Camsnap
Pull RTSP/ONVIF camera snapshots, short clips, and motion-triggered captures from the terminal for home lab, security, or IoT workflows.
Overview
camsnap is an agent skill for the Operate phase that captures RTSP/ONVIF camera snapshots, clips, and motion events using the camsnap CLI and ffmpeg.
Install
npx skills add https://github.com/steipete/clawdis --skill camsnapWhat is this skill?
- Snapshots and timed clips via `camsnap snap` and `camsnap clip` with `--out` paths
- ONVIF/RTSP discover with `camsnap discover --info` and per-camera YAML at `~/.config/camsnap/config.yaml`
- Motion watch with threshold and custom `--action` hooks
- `camsnap doctor --probe` for connectivity checks before long captures
- Requires `ffmpeg` on PATH; brew install via steipete/tap/camsnap
- Requires ffmpeg on PATH
- Clip duration example uses --dur 5s
Adoption & trust: 1.8k installs on skills.sh; 378k GitHub stars; 2/3 security scanners passed (skills.sh audits).
What problem does it solve?
You need repeatable camera grabs from IP streams without hand-rolling ffmpeg and ONVIF discovery every time your agent automates monitoring.
Who is it for?
Solo builders wiring home or small-office cameras into local agent automations with brew-installed camsnap and ffmpeg.
Skip if: Teams that need cloud NVR, multi-tenant video SaaS, or capture without shell access and LAN reachability to cameras.
When should I use this skill?
You need frames or short video from configured RTSP/ONVIF cameras via camsnap discover, snap, clip, or watch.
What do I get? / Deliverables
You get named snapshot and clip files plus optional motion-watch actions after a probed, config-backed capture workflow.
- JPEG/PNG snapshot files
- MP4 clip files
- motion-watch triggered shell actions
Recommended Skills
Journey fit
Camera capture and motion watch are ongoing production and environment-monitoring tasks after the product is live or while you run physical setups. Monitoring is the canonical shelf because the skill centers on observing cameras (snap, clip, watch) rather than building app UI or shipping code.
How it compares
Use as a CLI integration skill for RTSP capture, not as a browser or MCP-based camera server.
Common Questions / FAQ
Who is camsnap for?
Indie builders and operators who already use RTSP/ONVIF cameras and want their coding agent to run camsnap commands for snaps, clips, and motion watch from documented setup steps.
When should I use camsnap?
Use it in Operate when monitoring physical spaces—verify a camera with `camsnap doctor`, grab a proof image before an incident response, or script motion-triggered actions on a named camera profile.
Is camsnap safe to install?
Review the Security Audits panel on this Prism page and treat camera credentials in config YAML as secrets; the skill expects local shell execution and network access to your cameras.
SKILL.md
READMESKILL.md - Camsnap
# camsnap Use `camsnap` to grab snapshots, clips, or motion events from configured cameras. Setup - Config file: `~/.config/camsnap/config.yaml` - Add camera: `camsnap add --name kitchen --host 192.168.0.10 --user user --pass pass` Common commands - Discover: `camsnap discover --info` - Snapshot: `camsnap snap kitchen --out shot.jpg` - Clip: `camsnap clip kitchen --dur 5s --out clip.mp4` - Motion watch: `camsnap watch kitchen --threshold 0.2 --action '...'` - Doctor: `camsnap doctor --probe` Notes - Requires `ffmpeg` on PATH. - Prefer a short test capture before longer clips.