A Generative AI provider can be configured in the global config, which will make the Generative AI features available for use. There are currently 4 native providers available to integrate with Frigate. Other providers that support the OpenAI standard API can also be used. See the OpenAI-Compatible section below.
To use Generative AI, you must define a single provider at the global level of your Frigate configuration. If the provider you choose requires an API key, you may either directly paste it in your configuration, or store it in an environment variable prefixed with `FRIGATE_`.
| `qwen3.5` | Strong situational understanding, but missing DeepStack from qwen3-vl leading to worse performance for identifying objects in people's hand and other small details. |
Each model is available in multiple parameter sizes (3b, 4b, 8b, etc.). Larger sizes are more capable of complex tasks and understanding of situations, but requires more memory and computational resources. It is recommended to try multiple models and experiment to see which performs best.
You should have at least 8 GB of RAM available (or VRAM if running on GPU) to run the 7B models, 16 GB to run the 13B models, and 24 GB to run the 33B models.
Vision-language models come in **instruct** variants (fine-tuned to follow instructions and respond concisely), **thinking** variants (fine-tuned for free-form, speculative reasoning), and **hybrid** variants that support both modes per request. Most modern vision-language models are hybrid.
- **Description tasks** (object descriptions, review descriptions, review summaries) are synthesis-only and benefit from concise, direct output, so Frigate disables thinking for these calls when the model exposes a per-request toggle.
- **Chat** lets you toggle thinking on or off from the composer when the configured model supports it.
[llama.cpp](https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp) is a C++ implementation of LLaMA that provides a high-performance inference server.
It is highly recommended to host the llama.cpp server on a machine with a discrete graphics card, or on an Apple silicon Mac for best performance.
#### Supported Models
You must use a vision capable model with Frigate. The llama.cpp server supports various vision models in GGUF format.
#### Configuration
All llama.cpp native options can be passed through `provider_options`, including `temperature`, `top_k`, `top_p`, `min_p`, `repeat_penalty`, `repeat_last_n`, `seed`, `grammar`, and more. See the [llama.cpp server documentation](https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/blob/master/tools/server/README.md) for a complete list of available parameters.
[Ollama](https://ollama.com/) allows you to self-host large language models and keep everything running locally. It is highly recommended to host this server on a machine with an Nvidia graphics card, or on a Apple silicon Mac for best performance.
Most of the 7b parameter 4-bit vision models will fit inside 8GB of VRAM. There is also a [Docker container](https://hub.docker.com/r/ollama/ollama) available.
Parallel requests also come with some caveats. You will need to set `OLLAMA_NUM_PARALLEL=1` and choose a `OLLAMA_MAX_QUEUE` and `OLLAMA_MAX_LOADED_MODELS` values that are appropriate for your hardware and preferences. See the [Ollama documentation](https://docs.ollama.com/faq#how-does-ollama-handle-concurrent-requests).
If you are trying to use a single model for Frigate and HomeAssistant, it will need to support vision and tools calling. qwen3-VL supports vision and tools simultaneously in Ollama.
Note that Frigate will not automatically download the model you specify in your config. Ollama will try to download the model but it may take longer than the timeout, so it is recommended to pull the model beforehand by running `ollama pull your_model` on your Ollama server/Docker container. The model specified in Frigate's config must match the downloaded model tag.
Frigate supports any provider that implements the OpenAI API standard. This includes self-hosted solutions like [vLLM](https://docs.vllm.ai/), [LocalAI](https://localai.io/), and other OpenAI-compatible servers.
For OpenAI-compatible servers (such as llama.cpp) that don't expose the configured context size in the API response, you can manually specify the context size in `provider_options`:
Cloud Generative AI providers require an active internet connection to send images and prompts for processing. Local providers like llama.cpp and Ollama (with local models) do not require internet. See [Network Requirements](/frigate/network_requirements#generative-ai) for details.
Ollama also supports [cloud models](https://ollama.com/cloud), where model inference is performed in the cloud. You can connect directly to Ollama Cloud by setting `base_url` to `https://ollama.com` and providing an API key. Alternatively, you can run Ollama locally and use a cloud model name so your local instance forwards requests to the cloud. For more details, see the Ollama cloud model [docs](https://docs.ollama.com/cloud).
Google Gemini has a [free tier](https://ai.google.dev/pricing) for the API, however the limits may not be sufficient for standard Frigate usage. Choose a plan appropriate for your installation.
You must use a vision capable model with Frigate. Current model variants can be found [in their documentation](https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/models/gemini).
OpenAI does not have a free tier for their API. With the release of gpt-4o, pricing has been reduced and each generation should cost fractions of a cent if you choose to go this route.
You must use a vision capable model with Frigate. Current model variants can be found [in their documentation](https://platform.openai.com/docs/models).
To start using OpenAI, you must first [create an API key](https://platform.openai.com/api-keys) and [configure billing](https://platform.openai.com/settings/organization/billing/overview).
For OpenAI-compatible servers (such as llama.cpp) that don't expose the configured context size in the API response, you can manually specify the context size in `provider_options`:
You must use a vision capable model with Frigate. Current model variants can be found [in their documentation](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/openai/concepts/models).
To start using Azure OpenAI, you must first [create a resource](https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/cognitive-services/openai/how-to/create-resource?pivots=web-portal#create-a-resource). You'll need your API key, model name, and resource URL, which must include the `api-version` parameter (see the example below).
- Set **Base URL** to your Azure resource URL including the `api-version` parameter (e.g., `https://instance.cognitiveservices.azure.com/openai/responses?api-version=2025-04-01-preview`)
- Set **Model** to your deployed model name (e.g., `gpt-5-mini`)
- Set **API key** to your Azure OpenAI API key (or use an environment variable such as `{FRIGATE_OPENAI_API_KEY}`)
