From 9289253ba89ca4dad911e55f94c659554db6cf49 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Josh Hawkins <32435876+hawkeye217@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 8 Jul 2026 16:14:20 -0500
Subject: [PATCH 1/5] update face recognition docs
---
docs/docs/configuration/face_recognition.md | 47 ++++++++++++++++++++-
1 file changed, 45 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
diff --git a/docs/docs/configuration/face_recognition.md b/docs/docs/configuration/face_recognition.md
index 2039374bff..b22d8c3676 100644
--- a/docs/docs/configuration/face_recognition.md
+++ b/docs/docs/configuration/face_recognition.md
@@ -151,6 +151,14 @@ Follow these steps to begin:
## Creating a Robust Training Set
+:::tip
+
+**The short version:** Start with a few clear, front-facing photos of each person. As faces are detected in the Recent Recognitions tab, train clear images that scored lower, adding variety (different angles, lighting, and expressions) slowly. Diversity matters far more than volume, and low-quality images hurt recognition more than they help.
+
+For a step-by-step narrative of these best practices (and the same principles applied to state and object classification), see the [Frigate Tips: Best Practices for Training](https://github.com/blakeblackshear/frigate/discussions/21374) discussion.
+
+:::
+
The number of images needed for a sufficient training set for face recognition varies depending on several factors:
- Diversity of the dataset: A dataset with diverse images, including variations in lighting, pose, and facial expressions, will require fewer images per person than a less diverse dataset.
@@ -181,9 +189,27 @@ When choosing images to include in the face training set it is recommended to al
The Recent Recognitions tab in the face library displays recent face recognition attempts. Detected face images are grouped according to the person they were identified as potentially matching.
-Each face image is labeled with a name (or `Unknown`) along with the confidence score of the recognition attempt. While each image can be used to train the system for a specific person, not all images are suitable for training.
+Each face image is labeled with a name (or `Unknown`) along with the confidence score of that recognition attempt. Images are grouped by the person they were matched against, not by who they actually are, so a group labeled with a person's name can contain a crop that is really someone else but happened to score as a partial match. The name and score shown on each individual crop describe that single attempt.
-Refer to the guidelines below for best practices on selecting images for training.
+While each image can be used to train the system for a specific person, not all images are suitable for training. Refer to the guidelines below for best practices on selecting images for training.
+
+### How Frigate Decides Who a Person Is
+
+Recognition does not happen one frame at a time. While a `person` is in view, Frigate runs face recognition on many frames and collects every attempt. The final `sub_label` is decided from all of those attempts together, weighted by the area of each face (larger, closer faces count more), not from any single frame.
+
+This has a few practical consequences:
+
+- A handful of wrong guesses on blurry or distant frames usually do not change the result. If Frigate sees a person as "Tom, Tom, Sam, Tom, Tom," it will still conclude the person was Tom.
+- The goal is not for every individual face crop to be correct. The goal is for each person to be recognized correctly overall, across all the faces captured while they were present.
+- A single very high confidence match will not by itself assign a sub label. Recognition must be consistent. See [I see scores above the threshold in the Recent Recognitions tab, but a sub label wasn't assigned?](#i-see-scores-above-the-threshold-in-the-recent-recognitions-tab-but-a-sub-label-wasnt-assigned) below.
+
+### Which Faces Are Worth Training?
+
+Whether a face is worth training has little to do with what it was recognized as. A crop is a good training candidate when all of these are true:
+
+- It did not already score high and correctly. Faces that are already recognized confidently add little and increase the risk of over-fitting.
+- It is clear enough to be useful: not blurry, not heavily off-axis, not infrared (gray-scale). If it is hard for you to make out the face, it will not help the model.
+- It adds something new: a different angle, lighting, expression, or distance than what you already have.
### Step 1 - Building a Strong Foundation
@@ -223,6 +249,10 @@ Accuracy is definitely a going to be improved with higher quality cameras / stre
Some users have also noted that setting the stream in camera firmware to a constant bit rate (CBR) leads to better image clarity than with a variable bit rate (VBR).
+### Can I train faces for people who only appear at night?
+
+The embedding models are trained on color images, so gray-scale and infrared (IR) faces sit in a different feature distribution and are more easily confused with other people. Prefer color images, and avoid mixing gray-scale samples in early while you are building a foundation. If someone only ever appears at night, gray-scale training is acceptable, but keep those samples limited and as clear as possible, and add them only once color recognition is stable for your other people.
+
### Why can't I bulk upload photos?
It is important to methodically add photos to the library, bulk importing photos (especially from a general photo library) will lead to over-fitting in that particular scenario and hurt recognition performance.
@@ -243,11 +273,24 @@ Review your face collections and remove most of the unclear or low-quality image
Avoid training on images that already score highly, as this can lead to over-fitting. Instead, focus on relatively clear images that score lower (ideally with different lighting, angles, and conditions) to help the model generalize more effectively.
+### Should I correct a face that was recognized as the wrong person?
+
+Only if it is a good image. Reassigning a face does add it to that person's training set, but two things are true at once:
+
+- Reassigning a single misclassified frame has a small effect. The image is weighted against every other sample for that person, so correcting 1 frame out of 20 will not move recognition much. Occasional wrong guesses on poor frames are normal and do not need to be fixed.
+- Reassigning a poor image (blurry, off-angle, low-resolution, gray-scale) can hurt more than the misidentification did, because low-quality samples degrade recognition for that whole person.
+
+So the decision is about image quality, not about the wrong label. If the crop is clear, well-lit, and reasonably front-facing, and it scored low or was wrong, assigning it to the correct person is useful. If you can barely make out the face yourself, ignore it; do not train it just to correct the label.
+
+If a person is repeatedly misidentified, do not keep reassigning the same frame. Instead, remove low-quality or misleading images and add a few high-quality samples to the correct person. See [Why do unknown people score similarly to known people?](#why-do-unknown-people-score-similarly-to-known-people) above.
+
### Frigate misidentified a face. Can I tell it that a face is "not" a specific person?
No, face recognition does not support negative training (i.e., explicitly telling it who someone is _not_). Instead, the best approach is to improve the training data by using a more diverse and representative set of images for each person.
For more guidance, refer to the section above on improving recognition accuracy.
+This also applies to a stranger who is repeatedly matched to a known person (for example, a delivery driver recognized as you). Do not create a profile for them and do not reassign their faces to yourself, as this pollutes your training set and makes recognition worse. Leave the detection as unknown and improve the known person's training set instead. Face recognition learns who someone is, not who they are not.
+
### I see scores above the threshold in the Recent Recognitions tab, but a sub label wasn't assigned?
The Frigate considers the recognition scores across all recognition attempts for each person object. The scores are continually weighted based on the area of the face, and a sub label will only be assigned to person if a person is confidently recognized consistently. This avoids cases where a single high confidence recognition would throw off the results.
From 8edcbf1907b328aa01db6e262a7406fc20ac8502 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Josh Hawkins <32435876+hawkeye217@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 8 Jul 2026 16:15:46 -0500
Subject: [PATCH 2/5] clarify
---
docs/docs/configuration/face_recognition.md | 2 +-
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
diff --git a/docs/docs/configuration/face_recognition.md b/docs/docs/configuration/face_recognition.md
index b22d8c3676..34a12dbcc9 100644
--- a/docs/docs/configuration/face_recognition.md
+++ b/docs/docs/configuration/face_recognition.md
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ While each image can be used to train the system for a specific person, not all
### How Frigate Decides Who a Person Is
-Recognition does not happen one frame at a time. While a `person` is in view, Frigate runs face recognition on many frames and collects every attempt. The final `sub_label` is decided from all of those attempts together, weighted by the area of each face (larger, closer faces count more), not from any single frame.
+Recognition does not happen one frame at a time. While a `person` is in view, Frigate runs face recognition on many frames, not just a single frame. The final `sub_label` is decided from all of those attempts together, weighted by the area of each face (larger, closer faces count more), not from any single frame.
This has a few practical consequences:
From d13a93f4bf386ecb741e3d93af0f8e3a233c976e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Josh Hawkins <32435876+hawkeye217@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 8 Jul 2026 16:48:24 -0500
Subject: [PATCH 3/5] improve faq grouping
---
docs/docs/configuration/face_recognition.md | 46 ++++++++++++---------
1 file changed, 26 insertions(+), 20 deletions(-)
diff --git a/docs/docs/configuration/face_recognition.md b/docs/docs/configuration/face_recognition.md
index 34a12dbcc9..f970a2bc93 100644
--- a/docs/docs/configuration/face_recognition.md
+++ b/docs/docs/configuration/face_recognition.md
@@ -225,7 +225,9 @@ Once front-facing images are performing well, start choosing slightly off-angle
## FAQ
-### How do I debug Face Recognition issues?
+### Getting Recognition Working
+
+#### How do I debug Face Recognition issues?
Start with the [Usage](#usage) section and re-read the [Model Requirements](#model-requirements) above.
@@ -243,25 +245,35 @@ Start with the [Usage](#usage) section and re-read the [Model Requirements](#mod
- Make sure you have trained at least one face per the recommendations above.
- Adjust `recognition_threshold` settings per the suggestions [above](#advanced-configuration).
-### Detection does not work well with blurry images?
+#### Does face recognition run on the recording stream?
+
+Face recognition does not run on the recording stream, this would be suboptimal for many reasons:
+
+1. The latency of accessing the recordings means the notifications would not include the names of recognized people because recognition would not complete until after.
+2. The embedding models used run on a set image size, so larger images will be scaled down to match this anyway.
+3. Motion clarity is much more important than extra pixels, over-compression and motion blur are much more detrimental to results than resolution.
+
+### Improving Accuracy and Training
+
+#### Detection does not work well with blurry images?
Accuracy is definitely a going to be improved with higher quality cameras / streams. It is important to look at the DORI (Detection Observation Recognition Identification) range of your camera, if that specification is posted. This specification explains the distance from the camera that a person can be detected, observed, recognized, and identified. The identification range is the most relevant here, and the distance listed by the camera is the furthest that face recognition will realistically work.
Some users have also noted that setting the stream in camera firmware to a constant bit rate (CBR) leads to better image clarity than with a variable bit rate (VBR).
-### Can I train faces for people who only appear at night?
+#### Can I train faces for people who only appear at night?
The embedding models are trained on color images, so gray-scale and infrared (IR) faces sit in a different feature distribution and are more easily confused with other people. Prefer color images, and avoid mixing gray-scale samples in early while you are building a foundation. If someone only ever appears at night, gray-scale training is acceptable, but keep those samples limited and as clear as possible, and add them only once color recognition is stable for your other people.
-### Why can't I bulk upload photos?
+#### Why can't I bulk upload photos?
It is important to methodically add photos to the library, bulk importing photos (especially from a general photo library) will lead to over-fitting in that particular scenario and hurt recognition performance.
-### Why can't I bulk reprocess faces?
+#### Why can't I bulk reprocess faces?
Face embedding models work by breaking apart faces into different features. This means that when reprocessing an image, only images from a similar angle will have its score affected.
-### Why do unknown people score similarly to known people?
+#### Why do unknown people score similarly to known people?
This can happen for a few different reasons, but this is usually an indicator that the training set needs to be improved. This is often related to over-fitting:
@@ -273,7 +285,7 @@ Review your face collections and remove most of the unclear or low-quality image
Avoid training on images that already score highly, as this can lead to over-fitting. Instead, focus on relatively clear images that score lower (ideally with different lighting, angles, and conditions) to help the model generalize more effectively.
-### Should I correct a face that was recognized as the wrong person?
+#### Should I correct a face that was recognized as the wrong person?
Only if it is a good image. Reassigning a face does add it to that person's training set, but two things are true at once:
@@ -284,33 +296,27 @@ So the decision is about image quality, not about the wrong label. If the crop i
If a person is repeatedly misidentified, do not keep reassigning the same frame. Instead, remove low-quality or misleading images and add a few high-quality samples to the correct person. See [Why do unknown people score similarly to known people?](#why-do-unknown-people-score-similarly-to-known-people) above.
-### Frigate misidentified a face. Can I tell it that a face is "not" a specific person?
+#### Frigate misidentified a face. Can I tell it that a face is "not" a specific person?
No, face recognition does not support negative training (i.e., explicitly telling it who someone is _not_). Instead, the best approach is to improve the training data by using a more diverse and representative set of images for each person.
For more guidance, refer to the section above on improving recognition accuracy.
This also applies to a stranger who is repeatedly matched to a known person (for example, a delivery driver recognized as you). Do not create a profile for them and do not reassign their faces to yourself, as this pollutes your training set and makes recognition worse. Leave the detection as unknown and improve the known person's training set instead. Face recognition learns who someone is, not who they are not.
-### I see scores above the threshold in the Recent Recognitions tab, but a sub label wasn't assigned?
+#### I see scores above the threshold in the Recent Recognitions tab, but a sub label wasn't assigned?
The Frigate considers the recognition scores across all recognition attempts for each person object. The scores are continually weighted based on the area of the face, and a sub label will only be assigned to person if a person is confidently recognized consistently. This avoids cases where a single high confidence recognition would throw off the results.
-### Can I use other face recognition software like DoubleTake at the same time as the built in face recognition?
+### Compatibility and Maintenance
+
+#### Can I use other face recognition software like DoubleTake at the same time as the built in face recognition?
No, using another face recognition service will interfere with Frigate's built in face recognition. When using double-take the sub_label feature must be disabled if the built in face recognition is also desired.
-### Does face recognition run on the recording stream?
-
-Face recognition does not run on the recording stream, this would be suboptimal for many reasons:
-
-1. The latency of accessing the recordings means the notifications would not include the names of recognized people because recognition would not complete until after.
-2. The embedding models used run on a set image size, so larger images will be scaled down to match this anyway.
-3. Motion clarity is much more important than extra pixels, over-compression and motion blur are much more detrimental to results than resolution.
-
-### I get an unknown error when taking a photo directly with my iPhone
+#### I get an unknown error when taking a photo directly with my iPhone
By default iOS devices will use HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) for images, but this format is not supported for uploads. Choosing `large` as the format instead of `original` will use JPG which will work correctly.
-### How can I delete the face database and start over?
+#### How can I delete the face database and start over?
Frigate does not store anything in its database related to face recognition. You can simply delete all of your faces through the Frigate UI or remove the contents of the `/media/frigate/clips/faces` directory.
From 1d19e8adb79354ffd1ed84b1f9aaa03fb9270b32 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Josh Hawkins <32435876+hawkeye217@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 8 Jul 2026 17:32:03 -0500
Subject: [PATCH 4/5] add faqitem component
---
docs/docs/configuration/face_recognition.md | 53 ++++++++---
.../license_plate_recognition.md | 49 ++++++++---
docs/src/components/FaqItem/index.jsx | 66 ++++++++++++++
docs/src/components/FaqItem/styles.module.css | 87 +++++++++++++++++++
4 files changed, 231 insertions(+), 24 deletions(-)
create mode 100644 docs/src/components/FaqItem/index.jsx
create mode 100644 docs/src/components/FaqItem/styles.module.css
diff --git a/docs/docs/configuration/face_recognition.md b/docs/docs/configuration/face_recognition.md
index f970a2bc93..b9af946ee9 100644
--- a/docs/docs/configuration/face_recognition.md
+++ b/docs/docs/configuration/face_recognition.md
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ title: Face Recognition
import ConfigTabs from "@site/src/components/ConfigTabs";
import TabItem from "@theme/TabItem";
import NavPath from "@site/src/components/NavPath";
+import FaqItem from "@site/src/components/FaqItem";
Face recognition identifies known individuals by matching detected faces with previously learned facial data. When a known `person` is recognized, their name will be added as a `sub_label`. This information is included in the UI, filters, as well as in notifications.
@@ -227,7 +228,7 @@ Once front-facing images are performing well, start choosing slightly off-angle
### Getting Recognition Working
-#### How do I debug Face Recognition issues?
+car or motorcycle objects?>}>
In normal LPR mode, Frigate requires a `car` or `motorcycle` to be detected first before recognizing a license plate. If you have a dedicated LPR camera, you can change the camera `type` to `"lpr"` to use the Dedicated LPR Camera algorithm. This comes with important caveats, though. See the [Dedicated LPR Cameras](#dedicated-lpr-cameras) section above.
-### How can I improve detection accuracy?
+license_plate. Why is the YOLOv9 model running?>}>
The YOLOv9 license plate detector model will run (and the metric will appear) if you've enabled LPR but haven't defined `license_plate` as an object to track, either at the global or camera level.
If you are detecting `car` or `motorcycle` on cameras where you don't want to run LPR, make sure you disable LPR it at the camera level. And if you do want to run LPR on those cameras, make sure you define `license_plate` as an object to track.
-### It looks like Frigate picked up my camera's timestamp or overlay text as the license plate. How can I prevent this?
+