Skip to content

Stream Settings

Jump to bottom
phit edited this page May 19, 2026 · 2 revisions

Stream Settings

The Stream settings section in the camera form (click ▼ Stream settings to expand) lets you configure how Vigilatus gets the video feed. There are two approaches — pick whichever fits your setup.

Option A: Direct Camera RTSP (Camera Account)

Stream directly from the camera's built-in RTSP server. This is the simplest option if you don't run a proxy.

  1. In the Tapo mobile app, go to Camera Settings → Advanced Settings → Camera Account and create a username/password
  2. In Vigilatus, expand Stream settings and fill in:
Field Description
Camera Account username The username you set in the Tapo app
Camera Account password The password you set in the Tapo app

Leave the External RTSP source URL empty. Vigilatus will connect to rtsp://<camera-ip>:554/stream1 using these credentials.

Note: If you don't set Camera Account credentials, Vigilatus falls back to using the API password for RTSP as well.

Option B: External RTSP Proxy

If you run an RTSP proxy (e.g. go2rtc, mediamtx, Frigate, etc.), point Vigilatus at the proxy instead of directly at the camera.

Field Description Example
External RTSP source URL Full RTSP URL of the proxy stream rtsp://proxy.local:8554/front-door
Proxy RTSP username Auth username for the proxy (if required) viewer
Proxy RTSP password Auth password for the proxy (if required)

When an external RTSP URL is set, Vigilatus will use it instead of connecting directly to the camera. The API credentials (Tapo API username/password) are still needed for features like recording download and camera status queries.

How Streaming Works

Vigilatus uses ffmpeg under the hood to transcode the RTSP stream into HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) segments served from a local HTTP server on 127.0.0.1. The video player in the app then plays the HLS stream. This approach avoids browser RTSP limitations and works reliably across platforms.

Which Option Should I Use?

Scenario Recommended
Single camera, simple setup Option A (Camera Account)
Multiple apps sharing one stream Option B (RTSP Proxy)
Camera behind a different VLAN/subnet with proxy Option B (RTSP Proxy)
Frigate / go2rtc already running Option B (RTSP Proxy)

Clone this wiki locally