Miscellaneous fixes (#23032)

* ensure embeddings process restarts after maintainer thread crash

* add docs link to media sync settings

* fix color

Co-authored-by: Copilot <copilot@github.com>

* match link color with other sections

* ensure recording staleness threshold scales with segment_time

* docs tweak

* Fix llama.cpp media marker

* Fix gemini tools call

---------

Co-authored-by: Copilot <copilot@github.com>
Co-authored-by: Nicolas Mowen <nickmowen213@gmail.com>

docs/docs/configuration/face_recognition.md

@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ When choosing images to include in the face training set it is recommended to al
 - If it is difficult to make out details in a persons face it will not be helpful in training.
 - Avoid images with extreme under/over-exposure.
 - Avoid blurry / pixelated images.
-- Avoid training on infrared (gray-scale). The models are trained on color images and will be able to extract features from gray-scale images.
+- Avoid training on infrared (gray-scale). The models are trained on color images and will not be able to extract features from gray-scale images.
 - Using images of people wearing hats / sunglasses may confuse the model.
 - Do not upload too many similar images at the same time, it is recommended to train no more than 4-6 similar images for each person to avoid over-fitting.
 

frigate/embeddings/__init__.py

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import base64
 import json
 import logging
 import os
+import sys
 import threading
 from json.decoder import JSONDecodeError
 from multiprocessing.synchronize import Event as MpEvent
@@ -52,6 +53,14 @@ class EmbeddingProcess(FrigateProcess):
             self.stop_event,
         )
         maintainer.start()
+        maintainer.join()
+
+        # If the maintainer thread exited but no shutdown was requested, it
+        # crashed. Surface as a non-zero exit so the watchdog restarts us
+        # instead of treating the silent thread death as a clean shutdown.
+        if not self.stop_event.is_set():
+            logger.error("Embeddings maintainer thread exited unexpectedly")
+            sys.exit(1)
 
 
 class EmbeddingsContext:

frigate/genai/gemini.py

@@ -143,15 +143,17 @@ class GeminiClient(GenAIClient):
                     )
                 elif role == "tool":
                     # Handle tool response
-                    function_response = {
-                        "name": msg.get("name", ""),
-                        "response": content,
-                    }
+                    response_payload = (
+                        content if isinstance(content, dict) else {"result": content}
+                    )
                     gemini_messages.append(
                         types.Content(
                             role="function",
                             parts=[
-                                types.Part.from_function_response(function_response)  # type: ignore[misc,call-arg,arg-type]
+                                types.Part.from_function_response(
+                                    name=msg.get("name", ""),
+                                    response=response_payload,
+                                )
                             ],
                         )
                     )
@@ -350,15 +352,17 @@ class GeminiClient(GenAIClient):
                     )
                 elif role == "tool":
                     # Handle tool response
-                    function_response = {
-                        "name": msg.get("name", ""),
-                        "response": content,
-                    }
+                    response_payload = (
+                        content if isinstance(content, dict) else {"result": content}
+                    )
                     gemini_messages.append(
                         types.Content(
                             role="function",
                             parts=[
-                                types.Part.from_function_response(function_response)  # type: ignore[misc,call-arg,arg-type]
+                                types.Part.from_function_response(
+                                    name=msg.get("name", ""),
+                                    response=response_payload,
+                                )
                             ],
                         )
                     )

frigate/genai/llama_cpp.py

@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ class LlamaCppClient(GenAIClient):
     _supports_tools: bool
     _image_token_cache: dict[tuple[int, int], int]
     _text_baseline_tokens: int | None
+    _media_marker: str
 
     def _init_provider(self) -> str | None:
         """Initialize the client and query model metadata from the server."""
@@ -56,6 +57,7 @@ class LlamaCppClient(GenAIClient):
         self._supports_tools = False
         self._image_token_cache = {}
         self._text_baseline_tokens = None
+        self._media_marker = "<__media__>"
 
         base_url = (
             self.genai_config.base_url.rstrip("/")
@@ -141,6 +143,13 @@ class LlamaCppClient(GenAIClient):
             chat_caps = props.get("chat_template_caps", {})
             self._supports_tools = chat_caps.get("supports_tools", False)
 
+            # Media marker for multimodal embeddings; the server randomizes this
+            # per startup unless LLAMA_MEDIA_MARKER is set, so we must read it
+            # from /props rather than hardcoding "<__media__>".
+            media_marker = props.get("media_marker")
+            if isinstance(media_marker, str) and media_marker:
+                self._media_marker = media_marker
+
             logger.info(
                 "llama.cpp model '%s' initialized — context: %s, vision: %s, audio: %s, tools: %s",
                 configured_model,
@@ -465,10 +474,11 @@ class LlamaCppClient(GenAIClient):
             jpeg_bytes = _to_jpeg(img)
             to_encode = jpeg_bytes if jpeg_bytes is not None else img
             encoded = base64.b64encode(to_encode).decode("utf-8")
-            # prompt_string must contain <__media__> placeholder for image tokenization
+            # prompt_string must contain the server's media marker placeholder.
+            # The marker is randomized per server startup (read from /props).
             content.append(
                 {
-                    "prompt_string": "<__media__>\n",
+                    "prompt_string": f"{self._media_marker}\n",
                     "multimodal_data": [encoded],  # type: ignore[dict-item]
                 }
             )

frigate/video/ffmpeg.py

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ from frigate.config.camera.updater import (
 )
 from frigate.const import PROCESS_PRIORITY_HIGH
 from frigate.log import LogPipe
-from frigate.util.builtin import EventsPerSecond
+from frigate.util.builtin import EventsPerSecond, get_ffmpeg_arg_list
 from frigate.util.ffmpeg import start_or_restart_ffmpeg, stop_ffmpeg
 from frigate.util.image import (
     FrameManager,
@@ -34,6 +34,23 @@ from frigate.util.process import FrigateProcess
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
+# all built-in record presets use this segment_time
+DEFAULT_RECORD_SEGMENT_TIME = 10
+
+
+def _get_record_segment_time(config: CameraConfig) -> int:
+    """Extract -segment_time from the camera's record output args."""
+    record_args = get_ffmpeg_arg_list(config.ffmpeg.output_args.record)
+
+    if record_args and record_args[0].startswith("preset"):
+        return DEFAULT_RECORD_SEGMENT_TIME
+
+    try:
+        idx = record_args.index("-segment_time")
+        return int(record_args[idx + 1])
+    except (ValueError, IndexError):
+        return DEFAULT_RECORD_SEGMENT_TIME
+
 
 def capture_frames(
     ffmpeg_process: sp.Popen[Any],
@@ -164,6 +181,12 @@ class CameraWatchdog(threading.Thread):
         self.latest_cache_segment_time: float = 0
         self.record_enable_time: datetime | None = None
 
+        # `valid` segments are published with the segment's start time, so the
+        # gap between consecutive publishes can reach 2 * segment_time. Pad the
+        # staleness threshold so it's never tighter than that worst case.
+        segment_time = _get_record_segment_time(self.config)
+        self.record_stale_threshold = max(120, 2 * segment_time + 30)
+
         # Stall tracking (based on last processed frame)
         self._stall_timestamps: deque[float] = deque()
         self._stall_active: bool = False
@@ -413,16 +436,17 @@ class CameraWatchdog(threading.Thread):
 
                     # ensure segments are still being created and that they have valid video data
                     # Skip checks during grace period to allow segments to start being created
+                    stale_window = timedelta(seconds=self.record_stale_threshold)
                     cache_stale = not in_grace_period and now_utc > (
-                        latest_cache_dt + timedelta(seconds=120)
+                        latest_cache_dt + stale_window
                     )
                     valid_stale = not in_grace_period and now_utc > (
-                        latest_valid_dt + timedelta(seconds=120)
+                        latest_valid_dt + stale_window
                     )
                     invalid_stale_condition = (
                         self.latest_invalid_segment_time > 0
                         and not in_grace_period
-                        and now_utc > (latest_invalid_dt + timedelta(seconds=120))
+                        and now_utc > (latest_invalid_dt + stale_window)
                         and self.latest_valid_segment_time
                         <= self.latest_invalid_segment_time
                     )
@@ -439,7 +463,7 @@ class CameraWatchdog(threading.Thread):
                             )
 
                         self.logger.error(
-                            f"{reason} for {self.config.name} in the last 120s. Restarting the ffmpeg record process..."
+                            f"{reason} for {self.config.name} in the last {self.record_stale_threshold}s. Restarting the ffmpeg record process..."
                         )
                         p["process"] = start_or_restart_ffmpeg(
                             p["cmd"],

frigate/watchdog.py

@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ class MonitoredProcess:
     restart_timestamps: deque[float] = field(
         default_factory=lambda: deque(maxlen=MAX_RESTARTS)
     )
+    clean_exit_logged: bool = False
 
     def is_restarting_too_fast(self, now: float) -> bool:
         while (
@@ -72,7 +73,9 @@ class FrigateWatchdog(threading.Thread):
 
         exitcode = entry.process.exitcode
         if exitcode == 0:
-            logger.info("Process %s exited cleanly, not restarting", entry.name)
+            if not entry.clean_exit_logged:
+                logger.info("Process %s exited cleanly, not restarting", entry.name)
+                entry.clean_exit_logged = True
             return
 
         logger.warning(

web/src/views/settings/MediaSyncSettingsView.tsx

@@ -10,13 +10,16 @@ import axios from "axios";
 import { toast } from "sonner";
 import { useJobStatus } from "@/api/ws";
 import { Switch } from "@/components/ui/switch";
-import { LuCheck, LuX } from "react-icons/lu";
+import { LuCheck, LuExternalLink, LuX } from "react-icons/lu";
 import { cn } from "@/lib/utils";
 import { formatUnixTimestampToDateTime } from "@/utils/dateUtil";
 import { MediaSyncResults, MediaSyncStats } from "@/types/ws";
+import { useDocDomain } from "@/hooks/use-doc-domain";
+import { Link } from "react-router-dom";
 
 export default function MediaSyncSettingsView() {
   const { t } = useTranslation("views/settings");
+  const { getLocaleDocUrl } = useDocDomain();
   const [selectedMediaTypes, setSelectedMediaTypes] = useState<string[]>([
     "all",
   ]);
@@ -109,13 +112,25 @@ export default function MediaSyncSettingsView() {
               <Heading as="h4" className="mb-2 hidden md:block">
                 {t("maintenance.sync.title")}
               </Heading>
-
               <div className="max-w-6xl">
                 <div className="mb-5 mt-2 flex max-w-5xl flex-col gap-2 text-sm text-muted-foreground">
                   <p>{t("maintenance.sync.desc")}</p>
+
+                  <div className="flex items-center text-primary-variant">
+                    <Link
+                      to={getLocaleDocUrl(
+                        "configuration/record#syncing-media-files-with-disk",
+                      )}
+                      target="_blank"
+                      rel="noopener noreferrer"
+                      className="inline"
+                    >
+                      {t("readTheDocumentation", { ns: "common" })}
+                      <LuExternalLink className="ml-2 inline-flex size-3" />
+                    </Link>
+                  </div>
                 </div>
               </div>
-
               <div className="space-y-6">
                 {/* Media Types Selection */}
                 <div>