VIGICam — TP-Link VIGI & InSight Cameras for Home Assistant

Full local control of TP-Link VIGI and InSight cameras — real-time smart detection, PTZ, two-way audio announcements, image configuration, and deep camera management. No cloud account. No subscription. No dependency on TP-Link servers.

→ Full entity & feature reference

---

Standalone or with Frigate — your choice

Standalone (no NVR required): VIGICam uses the camera's own on-device AI for detection events and event image captures. Motion, person detection, intrusion zones, and line crossing all fire in real time through ONVIF, directly into Home Assistant automations. This is a capable, self-contained setup that needs nothing beyond the camera and Home Assistant.

Alongside Frigate: When you add Frigate for recording and advanced detection, VIGICam steps back gracefully — streams and detection hand off to Frigate while VIGICam retains exclusive control over the functions Frigate can't reach: PTZ, spotlight, image tuning, announcements, and alarms. Entities merge onto the Frigate device automatically.

---

Tested Cameras

Model	Type	Notes
VIGI C540V	Outdoor PTZ, 4MP, spotlight + IR	Full feature set including PTZ
InSight S245	Fixed outdoor, 4MP, spotlight + IR, tamper	InSight higher-spec line

Other VIGI and InSight models using the same local HTTPS API should work. Entities are created dynamically — only capabilities the camera actually reports appear in HA.

---

Features

Detection & events

• Real-time detection — motion, person, tamper, intrusion, line crossing, smart detection fire within seconds via ONVIF pull-point subscription — not the 30 s poll cycle
• Split detection sensors — individual binary sensors for vehicle, audio anomaly, loitering, scene change, object left/taken, area entry, area exit (requires OpenAPI)
• Last detection image — snapshot entity per camera updated on every detection event; uses the camera's own event-captured image when SD card capture is configured, otherwise falls back to a live RTSP grab

Camera controls

• Spotlight — on/off with brightness control
• Night vision — switch between IR auto, IR always on, spotlight, colour, off
• Alarm control — enable/disable alarm, sound and light independently, set repeat count, trigger or stop manually
• PTZ — pan/tilt/zoom buttons, named presets, continuous move, absolute positioning, save/delete presets (absolute position and preset management require OpenAPI)

Audio

• Camera announcements — speak any text through the camera speaker via vigicam.speak (TTS → resampled WAV → upload → play, fully automatic)
• Play pre-recorded files — play any audio file (WAV, MP3, OGG…) via vigicam.play_file; accepts HA media browser URLs, www/ paths, file paths, or external URLs
• Custom sound management — upload, play on demand, and delete custom audio slots

Monitoring & diagnostics

• Live stream — RTSP HD stream in dashboards and automations
• Storage monitoring — SD card used %, free space, total capacity, status, loop recording state, recording duration, oldest recording, capacity remaining (extended sensors require OpenAPI)
• Diagnostics — firmware version, IP address, connection type, MAC address, uptime (uptime requires OpenAPI)

---

Why VIGI and InSight cameras?

Most home security cameras are a compromise: consumer-grade hardware, cloud-dependent software, and WiFi connectivity that drops out the moment you need it most. VIGI and InSight cameras take a different approach.

Built to stay put. PoE-powered and hardwired, these cameras draw power and data through a single cable. No batteries to change, no WiFi negotiation on every boot, no coverage gap when the router reboots. Once installed, they work indefinitely.

Business-spec hardware at competitive prices. Metal housings, proper IP66/67 weather ratings, and firmware update paths you'd expect from enterprise networking gear — TP-Link's background in business networking shows. The InSight line is their higher-specification tier: more detection capability, tamper detection, and construction quality suited to demanding outdoor installations.

AI on the camera, not a server. Person, vehicle, intrusion zone, line crossing, audio anomaly, and loitering detection all run on the device itself. You get smart detection events without a GPU, without a separate NVR, and without sending footage off-premises.

Ubiquiti-class features without Ubiquiti pricing. Configurable detection zones, PTZ with named presets, two-way audio, smart capture, PoE infrastructure compatibility — the feature set competes with cameras three times the price.

---

Installation via HACS

1. Open HACS in Home Assistant
2. Click ⋮ → Custom repositories
3. Enter https://github.com/steveAbratt/VIGICam — type: Integration
4. Find VIGI & InSight Cameras in HACS and click Download
5. Restart Home Assistant

Manual Installation

Copy custom_components/vigicam/ into your HA config/custom_components/ directory and restart.

---

Adding a Camera

1. Settings → Devices & Services → + Add Integration
2. Search for VIGI
3. Enter the camera's IP address, username (admin), and password
4. Click Submit — credentials are validated before saving

Repeat for each camera. Each appears as a separate HA device.

---

OpenAPI — extended detection & sensors

Several features require the camera's local OpenAPI (HTTPS port 20443) to be enabled:

1. Open the camera's web UI (http://<camera-ip>) and log in
2. Go to Settings → Network → OpenAPI and enable it
3. Reload the integration — the additional entities appear automatically

What it unlocks: Vehicle / Audio Anomaly / Loitering / Scene Change / Object Left or Taken / Area Entry / Area Exit binary sensors, extended SD card sensors (recording duration, oldest recording, capacity remaining), the Uptime diagnostic, and the vigicam.ptz_move_to / vigicam.ptz_save_preset / vigicam.ptz_delete_preset services.

Requires firmware 2.1.x or later. If the OpenAPI menu is missing, update the camera firmware via the VIGI app or camera web UI.

---

Camera Announcements (TTS)

Speak a message through the camera's speaker from any automation:

service: vigicam.speak
data:
  entity_id: camera.vigi_c540v_stream
  message: "Person detected at the front door — {{ now().strftime('%-I:%M %p') }}"
  tts_engine: tts.cloud
  language: en-GB
  times: 2      # optional — repeat the announcement N times
  pause: 1.5    # optional — seconds between repeats

Handles everything automatically: TTS generation → resampled to 8 kHz mono WAV via ffmpeg → uploaded to camera → played. Works with any configured HA TTS engine.

Limit: Keep messages under ~10 seconds (camera hard limit: 15 s / 256 KB).

Blueprint

1. Settings → Automations → Blueprints → Import Blueprint
2. Paste:

   https://raw.githubusercontent.com/steveAbratt/VIGICam/main/blueprints/automation/vigicam/camera_announce.yaml
   

3. Click Create Automation — fill in trigger, camera, message, TTS engine, repeat count. Done.

---

Playing Pre-recorded Files

Play any audio file through the camera speaker using vigicam.play_file. Accepts WAV, MP3, OGG, or any other format ffmpeg can read — the integration converts automatically.

From the HA media browser (upload via sidebar → Media → My media):

service: vigicam.play_file
data:
  entity_id: camera.vigi_c540v_stream
  url: http://192.168.1.x:8123/media/local/alert.wav
  times: 2
  pause: 1.0

From a file path on the HA host:

url: /config/media/alert.wav

Media browser URLs (/media/local/) and HA www URLs (/local/) are resolved to file paths automatically. External URLs are fetched directly.

Blueprint

1. Settings → Automations → Blueprints → Import Blueprint
2. Paste:

   https://raw.githubusercontent.com/steveAbratt/VIGICam/main/blueprints/automation/vigicam/camera_play_file.yaml
   

---

PTZ Services

service: vigicam.ptz
data:
  entity_id: camera.vigi_c540v_stream
  direction: right   # left / right / up / down / zoom_in / zoom_out
  speed: 0.4
  duration: 3        # seconds (omit to move until vigicam.ptz_stop is called)

service: vigicam.goto_preset
data:
  entity_id: camera.vigi_c540v_stream
  preset: "Full Stable Yard"

The following require OpenAPI enabled:

service: vigicam.ptz_move_to
data:
  entity_id: camera.vigi_c540v_stream
  pan: 120.0
  tilt: -10.0
  zoom: 1.0

service: vigicam.ptz_save_preset
data:
  entity_id: camera.vigi_c540v_stream
  name: "Entrance View"

service: vigicam.ptz_delete_preset
data:
  entity_id: camera.vigi_c540v_stream
  name: "Old Position"

---

Full Documentation

For a plain-language explanation of every entity, button, switch, sensor, and service — including what they actually do, automation examples, and dashboard tips — see:

docs/USAGE.md

---

Dependencies

pycryptodome and ffmpeg are handled automatically by Home Assistant from the manifest.

---

Attribution

• JurajNyiri/HomeAssistant-Tapo-Control (MIT) — entity architecture and coordinator pattern inspiration
• JurajNyiri/pytapo (MIT) — authentication flow reference
• yetanothercarbot/vigi_camera_lighting — spotlight/night-vision endpoint reference
• Komzpa/ha-vigi-control — image control API field reference and Frigate integration approach

MIT licensed. See LICENSE.