feat(recap): add auto-generation scheduler and more config options

New config options:
- auto_generate: trigger daily recap at a scheduled time
- schedule_time: HH:MM for when to run (default 02:00)
- cameras: list of cameras to process (empty = all)
- speed: playback speed multiplier (1-8x, default 2)
- max_per_group: how many events play simultaneously (1-10, default 3)

New scheduler thread (recap/scheduler.py) checks once per minute,
generates yesterday's recap for each configured camera when the
scheduled time hits. Validated schedule_time format in config.

frigate/config/recap.py

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from pydantic import Field
+from pydantic import Field, field_validator
 
 from .base import FrigateBaseModel
 
@@ -11,15 +11,44 @@ class RecapConfig(FrigateBaseModel):
         title="Enable recaps",
         description="Allow generation of time-stacked recap videos that composite detected objects onto a clean background.",
     )
+    auto_generate: bool = Field(
+        default=False,
+        title="Auto-generate daily",
+        description="Automatically generate a recap for the previous day at the scheduled time.",
+    )
+    schedule_time: str = Field(
+        default="02:00",
+        title="Schedule time",
+        description="Time of day (HH:MM, 24h format) to auto-generate the previous day's recap. Only used when auto_generate is true.",
+    )
+    cameras: list[str] = Field(
+        default=[],
+        title="Cameras",
+        description="List of camera names to generate recaps for. Empty list means all cameras.",
+    )
     default_label: str = Field(
         default="person",
         title="Default object label",
-        description="The object type to include in recaps by default.",
+        description="The object type to include in recaps.",
+    )
+    speed: int = Field(
+        default=2,
+        title="Playback speed",
+        description="Speed multiplier for the output video.",
+        ge=1,
+        le=8,
+    )
+    max_per_group: int = Field(
+        default=3,
+        title="Max events per group",
+        description="Maximum number of events to composite simultaneously. Higher values pack more into the video but can get crowded.",
+        ge=1,
+        le=10,
     )
     ghost_duration: float = Field(
         default=3.0,
         title="Ghost visibility duration",
-        description="How long (in seconds) each detected object stays visible on the recap video.",
+        description="How long (in seconds of video time) each detection stays visible when path data is unavailable.",
         ge=0.5,
         le=30.0,
     )
@@ -32,8 +61,8 @@ class RecapConfig(FrigateBaseModel):
     )
     video_duration: int = Field(
         default=30,
-        title="Video duration",
+        title="Minimum video duration",
-        description="Target length in seconds for the output video. The full time range is compressed into this duration.",
+        description="Minimum length in seconds for the output video. Actual length depends on event count and durations.",
         ge=5,
         le=300,
     )
@@ -44,3 +73,17 @@ class RecapConfig(FrigateBaseModel):
         ge=5,
         le=100,
     )
+
+    @field_validator("schedule_time")
+    @classmethod
+    def validate_schedule_time(cls, v: str) -> str:
+        parts = v.split(":")
+        if len(parts) != 2:
+            raise ValueError("schedule_time must be HH:MM format")
+        try:
+            h, m = int(parts[0]), int(parts[1])
+        except ValueError:
+            raise ValueError("schedule_time must be HH:MM format")
+        if not (0 <= h <= 23 and 0 <= m <= 59):
+            raise ValueError("schedule_time hours must be 0-23 and minutes 0-59")
+        return v

frigate/recap/recap.py

@@ -317,8 +317,8 @@ class RecapGenerator(threading.Thread):
 
         recap_cfg = config.recap
         self.output_fps = recap_cfg.output_fps
-        self.speed = 2
+        self.speed = recap_cfg.speed
-        self.max_per_group = 3
+        self.max_per_group = recap_cfg.max_per_group
         self.video_duration = recap_cfg.video_duration
         self.background_samples = recap_cfg.background_samples
 

frigate/recap/scheduler.py

@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+"""Scheduled daily recap generation.
+
+Runs as a background thread, checks once per minute if it's time
+to generate recaps for the previous day.
+"""
+
+import logging
+import random
+import string
+import threading
+import time
+from datetime import datetime, timedelta
+
+from frigate.config import FrigateConfig
+from frigate.recap.recap import RecapGenerator
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+class RecapScheduler(threading.Thread):
+    """Triggers daily recap generation at the configured time."""
+
+    def __init__(self, config: FrigateConfig):
+        super().__init__(daemon=True, name="recap_scheduler")
+        self.config = config
+        self._last_run_date = None
+
+    def run(self):
+        recap_cfg = self.config.recap
+        if not recap_cfg.enabled or not recap_cfg.auto_generate:
+            logger.info("recap scheduler not enabled, exiting")
+            return
+
+        hour, minute = (int(x) for x in recap_cfg.schedule_time.split(":"))
+        logger.info(
+            "recap scheduler started, will run daily at %02d:%02d", hour, minute
+        )
+
+        while True:
+            now = datetime.now()
+            today = now.date()
+
+            # check if it's time and we haven't already run today
+            if (
+                now.hour == hour
+                and now.minute == minute
+                and self._last_run_date != today
+            ):
+                self._last_run_date = today
+                self._generate_all()
+
+            # sleep until next minute
+            time.sleep(60)
+
+    def _generate_all(self):
+        recap_cfg = self.config.recap
+        yesterday = datetime.now() - timedelta(days=1)
+        start = yesterday.replace(hour=0, minute=0, second=0, microsecond=0)
+        end = start + timedelta(days=1)
+
+        # figure out which cameras to process
+        camera_names = (
+            list(recap_cfg.cameras)
+            if recap_cfg.cameras
+            else list(self.config.cameras.keys())
+        )
+
+        logger.info(
+            "auto-generating recaps for %d cameras (%s)",
+            len(camera_names),
+            start.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),
+        )
+
+        for camera in camera_names:
+            if camera not in self.config.cameras:
+                logger.warning("recap: camera %s not found, skipping", camera)
+                continue
+
+            export_id = (
+                f"{camera}_recap_"
+                f"{''.join(random.choices(string.ascii_lowercase + string.digits, k=6))}"
+            )
+
+            generator = RecapGenerator(
+                config=self.config,
+                export_id=export_id,
+                camera=camera,
+                start_time=start.timestamp(),
+                end_time=end.timestamp(),
+                label=recap_cfg.default_label,
+            )
+            generator.start()
+
+            logger.info("recap started for %s (export_id=%s)", camera, export_id)

frigate/test/test_recap.py

@@ -199,10 +199,32 @@ class TestRecapConfig(unittest.TestCase):
 
         cfg = RecapConfig()
         self.assertFalse(cfg.enabled)
+        self.assertFalse(cfg.auto_generate)
+        self.assertEqual(cfg.schedule_time, "02:00")
+        self.assertEqual(cfg.cameras, [])
         self.assertEqual(cfg.default_label, "person")
+        self.assertEqual(cfg.speed, 2)
+        self.assertEqual(cfg.max_per_group, 3)
         self.assertEqual(cfg.video_duration, 30)
 
-    def test_validation(self):
+    def test_custom_values(self):
+        from frigate.config.recap import RecapConfig
+
+        cfg = RecapConfig(
+            enabled=True,
+            auto_generate=True,
+            schedule_time="03:30",
+            cameras=["front", "back"],
+            speed=4,
+            max_per_group=5,
+        )
+        self.assertTrue(cfg.auto_generate)
+        self.assertEqual(cfg.schedule_time, "03:30")
+        self.assertEqual(cfg.cameras, ["front", "back"])
+        self.assertEqual(cfg.speed, 4)
+        self.assertEqual(cfg.max_per_group, 5)
+
+    def test_validation_ranges(self):
         from pydantic import ValidationError
 
         from frigate.config.recap import RecapConfig
@@ -215,6 +237,29 @@ class TestRecapConfig(unittest.TestCase):
             RecapConfig(video_duration=2)
         with self.assertRaises(ValidationError):
             RecapConfig(background_samples=2)
+        with self.assertRaises(ValidationError):
+            RecapConfig(speed=0)
+        with self.assertRaises(ValidationError):
+            RecapConfig(speed=10)
+        with self.assertRaises(ValidationError):
+            RecapConfig(max_per_group=0)
+
+    def test_schedule_time_validation(self):
+        from pydantic import ValidationError
+
+        from frigate.config.recap import RecapConfig
+
+        with self.assertRaises(ValidationError):
+            RecapConfig(schedule_time="25:00")
+        with self.assertRaises(ValidationError):
+            RecapConfig(schedule_time="abc")
+        with self.assertRaises(ValidationError):
+            RecapConfig(schedule_time="12:60")
+        # valid edge cases
+        cfg = RecapConfig(schedule_time="00:00")
+        self.assertEqual(cfg.schedule_time, "00:00")
+        cfg = RecapConfig(schedule_time="23:59")
+        self.assertEqual(cfg.schedule_time, "23:59")
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":