frigate/transcode_proxy/DEV_WORKFLOW.md

Dev workflow: frigate-dev (single image with transcode proxy)

Use frigate-dev so your working Docker setup keeps using the stable image. You switch between stable and dev by changing the image in compose and restarting. The transcode proxy runs inside the Frigate container; there is no separate proxy image.

Image names

• frigate-dev – Frigate image built from this repo (includes transcode proxy, config + UI for transcode_proxy).
• Your normal setup keeps using ghcr.io/blakeblackshear/frigate:stable-tensorrt (or whatever you use today).

Start / stop (switch between stable and dev)

You can’t run both stacks at once (same ports). Use one compose file and swap the image.

Stop everything:

cd ~/docker-compose   # or wherever your compose file is
docker compose down

Run dev stack (Frigate with in-container transcode proxy):

• In docker-compose.yml, set the frigate service to image: frigate-dev and publish port 5010 if you use transcode_proxy.

docker compose up -d

Switch back to stable:

• Stop: docker compose down
• In docker-compose.yml, set frigate back to image: ghcr.io/blakeblackshear/frigate:stable-tensorrt.

docker compose up -d

Useful commands:

• docker compose down – stop and remove containers.
• docker compose up -d – start in the background.
• docker compose ps – see what’s running.
• docker compose logs -f frigate – follow Frigate logs.

Building (Ubuntu server recommended)

Frigate’s image is not “just Python” – it has a compile phase (nginx, sqlite-vec, etc.). Building is done with Docker and can take a while.

Where to build: On the Ubuntu server where you run Frigate. That way you get the right architecture and avoid Windows/Linux cross-build issues. Sync the repo from your Windows machine via git (clone or push from Windows to a repo and pull on the server, or copy the repo onto the server).

On the Ubuntu server:

1. Clone (or pull) the Frigate repo with this code.
2. Build Frigate (TensorRT variant, same as stable-tensorrt):

   cd /path/to/frigate
   make version
   make local-trt
   docker tag frigate:latest-tensorrt frigate-dev
   

   (make local-trt uses buildx; first time may be slow.) The resulting image includes the transcode proxy; no separate proxy image is built.

If you prefer to build on Windows: You can use Docker buildx to build for linux/amd64 and push to a registry, then pull frigate-dev on the Ubuntu server. The Frigate build is heavy and may be slower or more fragile on Windows; building on the server is simpler.

One-time setup on the server

# Clone or copy the repo, then:
cd /path/to/frigate
make version
make local-trt
docker tag frigate:latest-tensorrt frigate-dev

Then in your compose use image: frigate-dev, publish port 5010 if you use the transcode proxy, and set transcode_proxy in Frigate config as in the main README.