TixisBirdview

TixisBirdview is a small macOS menu-bar app compatible with Frigate NVR. It requires a running Frigate installation; when Frigate detects something you care about—such as a person, pet, or named animal—it opens a temporary camera feed above your work without taking keyboard focus.

TixisBirdview is an independent application compatible with Frigate. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Frigate, Inc.

Built by Marcel Kühn with OpenAI Codex (GPT-5.6 Terra, Extra High reasoning).

What it does

• Checks Frigate events and review activity every two seconds by HTTP, or can receive them immediately from its MQTT broker.
• Opens a movable, timed feed for selected classifications, for example person, cat, or Tixi.
• Shows the detected label, confidence, camera, a countdown, and either JPEG snapshots or a low-latency go2rtc live stream.
• Offers optional popup sound alerts with a selectable macOS sound and volume, plus independent popup and sound cooldowns.
• Keeps the password in the macOS Keychain and uses normal TLS certificate validation.
• Remembers the feed's width and display position, then adapts its height to each camera's aspect ratio. The feed does not take focus from the app you are using.

Activity popup

The popup shows why it opened, the relevant camera, the current feed mode, and the remaining display time. This privacy-safe rendering preserves the real window UI while using a blurred synthetic scene and non-identifiable figure.

Install from source — no Swift knowledge required

There is no signed or notarized package yet. Publishing one requires a paid Apple Developer Program membership, so the free option today is to build the app on your own Mac with a free Apple Account.

The process is deliberately simple: install Xcode once, follow the source-build guide, then run:

./build-and-install.sh

The script runs local automated tests, builds TixisBirdview, then installs it in /Applications. Use ./build-and-install.sh --test to run only the tests. No Swift knowledge is needed.

What you need

• A Mac running a current macOS version.
• A reachable Frigate NVR server. Use the full base URL, including https:// and a non-standard port if applicable—for example https://frigate.example.net:8971.
• A certificate macOS trusts. TixisBirdview deliberately does not bypass TLS warnings.
• Frigate credentials only if your Frigate installation requires login.

For Live stream, the selected camera also needs a working Frigate/go2rtc live restream with a codec WebKit can play. JPEG snapshots are the most compatible choice and remain available if live video is unavailable.

First-time setup

Open the icon in the menu bar, then choose Settings.

Settings are grouped into three native toolbar panes. These screenshots use only example addresses and no real credentials.

1. On Connection, enter the Frigate server URL and choose Apply. If Frigate uses login, enter its username and password. The password goes into your macOS Keychain; it is not written to TixisBirdview's preferences.
2. Under Event delivery, keep HTTP polling for the compatible default, or choose MQTT for faster event delivery. For MQTT, enter the broker host, port, TLS choice, optional credentials, and Frigate topic prefix (normally frigate), then choose Apply MQTT and Verify. MQTT credentials are stored separately in the macOS Keychain.
3. On Feed & Sound, set Keep feed open to the number of seconds you want the popup visible, then choose a feed mode:
   • JPEG snapshots: reliable, updated twice per second.
   • Live stream: lower latency go2rtc video when the camera supports it. When using Live stream, choose Retry live player after (1–15 seconds). TixisBirdview starts JPEG immediately and keeps it visible while the MSE player connects or retries in the background. It switches to video only after a decoded frame arrives. The default is 5 seconds; use a shorter time for doorbell-like feeds or increase it for a camera with a slow key-frame interval. Enable Write live-player diagnostics to terminal output when troubleshooting; its concise state lines intentionally omit server addresses, camera names, credentials, cookies, and tokens. The muted WebKit player requests video only and does not seek or accelerate the live playhead; an excessively delayed player is rebuilt cleanly.
4. Still on Feed & Sound, optionally enable Sound alert, select a sound, set its volume, and use Preview to test it. Sound cooldown appears once sound is enabled and suppresses repeated automatic sounds.
5. On Popup Triggers, optionally enable Popup cooldown to suppress repeated automatic popups. Manual Show Feed remains immediate. Choose Popup for:
   • Selected classifications: only selected names open a feed.
   • Any tracked object: every Frigate object event opens a feed.
6. Add the names you want. Use the refresh icon, then Choose…, to select one or more labels and sub-labels Frigate has already seen. You can always add a custom value such as Tixi yourself.

Names are matched against Frigate's event label and sub-label. They are not case-sensitive in normal Frigate configurations, but using the spelling shown by Frigate is best.

Using the feed

• Click the image to dismiss it early.
• The countdown in the lower-right shows when it will disappear automatically.
• Drag the hand control in the lower-right to move the window.
• Click the diagonal-arrows control to enlarge or restore its size.
• The window remembers its width and display position; its height follows the current camera's aspect ratio. If the old display is gone, it falls back to the main display.

Important Frigate distinction

Birdseye's continuous, motion, and objects modes decide what Frigate draws in its Birdseye mosaic. They do not create a TixisBirdview popup by themselves. TixisBirdview reacts to new Frigate event/review records and filters them by their object classification.

Troubleshooting

Problem	What to check
Menu-bar icon is red	Confirm the URL, Frigate availability, macOS TLS trust, and login details. When using MQTT, also check the Connection pane's delivery status and broker settings. TixisBirdview shows a short connection-lost/restored message when the state changes.
No popup	Make sure monitoring is not paused. Temporarily select Any tracked object, then check the status line for the last activity Frigate sent. With MQTT selected, use Verify in the Connection tab first.
A name never triggers	Add the exact event label or sub-label shown in Frigate. A Birdseye image without a new event does not count.
Live stream is black or frozen	Confirm the camera plays in Frigate and has a compatible go2rtc restream. JPEG is loaded immediately while MSE keeps connecting in the background; reduce Retry live player after to retry sooner.
Feed is on the wrong screen	Drag it once to the intended display. Its position is saved.

Build from source

Anyone can build TixisBirdview from this repository using Xcode and the included script; no Swift knowledge is required. Follow the step-by-step source-build guide.

For maintainers

• Release and signing guide
• Changelog
• Keeping GitHub and Gitea in sync
• Third-party notices
• Contributors
• FrigateMonitor.swift: Frigate login, Keychain storage, polling, filters, and stream lookup.
• VideoFeedView.swift: popup UI, JPEG refresh, countdown, and feed controls.
• FrigateMSEStreamView.swift: authenticated go2rtc MSE live playback.
• OverlayWindowController.swift: non-activating floating window and saved geometry.

TixisBirdview's own code is licensed under the MIT License. Frigate-derived MSE handling remains covered by the attribution in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.