Stream Footage (Live or Historical)

get

https://{region}.verkada.com/stream/cameras/v1/footage/stream/{key}

Introduction: Although many Verkada customers access camera footage via Command, we offer a flexible solution for integrating third-party applications with Verkada cameras. Streaming API allows users to stream both live and historical footage from cameras using the HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) protocol. HLS is an open protocol designed for streaming media content over the internet, supported by many video players. This document serves as a guide for integrating camera footage into third-party applications.

Prerequisites: Before integrating with the Streaming API, ensure you have the following:

Access to the Verkada API. Read our Quick Start Guide
An application equipped with a video player capable of streaming via HLS protocol (i.e HLS.js)
A backend server capable of communicating with Verkada API servers

Steps to Stream Footage: Follow these steps to stream footage using the Streaming API:

Step 1: Acquire a JSON Web Token (JWT) via Get Streaming Token endpoint

To access the streaming endpoint, obtain a JWT via the Get Streaming Token endpoint. While the streaming endpoint doesn't require an API Key, it requires a valid JWT as a query parameter for streaming footage.

Step 2: Assemble the API endpoint URL Construct the full API endpoint URL with the necessary parameters. Determine whether you're streaming live or historical footage, specify the resolution (low or high), identify the camera, and identify the organization. Refer to the parameter documentation for detailed specifications.

Certain parameters must have a single value, while others don't need to be manually specified. Ensure all parameters have the correct values. Upon completing this step, you will have a fully constructed URL for the endpoint, which will return an m3u8 playlist file in response.

Note: Specify the key as stream.m3u8 to start HLS streaming for live or historical footage.

Step 3: Call the endpoint to stream footage

Once you've assembled the endpoint URL, you can either directly call the endpoint or let compatible video players handle the streaming process. Most HLS-compatible players will automatically interact with the endpoint, manage the m3u8 playlist response, and request subsequent video segments.

Alternatively, if you want to directly handle the m3u8 playlist output in your frontend code, you can parse the list of video segment files and render footage according to your application's requirements.

Response Codes:

Response Code	Message	Troubleshooting Steps
500	Failed authentication step	Check if a valid JSON web token was submitted.
500	Internal Server Error	Verkada's server might be experiencing issues. Submit a support ticket if it fails repeatedly.
500	Error Fetching Live Video m3u8	Check if all query parameters have correct values.
500	Error Fetching Historical Video m3u8	Check if all query parameters have correct values and the footage needed (i.e. timestamp specified) is within the camera's days of retention.
500	Error Fetching Live Video Init mp4 File	Check if all query parameters have correct values.
500	Error Fetching Historical Video Init mp4 File	Check if all query parameters have correct values and the footage needed (i.e. timestamp specified) is within the camera's days of retention.
500	Error Fetching Historical Video m4s File	Check if all query parameters have correct values.
500	Error Fetching Live Video m4s File	Check if all query parameters have correct values.
500	Error Fetching Historical Video Encryption Key	Check if all query parameters have correct values.

For standard HTTP response codes, refer to our General Troubleshooting page.

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Path Params

key

string

required

Query Params

org_id

string

required

The unique identifier of the organization.

camera_id

string

required

The unique identifier of the camera.

start_time

integer

Defaults to 0

The start time of the video stream on a specified camera. Formatted as epoch time in seconds. For live footage stream, set to 0. For history footage stream, start_time - end_time should be less than or equal to 3600.

Default: 0

end_time

integer

Defaults to 0

The end time of the video stream on a specified camera. Formatted as epoch time in seconds. For live footage stream, set to 0. For history footage stream, start_time - end_time should be less than or equal to 3600.

Default: 0

codec

string

Defaults to hevc

The codec used for the video stream.

Default: hevc

resolution

string

Defaults to low_res

The resolution of the video stream. For live video stream, set to high_res for the high resolution stream, and set to low_res for the low resolution stream. For history video streaming, set to high_res for a mix of low and high resolution video stream with high resolution footage prioritized when available and set to low_res for only low resolution footage.

Default: low_res

type

string

Defaults to stream

The video type. This parameter is reserved for solely future compatibility. Set to stream.

Default: stream

jwt

string

required

A short lived token that will be used to verify the permission to stream live or history footage from the camera. This can be acquired with the Get Streaming Token endpoint.

file

string

File name to fetch the video segments. The API User should not have to manually specify this parameter. It should be pre-loaded in the URLs contained in the HLS playlist file.

prefetch

string

List of segments to preload. The API User should not have to manually specify this parameter. It should be pre-loaded in the URLs contained in the HLS playlist file.

camera

string

The unique identifier of the camera. The API User should not have to manually specify this parameter. It should be pre-loaded in the URLs contained in the HLS playlist file.

source

string

The source of video segments. The API User should not have to manually specify this parameter. It should be pre-loaded in the URLs contained in the HLS playlist file.

source_encrypted

string

The encryption state of video segments. The API User should not have to manually specify this parameter. It should be pre-loaded in the URLs contained in the HLS playlist file.

bucket

string

The location for cloud backup segment. The API User should not have to manually specify this parameter. It should be pre-loaded in the URLs contained in the HLS playlist file.

start_ts

string

The start time of video segments. Used for recent historical segments. The API User should not have to manually specify this parameter. It should be pre-loaded in the URLs contained in the HLS playlist file.

string

The timestamp of video segments. The API User should not have to manually specify this parameter. It should be pre-loaded in the URLs contained in the HLS playlist file.

offset

string

The offset of video segments. Only relevant for recent historical segments. The API User should not have to manually specify this parameter. It should be pre-loaded in the URLs contained in the HLS playlist file.

transcode

boolean

Defaults to false

If a segment should be transcoded to H264. The API User should not have to manually specify this parameter. It should be pre-loaded in the URLs contained in the HLS playlist file.

data_location

string

The location of video segments. The API User should not have to manually specify this parameter. It should be pre-loaded in the URLs contained in the HLS playlist file.

byte_range

string

The byte range of video segments. The API User should not have to manually specify this parameter. It should be pre-loaded in the URLs contained in the HLS playlist file.

init_byte_range

string

The byte range of init segment. The API User should not have to manually specify this parameter. It should be pre-loaded in the URLs contained in the HLS playlist file.

string

The initialization vector of video segments. The API User should not have to manually specify this parameter. It should be pre-loaded in the URLs contained in the HLS playlist file.

key_name

string

The key name of video segments. The API User should not have to manually specify this parameter. It should be pre-loaded in the URLs contained in the HLS playlist file.

init

string

The init segment of video segments. The API User should not have to manually specify this parameter. It should be pre-loaded in the URLs contained in the HLS playlist file.

stream_id

string

The stream identifier of video segments. The API User should not have to manually specify this parameter. It should be pre-loaded in the URLs contained in the HLS playlist file.

Response

200