Create event via API

[diogofm7]

I would like to know if I can create a manual event, through the API, but for a time that has already passed.

To contextualize, I have an access system, and the moment my system releases Bartira from the door, I would like to generate a manual event on the frigate and save a clip, however, I would like this clip to start 15 seconds before, and end 15 seconds later.

I will have continuous recording activated.

[inkeep-ai-assistant[bot]]

Based on the available documentation, creating manual events with a start timestamp that has already passed is not currently supported by the Frigate API (1).

The manual event API does not allow specifying a start timestamp for past events (1). When you create a manual event, it starts from the current time when the API is called, not from a specified past time (1).

However, there are a couple of approaches you can consider for your use case:

1. Use the Export API: Instead of creating manual events, you can use the export functionality to create clips for specific time ranges that have already occurred (2). This allows you to specify exact timestamps and get clips from your continuous recordings (2).

2. Configure Pre-capture for Alerts: If you set up your system to classify access events as alerts with a pre_capture of 15 seconds, then using the manual event API will include the pre-capture time (2). However, this would require triggering the event at the moment it happens, not retroactively (2).

The limitation exists because Frigate needs to have the recording data available during the event timeframe (1). While you mentioned having continuous recording enabled (which would make the data available), the API currently doesn't support backdated event creation (1).

For your access system integration, you would need to either trigger the manual event in real-time when the door is released, or use the export API to retroactively create clips from the continuous recordings.

📚 Sources:

1. Allow specifying a start timestamp when creating manual events
2. [Config Support]: Specify buffer pre and post roll for manual storage trigger

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