Agent DVR records your cameras, detects people, vehicles and animals with AI, and sends alerts. As a Home Assistant app it runs on the same machine as Home Assistant and works with it out of the box.
What you get
A full NVR in your sidebar
Open Agent DVR from Home Assistant's sidebar to watch live video, play back recordings and set up cameras, without leaving Home Assistant.
Cameras appear by themselves
With Home Assistant's Mosquitto broker app installed, Agent DVR connects to it on its own. Every camera then shows up in Home Assistant as a device with motion, alert, recording and connected sensors, switches for alerts and detection, and a snapshot that updates on motion.
Live video and an alarm panel
Add the Agent DVR integration as well and Home Assistant gets live camera streams for your dashboards, an alarm panel to arm and disarm, and actions to record or take a photo. It's the last install step.
AI detection on your own hardware
People, vehicle and animal detection and face and number plate recognition run on the Home Assistant machine itself, so your automations can react to what a camera actually sees.
Recordings in your Media panel
Recordings are saved to Home Assistant's media folder, so you can browse them from the Media panel and keep them on network storage you have added to Home Assistant.
Free on your own network
Agent DVR is free for personal use on your own network. Remote access, the iOS and Android apps and push notifications come with a subscription.
Two ways to set it up
Pick the one that fits. Install the app if you're new to Agent DVR or want everything on your Home Assistant machine. If Agent DVR already runs on another computer, keep it there and connect it.
Full install
Run Agent DVR as a Home Assistant app
Agent DVR runs on your Home Assistant machine and opens from the sidebar.
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1
Add the Agent DVR repository
Click Add to Home Assistant and confirm in your Home Assistant. Or add the address below under Settings - Apps - App store - Repositories.
Add to Home Assistanthttps://github.com/ispysoftware/home-assistant-apps -
2
Install and start the app
Find Agent DVR in the app store, click Install and then Start. Turn on Show in sidebar to open it from Home Assistant's menu.
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3
Add your cameras
Open Agent DVR from the sidebar. ONVIF cameras on your network are found automatically, and anything else can be added from the camera database.
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4
Add the integration
For live video and an alarm panel in your dashboards, add the Agent DVR integration with host 127.0.0.1 and port 8090.
Add the integration -
5
Add sensors over MQTT (optional)
For motion, alert and recording sensors on every camera, install Home Assistant's Mosquitto broker app. Agent DVR finds it and sets itself up, with nothing to configure. If you install it after Agent DVR, restart Agent DVR.
Requirements: Home Assistant OS or a Supervised install on a 64-bit machine, such as a mini PC or a Raspberry Pi 4 or 5.
Integration only
Connect Agent DVR you already run
Keep Agent DVR on the PC, Mac, NAS or Docker host it runs on now and bring it into Home Assistant. This is also the way to go with Home Assistant Container or Core, which can't run apps.
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1
Add the integration
Click Add the integration, or go to Settings - Devices & services - Add integration and choose Agent DVR.
Add the integration -
2
Enter the address
Enter the IP address of the computer running Agent DVR and port 8090. Your cameras, an alarm panel to arm and disarm, and actions to record or take a photo appear in Home Assistant.
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3
Add sensors over MQTT (optional)
For motion, alert and recording sensors on every camera, turn on Home Assistant discovery in Agent DVR's MQTT settings.
Not running Agent DVR yet? Download it for Windows, macOS, Linux or Docker, or use the full install if you have Home Assistant OS.
Questions
Is Agent DVR free in Home Assistant?
Yes, for personal use on your own network. A subscription adds remote access through ispyconnect.com, the iOS and Android apps and push notifications. See plans.
Do I need the app and the integration?
They do different jobs. The app runs Agent DVR itself on your Home Assistant machine. The integration connects Home Assistant to an Agent DVR server for live video and the alarm panel. With the app installed, add the integration with host 127.0.0.1 and port 8090.
Does it run on a Raspberry Pi?
Yes, on a Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 running Home Assistant OS. For several cameras with AI detection, a mini PC gives more headroom, and Agent DVR can use an Intel or AMD GPU to decode video.
Can I open Agent DVR through Home Assistant's remote access?
Opening the Agent DVR panel from outside your home, including through Home Assistant Cloud, needs an Agent DVR subscription. For live video away from home, Agent DVR's own remote access at ispyconnect.com and the mobile apps work best.
Where are my recordings stored?
In Home Assistant's media folder, under agentdvr, so they appear in the Media panel. Home Assistant backups include Agent DVR's settings but leave out the recordings.
More: face and number plate triggers for Home Assistant and MQTT discovery in the user guide.