440000 was the last change before the requested start; signal 1 (`driveway motion`) was in state 1 (`off`). 2. signal 1 entered state 2 (`on`) at time 130985424000000. 3. signal 1 entered state 1 (`off`) at time 130985418600000. ### `POST /api/signals` Requires the `update_signals` permission. Alters the state of a signal. A typical client might be a subscriber of a camera's built-in motion detection event stream or of a security system's zone status event stream. It makes a request on every event or on every 30 second timeout, predicting that the state will last for a minute. This prediction may be changed later. Writing to the near future in this way ensures that the UI never displays `unknown` when the client is actively managing the signal. Some requests may instead backfill earlier history, such as when a video analytics client starts up and analyzes all video segments recorded since it last ran. These will specify beginning and end times. The request should have an `application/json` body describing the change to make. It should be a dict with these attributes: * `signalIds`: a list of signal ids to change. Must be sorted. * `states`: a list (one per `signalIds` entry) of states to set. * `startTime90k`: (optional) The start of the observation in 90 kHz units since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC; commonly taken from an earlier response. If absent, assumed to be now. * `endBase`: if `epoch`, `relEndTime90k` is relative to 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. If `now`, epoch is relative to the current time. * `relEndTime90k` (optional): The end of the observation, relative to the specified base. Note this time is allowed to be in the future. The response will be an `application/json` body dict with the following attributes: * `time90k`: the current time. When the request's `startTime90k` is absent and/or its `endBase` is `now`, this is needed to know the effect of the earlier request. Example request sequence: #### Request 1 The client responsible for reporting live driveway motion has just started. It observes motion now. It records no history and predicts there will be motion for the next minute. Request: ```json { "signalIds": [1], "states": [2], "endBase": "now", "relEndTime90k": 5400000 } ``` Response: ```json { "time90k": 140067468000000 } ``` #### Request 2 30 seconds later (half the prediction interval), the client still observes motion. It leaves the prior data alone and predicts the motion will continue. Request: ```json { "signalIds": [1], "states": [2], "endBase": "now", "relEndTime90k": 5400000 } ``` Response: ```json { "time90k": 140067470700000 } ``` ### Request 3 5 seconds later, the client observes motion has ended. It leaves the prior data alone and predicts no more motion. Request: ```json { "signalIds": [1], "states": [2], "endBase": "now", "relEndTime90k": 5400000 } } ``` Response: ```json { "time90k": 140067471150000 } ``` [media-segment]: https://w3c.github.io/media-source/isobmff-byte-stream-format.html#iso-media-segments [init-segment]: https://w3c.github.io/media-source/isobmff-byte-stream-format.html#iso-init-segments [rfc-6381]: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6381 [rfc-6455]: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6455 [multipart-mixed-js]: https://github.com/scottlamb/multipart-mixed-js