Feature Request: Option to record sub stream continuously and save main stream only for detected events

[mdv0]

I currently run around 25 cameras with a 4TB HDD, and I’ve been trying to balance continuous recording with event retention. Right now, with continuous recording enabled, I get roughly 3–4 days of 24/7 footage. If I increase retention , that drops to 1–2 days, though I can still get 6–8 days of event clips.

To optimize this, I’d like to ask (or suggest) a feature that allows:

Continuous recording using only the sub stream (low-resolution), and

Event/detection clips recorded from the main stream (high-resolution).

This setup would drastically improve storage efficiency for users with many cameras and limited disk capacity. The idea is to maintain long-term low-res continuous footage while keeping high-quality recordings only for important detected events.

I know the newer dual-stream recording feature (introduced around v0.13) already uses the main stream for event clips, but currently both streams are stored together under the same continuous recording retention policy. Having the ability to:

Enable continuous recording only on the sub stream, and

Apply separate retention settings per stream or globally would be extremely valuable for setups like mine.

Example use case:

Sub stream: continuous, 480p/720p, 5–7 days retention

Main stream: only for detections, 1080p or higher, 14+ days retention

Would this be possible in a future release, or is there a configuration workaround that achieves this today?

Thanks again for all your work — Frigate is excellent, and this feature would really help users with large camera counts and limited storage optimize their recording setup.

[hawkeye217]

This is a duplicate of #2082