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2023-11-25 ~ 2024-01-15

Automating Security Camera Notifications With Home Assistant and Ntfy

A couple of months ago, I wrote about [1] how I was using a self-hosted instance of ntfy [2] to help streamline notification pushes from a variety of sources. I closed that post with a quick look at how I had integrated ntfy into my Home Assistant setup [3] for some basic notifications.

[1] wrote about

[2] ntfy

[3] integrated ntfy into my Home Assistant setup

I've now used that immense power to enhance the notifications I get from the Reolink security cameras [4] scattered around my house. I selected Reolink cameras specifically because I knew it was supported by Home Assistant, and for the on-device animal/person/vehicle detection which allowed for a bit of extra control over which types of motion events would trigger a notification or other action. I've been very happy with this choice, but I have found that the Reolink app itself can be a bit clunky:

[4] Reolink security cameras

The app lets you send notifications on a schedule (I only want notifications from the indoor cameras during work hours when no one is home), but doesn't make it easy to override that schedule (like when it's a holiday and we're all at home anyway).

Push notifications don't include an image capture so when I receive a notification about a person in my backyard I have to open the app, go select the correct camera, select the Playback option, and scrub back and forth until I see whatever my camera saw.

I figured I could combine the excellent Reolink integration for Home Assistant [5] with Home Assistant's powerful Automation platform and ntfy to get more informative notifications and more flexible alert schedules. Here's the route I took.

[5] Reolink integration for Home Assistant

Alert on motion detection

<-- note -->

Since manually configuring ntfy in Home Assistant via the RESTful Notifications integration [6], I found that a ntfy-specific integration [7] was available through the Home Assistant Community Store [8] addon. That setup is a bit more flexible so I've switched my setup to use it instead:

# configuration.yaml
notify:
  - name: ntfy
    platform: rest 
    method: POST_JSON
    headers:
      Authorization: !secret ntfy_token
    data:
      topic: home_assistant
    title_param_name: title
    message_param_name: message
    resource: ! secret ntfy_url
    platform: ntfy 
    url: !secret ntfy_url
    token: !secret ntfy_token
    topic: home_assistant

<-- /note -->

[6] RESTful Notifications integration

[7] ntfy-specific integration

[8] Home Assistant Community Store

The Reolink integration exposes a number of entities for each camera. For triggering a notification on motion detection, I'll be interested in the binary sensor [9] entities named like `binary_sensor.$location_$type` (like `binary_sensor.backyard_person` and `binary_sensor.driveway_vehicle`), the state of which will transition from `off` to `on` when the selected motion type is detected.

[9] binary sensor

So I'll begin by crafting a simple automation which will push out a notification whenever any of the listed cameras detect a person or vehicle

exterior_motion.yaml

alias: Exterior Motion Alerts

description: ""

trigger:

- platform: state

entity_id:

- binary_sensor.backyard_person

- binary_sensor.driveway_person

- binary_sensor.driveway_vehicle

- binary_sensor.east_side_front_person

- binary_sensor.east_side_rear_person

- binary_sensor.west_side_person

from: "off"

to: "on"

condition: []

action:

- service: notify.ntfy

data:

title: Motion detected!

message: "{{ trigger.to_state.attributes.friendly_name }}"


<-- note -->
That last line is taking advantage of Jinja templating and trigger variables [10] so that the resulting notification displays the friendly name of whichever `binary_sensor` triggered the automation run. This way, I'll see something like "Backyard Person" instead of the entity ID listed earlier.
<-- /note -->
=> https://www.home-assistant.io/docs/automation/templating/#state [10] trigger variables
I'll step outside and see if it works...
=> backyard_person.png Image: backyard person
### Capture a snapshot
Each Reolink camera also exposes a `camera.$location_sub` entity which represents the video stream from the connected camera. I can add another action to the notification so that it will grab a snapshot, but I'll also need a way to match the `camera` entity to the correct `binary_sensor` entity. I can do that by adding a variable set to the bottom of the automation:

exterior_motion.yaml

alias: Exterior Motion Alerts

description: ""

trigger:

- platform: state

entity_id:

- binary_sensor.backyard_person

- binary_sensor.driveway_person

- binary_sensor.driveway_vehicle

- binary_sensor.east_side_front_person

- binary_sensor.east_side_rear_person

- binary_sensor.west_side_person

from: "off"

to: "on"

condition: []

action:

- service: camera.snapshot

target:

entity_id: "{{ cameras[trigger.to_state.entity_id] }}"

data:

filename: /media/snaps/motion.jpg

- service: notify.ntfy

data:

title: Motion detected!

message: "{{ trigger.to_state.attributes.friendly_name }}"

variables:

cameras:

binary_sensor.backyard_person: camera.backyard_sub

binary_sensor.driveway_person: camera.driveway_sub

binary_sensor.driveway_vehicle: camera.driveway_sub

binary_sensor.east_side_front_person: camera.east_side_front_sub

binary_sensor.east_side_rear_person: camera.east_side_rear_sub

binary_sensor.west_side_person: camera.west_side_sub

That `"{{ camerastrigger.to_state.entity_id] }}"` template will look up the ID of the triggering `binary_sensor` and return the appropriate `camera` entity, and that will use the [`camera.snapshot` service [11] to save a snapshot to the desginated location (`/media/snaps/motion.jpg`).
=> https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/camera/#service-snapshot [11] trigger.to_state.entity_id] }}"` template will look up the ID of the triggering `binary_sensor` and return the appropriate `camera` entity, and that will use the [`camera.snapshot` service
Before this will actually work, though, I need to reconfigure Home Assistant to allow access to the storage location, and I should also go ahead and pre-create the folder so there aren't any access issues.

configuration.yaml

homeassistant:

allowlist_external_dirs:

- "/media/snaps/"

I'm using the Home Assistant Operating System virtual appliance [12], so `/media` is already symlinked to `/root/media` inside the Home Assistant installation directory. So I'll just log into that shell and create the `snaps` subdirectory:
=> https://www.home-assistant.io/installation/alternative#install-home-assistant-operating-system [12] Home Assistant Operating System virtual appliance

mkdir -p /media/snaps

Rather than walking outside each time I want to test this, I'll just use the Home Assistant Developer Tools to manually toggle the state of the `binary_sensor.backyard_person` entity to `on`, and I should then be able to see the snapshot in the Media interface:
=> backyard_snap.png Image: backyard snap
Woo, look at me making progress!
### Attach the snapshot
Now that I've captured the snap, I need to figure out how to attach it to the notification. Ntfy supports inline image attachments [13], which is handy, but it expects those to be delivered via HTTP `PUT` action. Neither my original HTTP `POST` approach or the Ntfy integration support this currently, so I had to use the `shell_command` integration [14] to make the call directly.
=> https://docs.ntfy.sh/publish/#attach-local-file [13] supports inline image attachments
=> https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/shell_command/ [14] `shell_command` integration
I can't use the handy `!secret` expansion inside of the shell command, though, so I'll need a workaround to avoid sticking sensitive details directly in my `configuration.yaml`. I can use a dummy sensor to hold the value, and then use the `{{ states('sensor.$sensor_name') }}` template to retrieve it.
So here we go:

configuration.yaml

dummy sensor to make ntfy secrets available to template engine

template:

- sensor:

- name: ntfy_token

state: !secret ntfy_token

- name: ntfy_url

state: !secret ntfy_url

notify:

- name: ntfy

platform: ntfy

url: !secret ntfy_url

token: !secret ntfy_token

topic: home_assistant

shell_command:

ntfy_put: >

curl

--header 'Title: {{ title }}'

--header 'Priority: {{ priority }}'

--header 'Filename: {{ filename }}'

--header 'Authorization: Bearer {{ states('sensor.ntfy_token') }}'

--upload-file '{{ file }}'

--header 'Message: {{ message }}'

--url '{{ states('sensor.ntfy_url') }}/home_assistant'

Now I just need to replace the service call in the automation with the new `shell_command.ntfy_put` one:

exterior_motion.yaml

alias: Exterior Motion Alerts

description: ""

trigger:

- platform: state

entity_id:

- binary_sensor.backyard_person

- binary_sensor.driveway_person

- binary_sensor.driveway_vehicle

- binary_sensor.east_side_front_person

- binary_sensor.east_side_rear_person

- binary_sensor.west_side_person

from: "off"

to: "on"

condition: []

action:

- service: camera.snapshot

target:

entity_id: "{{ cameras[trigger.to_state.entity_id] }}"

data:

filename: /media/snaps/motion.jpg

- service: notify.ntfy

data:

title: Motion detected!

message: "{{ trigger.to_state.attributes.friendly_name }}"

- service: shell_command.ntfy_put

data:

title: Motion detected!

message: "{{ trigger.to_state.attributes.friendly_name }}"

file: /media/snaps/motion.jpg

variables:

cameras:

binary_sensor.backyard_person: camera.backyard_sub

binary_sensor.driveway_person: camera.driveway_sub

binary_sensor.driveway_vehicle: camera.driveway_sub

binary_sensor.east_side_front_person: camera.east_side_front_sub

binary_sensor.east_side_rear_person: camera.east_side_rear_sub

binary_sensor.west_side_person: camera.west_side_sub

Now when I wander outside...
=> backyard_person_attached.png Image: backyard_person_attached
Well that guy seems sus - but hey, it worked!
### Backoff rate limit
Of course, I'll also continue to get notified about that creeper in the backyard about every 15-20 seconds or so. That's not quite what I want. The _easy_ way to prevent an automation from firing constantly would be to insert a `delay` [15] action, but that would be a global delay rather than per-camera. I don't necessarily need to know every time the weirdo in the backyard moves, but I would like to know if he moves around to the side yard or driveway. So I needed something more flexible than an automation-wide delay.
=> https://www.home-assistant.io/docs/scripts/#wait-for-time-to-pass-delay [15] insert a `delay`
Instead, I'll create a 5-minute `timer` [16] for each camera by simply adding this to my `configuration.yaml`:
=> https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/timer/ [16] `timer`

configuration.yaml

timer:

backyard_person:

duration: "00:05:00"

driveway_person:

duration: "00:05:00"

driveway_vehicle:

duration: "00:05:00"

east_front_person:

duration: "00:05:00"

east_rear_person:

duration: "00:05:00"

west_person:

duration: "00:05:00"

Back in the automation, I'll add a new `timers` variable set which will help to map the `binary_sensor` to the corresponding `timer` object. I can then append an action to start the timer, and a condition so that the automation will only fire if the timer for a given camera is not currently running. I'll also set the automation's `mode` to `single` (so that it will only run once at a time), and set the `max_exceeded` value to `silent` (so that multiple triggers won't raise any errors).

exterior_motion.yaml

alias: Exterior Motion Alerts

description: ""

trigger:

- platform: state

entity_id:

- binary_sensor.backyard_person

- binary_sensor.driveway_person

- binary_sensor.driveway_vehicle

- binary_sensor.east_side_front_person

- binary_sensor.east_side_rear_person

- binary_sensor.west_side_person

from: "off"

to: "on"

condition: []

condition:

- condition: template

value_template: "{{ is_state(timers[trigger.to_state.entity_id], 'idle') }}"

action:

- service: camera.snapshot

target:

entity_id: "{{ cameras[trigger.to_state.entity_id] }}"

data:

filename: /media/snaps/motion.jpg

- service: notify.ntfy

data:

title: Motion detected!

message: "{{ trigger.to_state.attributes.friendly_name }}"

- service: shell_command.ntfy_put

data:

title: Motion detected!

message: "{{ trigger.to_state.attributes.friendly_name }}"

file: /media/snaps/motion.jpg

- service: timer.start

target:

entity_id: "{{ timers[trigger.to_state.entity_id] }}"

mode: single

max_exceeded: silent

variables:

cameras:

binary_sensor.backyard_person: camera.backyard_sub

binary_sensor.driveway_person: camera.driveway_sub

binary_sensor.driveway_vehicle: camera.driveway_sub

binary_sensor.east_side_front_person: camera.east_side_front_sub

binary_sensor.east_side_rear_person: camera.east_side_rear_sub

binary_sensor.west_side_person: camera.west_side_sub

timers:

binary_sensor.backyard_person: timer.backyard_person

binary_sensor.driveway_person: timer.driveway_person

binary_sensor.driveway_vehicle: timer.driveway_vehicle

binary_sensor.east_side_front_person: timer.east_front_person

binary_sensor.east_side_rear_person: timer.east_rear_person

binary_sensor.west_side_person: timer.west_person

That pretty much takes care of my needs for exterior motion alerts, and should keep me informed if someone is poking around my house (or, more frequently, making a delivery).
### Managing interior alerts
I've got a few interior cameras which I'd like to monitor too, so I'll start by just copying the exterior automation and updating the entity IDs:

interior_motion.yaml

alias: Interior Motion Alerts

description: ""

trigger:

- platform: state

entity_id:

- binary_sensor.kitchen_back_door_person

- binary_sensor.garage_person

- binary_sensor.garage_vehicle

- binary_sensor.study_entryway_person

from: "off"

to: "on"

condition:

- condition: template

value_template: "{{ is_state(timers[trigger.to_state.entity_id], 'idle') }}"

action:

- service: camera.snapshot

target:

entity_id: "{{ cameras[trigger.to_state.entity_id] }}"

data:

filename: /media/snaps/motion.jpg

- service: shell_command.ntfy_put

data:

title: Motion detected!

message: "{{ trigger.to_state.attributes.friendly_name }}"

file: /media/snaps/motion.jpg

- service: timer.start

target:

entity_id: "{{ timers[trigger.to_state.entity_id] }}"

max_exceeded: silent

mode: single

variables:

cameras:

binary_sensor.kitchen_back_door_person: camera.kitchen_back_door_sub

binary_sensor.study_entryway_person: camera.study_entryway_sub

binary_sensor.garage_person: camera.garage_sub

binary_sensor.garage_vehicle: camera.garage_sub

timers:

binary_sensor.kitchen_back_door_person: timer.kitchen_person

binary_sensor.study_entryway_person: timer.study_person

binary_sensor.garage_person: timer.garage_person

binary_sensor.garage_vehicle: timer.garage_vehicle

But I don't typically want to get alerted by these cameras if my wife or I are home and awake. So I'll use the local calendar integration [17] to create a schedule for when the interior cameras should be active. Once that integration is enabled and the entity `calendar.interior_camera_schedule` created, I can navigate to the Calendar section of my Home Assistant interface to create the recurring calendar events (with the summary "On"). I'll basically be enabling notifications while we're sleeping and while we're at work, but disabling notifications while we're expected to be at home.
=> https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/local_calendar [17] local calendar integration
=> schedule.png Image: calendar
So then I'll just add another condition so that the automation will only fire during those calendar events:

interior_motion.yaml

alias: Interior Motion Alerts

description: ""

trigger:

- platform: state

entity_id:

- binary_sensor.kitchen_back_door_person

- binary_sensor.garage_person

- binary_sensor.garage_vehicle

- binary_sensor.study_entryway_person

from: "off"

to: "on"

condition:

- condition: template

value_template: "{{ is_state(timers[trigger.to_state.entity_id], 'idle') }}"

- condition: state

entity_id: calendar.interior_camera_schedule

state: "on"

action:

- service: camera.snapshot

target:

entity_id: "{{ cameras[trigger.to_state.entity_id] }}"

data:

filename: /media/snaps/motion.jpg

- service: shell_command.ntfy_put

data:

title: Motion detected!

message: "{{ trigger.to_state.attributes.friendly_name }}"

file: /media/snaps/motion.jpg

- service: timer.start

target:

entity_id: "{{ timers[trigger.to_state.entity_id] }}"

max_exceeded: silent

mode: single

variables:

cameras:

binary_sensor.kitchen_back_door_person: camera.kitchen_back_door_sub

binary_sensor.study_entryway_person: camera.study_entryway_sub

binary_sensor.garage_person: camera.garage_sub

binary_sensor.garage_vehicle: camera.garage_sub

timers:

binary_sensor.kitchen_back_door_person: timer.kitchen_person

binary_sensor.study_entryway_person: timer.study_person

binary_sensor.garage_person: timer.garage_person

binary_sensor.garage_vehicle: timer.garage_vehicle

I'd also like to ensure that the interior motion alerts are also activated whenever our Abode [18] security system is armed, regardless of what time that may be. That will make the condition a little bit trickier: alerts should be pushed if the timer isn't running AND the schedule is active OR the security system is armed (in either "Home" or "Away" mode). So here's what that will look like:
=> https://goabode.com/ [18] Abode

interior_motion.yaml

alias: Interior Motion Alerts

description: ""

trigger:

- platform: state

entity_id:

- binary_sensor.kitchen_back_door_person

- binary_sensor.garage_person

- binary_sensor.garage_vehicle

- binary_sensor.study_entryway_person

from: "off"

to: "on"

condition:

- condition: and

conditions:

- condition: template

value_template: "{{ is_state(timers[trigger.to_state.entity_id], 'idle') }}"

- condition: state

entity_id: calendar.interior_camera_schedule

state: "on"

- condition: template

value_template: "{{ is_state(timers[trigger.to_state.entity_id], 'idle') }}"

- condition: or

conditions:

- condition: state

entity_id: calendar.interior_camera_schedule

state: "on"

- condition: state

state: armed_away

entity_id: alarm_control_panel.abode_alarm

- condition: state

state: armed_home

entity_id: alarm_control_panel.abode_alarm

action:

- service: camera.snapshot

target:

entity_id: "{{ cameras[trigger.to_state.entity_id] }}"

data:

filename: /media/snaps/motion.jpg

- service: shell_command.ntfy_put

data:

title: Motion detected!

message: "{{ trigger.to_state.attributes.friendly_name }}"

file: /media/snaps/motion.jpg

- service: timer.start

target:

entity_id: "{{ timers[trigger.to_state.entity_id] }}"

max_exceeded: silent

mode: single

variables:

cameras:

binary_sensor.kitchen_back_door_person: camera.kitchen_back_door_sub

binary_sensor.study_entryway_person: camera.study_entryway_sub

binary_sensor.garage_person: camera.garage_sub

binary_sensor.garage_vehicle: camera.garage_sub

timers:

binary_sensor.kitchen_back_door_person: timer.kitchen_person

binary_sensor.study_entryway_person: timer.study_person

binary_sensor.garage_person: timer.garage_person

binary_sensor.garage_vehicle: timer.garage_vehicle

### Snooze or disable alerts
We've got a lawn service that comes pretty regularly to take care of things, and I don't want to get constant alerts while they're doing things in the yard. Or maybe we stay up a little late one night and don't want to get pinged with interior alerts during that time. So I created a script to snooze all motion alerts for 30 minutes, simply by temporarily disabling the automations I just created:

snooze_motion_alerts.yaml

alias: Snooze Motion Alerts

sequence:

- service: automation.turn_off

data:

stop_actions: true

target:

entity_id:

- automation.exterior_motion_alerts

- automation.interior_motion_alerts

- service: notify.ntfy

data:

title: Motion Snooze

message: Camera motion alerts are disabled for 30 minutes.

- delay:

hours: 0

minutes: 30

seconds: 0

milliseconds: 0

- service: automation.turn_on

data: {}

target:

entity_id:

- automation.interior_motion_alerts

- automation.exterior_motion_alerts

- service: notify.ntfy

data:

title: Motion Resume

message: Camera motion alerts are resumed.

mode: single

icon: mdi:alarm-snooze

I can then add that script to the camera dashboard in Home Assistant or pin it to the home controls on my Android phone for easy access.
I'll also create another script for manually toggling interior alerts for when we're home at an odd time:

toggle_interior_alerts.yaml

alias: Toggle Indoor Camera Alerts

sequence:

- service: automation.toggle

data: {}

target:

entity_id: automation.interior_motion_alerts

- service: notify.ntfy

data:

title: "Interior Camera Alerts "

message: "Alerts are {{ states('automation.interior_motion_alerts') }} "

mode: single

icon: mdi:cctv

### That's a wrap
This was a fun little project which had me digging a bit deeper into Home Assistant than I had previously ventured, and I'm really happy with how things turned out. I definitely learned a ton in the process. I might explore adding action buttons to the notifications [19] to directly snooze alerts that way, but that will have to wait a bit as I'm out of tinkering time for now.
=> https://community.home-assistant.io/t/ntfy-sh-with-actions/578603 [19] adding action buttons to the notifications



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