import ConfigTabs from "@site/src/components/ConfigTabs";
import TabItem from "@theme/TabItem";
import NavPath from "@site/src/components/NavPath";
Recordings can be enabled and are stored at `/media/frigate/recordings`. The folder structure for the recordings is `YYYY-MM-DD/HH/<camera_name>/MM.SS.mp4` in **UTC time**. These recordings are written directly from your camera stream without re-encoding. Each camera supports a configurable retention policy. Frigate chooses the largest matching retention value between the recording retention and the tracked object retention when determining if a recording should be removed.
For users deploying Frigate in environments where it is important to have contiguous video stored even if there was no detectable motion, the following configuration will store all video for 3 days. After 3 days, only video containing motion will be saved for 7 days. After 7 days, only video containing motion and overlapping with alerts or detections will be retained until 30 days have passed.
<ConfigTabs>
<TabItemvalue="ui">
Navigate to <NavPathpath="Settings > Global configuration > Recording"/>.
- Set **Enable recording** to on
- Set **Continuous retention > Retention days** to `3`
- Set **Motion retention > Retention days** to `7`
- Set **Alert retention > Event retention > Retention days** to `30`
- Set **Alert retention > Event retention > Retention mode** to `all`
- Set **Detection retention > Event retention > Retention days** to `30`
- Set **Detection retention > Event retention > Retention mode** to `all`
If you only want to retain video that occurs during activity caused by tracked object(s), this configuration will discard video unless an alert is ongoing.
<ConfigTabs>
<TabItemvalue="ui">
Navigate to <NavPathpath="Settings > Global configuration > Recording"/>.
- Set **Enable recording** to on
- Set **Continuous retention > Retention days** to `0`
- Set **Alert retention > Event retention > Retention days** to `30`
- Set **Alert retention > Event retention > Retention mode** to `motion`
The `pre_capture` and `post_capture` settings control how many seconds of video are included before and after an alert or detection. These can be configured independently for alerts and detections, and can be set globally or overridden per camera.
<ConfigTabs>
<TabItemvalue="ui">
Navigate to <NavPathpath="Settings > Global configuration > Recording"/> for global defaults, or <NavPathpath="Settings > Camera configuration > (select camera) > Recording"/> to override for a specific camera.
| **Alert retention > Pre-capture seconds** | Seconds of video to include before an alert event |
| **Alert retention > Post-capture seconds** | Seconds of video to include after an alert event |
| **Detection retention > Pre-capture seconds** | Seconds of video to include before a detection event |
| **Detection retention > Post-capture seconds** | Seconds of video to include after a detection event |
</TabItem>
<TabItemvalue="yaml">
```yaml
record:
enabled: True
alerts:
pre_capture: 5 # seconds before the alert to include
post_capture: 5 # seconds after the alert to include
detections:
pre_capture: 5 # seconds before the detection to include
post_capture: 5 # seconds after the detection to include
```
</TabItem>
</ConfigTabs>
- **Default**: 5 seconds for both pre and post capture.
- **Pre-capture maximum**: 60 seconds.
- These settings apply per review category (alerts and detections), not per object type.
### How pre/post capture interacts with retention mode
The `pre_capture` and `post_capture` values define the **time window** around a review item, but only recording segments that also match the configured **retention mode** are actually kept on disk.
- **`mode: all`** — Retains every segment within the capture window, regardless of whether motion was detected.
- **`mode: motion`** (default) — Only retains segments within the capture window that contain motion. This includes segments with active tracked objects, since object motion implies motion. Segments without any motion are discarded even if they fall within the pre/post capture range.
- **`mode: active_objects`** — Only retains segments within the capture window where tracked objects were actively moving. Segments with general motion but no active objects are discarded.
This means that with the default `motion` mode, you may see less footage than the configured pre/post capture duration if parts of the capture window had no motion.
To guarantee the full pre/post capture duration is always retained:
```yaml
record:
enabled: True
alerts:
pre_capture: 10
post_capture: 10
retain:
days: 30
mode: all # retains all segments within the capture window
```
:::note
Because recording segments are written in 10 second chunks, pre-capture timing depends on segment boundaries. The actual pre-capture footage may be slightly shorter or longer than the exact configured value.
:::
### Where to view pre/post capture footage
Pre and post capture footage is included in the **recording timeline**, visible in the History view. Note that pre/post capture settings only affect which recording segments are **retained on disk** — they do not change the start and end points shown in the UI. The History view will still center on the review item's actual time range, but you can scrub backward and forward through the retained pre/post capture footage on the timeline. The Explore view shows object-specific clips that are trimmed to when the tracked object was actually visible, so pre/post capture time will not be reflected there.
This configuration will retain recording segments that overlap with alerts and detections for 10 days. Because multiple tracked objects can reference the same recording segments, this avoids storing duplicate footage for overlapping tracked objects and reduces overall storage needs.
Footage can be exported from Frigate by right-clicking (desktop) or long pressing (mobile) on a review item in the Review pane or by clicking the Export button in the History view. Exported footage is then organized and searchable through the Export view, accessible from the main navigation bar.
For advanced use cases, the [custom export HTTP API](../integrations/api/export-recording-custom-export-custom-camera-name-start-start-time-end-end-time-post.api.mdx) lets you pass custom FFmpeg arguments when exporting a recording:
The request body accepts `ffmpeg_input_args` and `ffmpeg_output_args` to control encoding, frame rate, filters, and other FFmpeg options. If neither is provided, Frigate defaults to time-lapse output settings (25x speed, 30 FPS).
The following example exports a time-lapse at 60x speed with 25 FPS:
```json
{
"name": "Front Door Time-lapse",
"ffmpeg_output_args": "-vf setpts=PTS/60 -r 25"
}
```
#### CPU fallback
If hardware acceleration is configured and the export fails (e.g., the GPU is unavailable), set `cpu_fallback: true` in the request body to automatically retry using software encoding.
Non-admin users are restricted from using FFmpeg arguments that can access the filesystem (e.g., `-filter_complex`, file paths, and protocol references). Admin users have full control over FFmpeg arguments.
When `hwaccel_args` is configured, hardware encoding is used for exports. This can be overridden per camera (e.g., when camera resolution exceeds hardware encoder limits) by setting a camera-level `hwaccel_args`. Using an unrecognized value or empty string falls back to software encoding (libx264).
To reduce output file size, add the FFmpeg parameter `-qp n` to `ffmpeg_output_args` (where `n` is the quantization parameter). Adjust the value to balance quality and file size for your scenario.
Apple devices running the Safari browser may fail to playback h.265 recordings. The [apple compatibility option](../configuration/camera_specific.md#h265-cameras-via-safari) should be used to ensure seamless playback on Apple devices.
Media files (event snapshots, event thumbnails, review thumbnails, previews, exports, and recordings) can become orphaned when database entries are deleted but the corresponding files remain on disk.
Normal operation may leave small numbers of orphaned files until Frigate's scheduled cleanup, but crashes, configuration changes, or upgrades may cause more orphaned files that Frigate does not clean up. This feature checks the file system for media files and removes any that are not referenced in the database.
The Maintenance pane in the Frigate UI or an API endpoint `POST /api/media/sync` can be used to trigger a media sync. When using the API, a job ID is returned and the operation continues on the server. Status can be checked with the `/api/media/sync/status/{job_id}` endpoint.
Setting `verbose: true` writes a detailed report of every orphaned file and database entry to `/config/media_sync/<job_id>.txt`. For recordings, the report separates orphaned database entries (DB records whose files are missing from disk) from orphaned files (files on disk with no corresponding database record).
This operation uses considerable CPU resources and includes a safety threshold that aborts if more than 50% of files would be deleted. Only run when necessary. If you set `force: true` the safety threshold will be bypassed; do not use `force` unless you are certain the deletions are intended.
