From 3941355051575097b87d4cc9e60f50e87b62ec7a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Josh Hawkins <32435876+hawkeye217@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Thu, 24 Sep 2026 07:31:40 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] add note to mqtt docs to use ID rather than friendly_name
 (#24441)

---
 docs/docs/integrations/mqtt.md | 6 ++++++
 1 file changed, 6 insertions(+)

diff --git a/docs/docs/integrations/mqtt.md b/docs/docs/integrations/mqtt.md
index a7a8740bd5..f40bb0784f 100644
--- a/docs/docs/integrations/mqtt.md
+++ b/docs/docs/integrations/mqtt.md
@@ -11,6 +11,12 @@ MQTT requires a network connection to your broker. This is typically local, but
 
 :::
 
+:::note
+
+Wherever a topic below includes a camera, mask, or zone name, use its `ID` from the config, not its `friendly_name`. For example, a camera with `friendly_name: "Back Yard"` and ID `back_yard` publishes to `frigate/back_yard/...`, not `frigate/Back Yard/...`.
+
+:::
+
 ## General Frigate Topics
 
 ### `frigate/available`