Nightjar

Open-source NVR that watches through the night. Your cameras, your disk, your rules — with an optional cloud for remote access, event clips, and AI alerts at nightjar.ca.

Nightjar is a self-hosted alternative to Google Nest Aware and Blue Iris:

• Your footage stays home. 24/7 recording goes to your own disk. Only event clips you opt into ever reach the cloud.
• Zero port forwarding. The node keeps a single outbound connection; remote live view flows peer-to-peer over WebRTC.
• AI on your hardware. Person / vehicle / animal / package detection runs locally — no per-camera cloud inference fees.
• Works with open cameras. Anything that speaks RTSP/ONVIF (Reolink, Amcrest, Hikvision, Dahua, Ubiquiti, …) — plus Nest cameras via the experimental SDM bridge.
• Your cloud, your choice. Event clips can back up to your own Google Drive (more providers coming) — Nightjar can only see files it creates.

Documentation: docs.nightjar.ca — including a step-by-step Nest → Nightjar migration guide.

Quick start (self-hosted node)

mkdir nightjar && cd nightjar
curl -fsSLO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Snapsonic/nightjar/main/docker/docker-compose.yml
mkdir -p data/{config,db,recordings,go2rtc}
docker compose up -d

Open http://<host>:8080, add a camera by RTSP URL, and you have live view + recording on your LAN. To add remote access and cloud event history, create a free account at app.nightjar.ca and enter the pairing code shown in the local UI.

WebRTC needs network_mode: host — use a Linux host (a NUC, a NAS, a Pi 5) for full functionality. Docker Desktop on macOS/Windows will run but remote live view will be degraded.

Architecture

┌─ your network ──────────────────────────┐      ┌─ cloud (optional) ─────────────┐
│  RTSP cams ─► go2rtc ─► WebRTC live     │      │  app.nightjar.ca (Next.js)     │
│                 │                        │      │  Supabase: auth · Postgres ·   │
│  ffmpeg ──► fMP4 segments on your disk  │◄────►│  Realtime (signaling/commands) │
│  motion ─► onnx detect ─► event clips ──┼─────►│  Storage (event clips only)    │
│  nightjar-node (TypeScript)             │      │                                │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘      └────────────────────────────────┘

• apps/node — the self-hosted NVR service (config, go2rtc supervision, recording, detection, cloud link, local UI)
• apps/web — the cloud dashboard at app.nightjar.ca
• apps/marketing — nightjar.ca
• packages/shared — zod schemas & the realtime signaling protocol (the contract between everything)
• packages/db — generated Supabase types + typed clients
• supabase/ — migrations & edge functions (pairing, tokens, TURN credentials, signed uploads)

Development

pnpm install
pnpm dev          # all apps
pnpm turbo run lint typecheck build

The node runs locally with pnpm --filter @nightjar/node dev (requires go2rtc and ffmpeg on PATH, or use docker/compose.dev.yml).

Pricing (cloud, optional)

Self-hosting is free forever, including remote live view. Paid plans fund development and add cloud event history: Plus ($4.99/mo) and Pro ($9.99/mo) — see nightjar.ca.

License

AGPL-3.0. © Snapsonic. The Nightjar cloud service is operated by Snapsonic; you're free to self-host everything in this repo.