Configuration

Fregata’s configuration is upstream Frigate’s config.yml, with a small set of macOS-specific defaults and one new detector type. This page is the index of the schema, calling out what’s different on macOS. The full key-by-key reference lives in the Frigate documentation, which we mirror almost entirely.

For a complete, ready-to-edit starter config with detection, recording, snapshots, and live view already enabled, see Add your first camera.

File location

~/Fregata/config/config.yml

The location is overridable in Settings → Folders → Change Config Location…. The launcher writes the chosen path into UserDefaults and exposes it as FRIGATE_CONFIG_DIR to the Python core.

Detectors — `coreml` only

Fregata ships a single detector type. The fields below are the ones specific to it; the model sub-block follows the standard Frigate shape.

detectors:
  coreml:
    type: coreml
    inference_backend: ane     # "ane" (default) | "gpu"

model:
  path: <optional>             # filesystem path or plus://<id>; default = bundled
  model_type: yolo-generic     # yolo-generic | yolox | yolonas | dfine | rfdetr
  width: 320
  height: 320
  input_tensor: nchw
  input_pixel_format: rgb
  input_dtype: float
  labelmap_path: <optional>    # default = COCO labels

model: is its own top-level block, peer to detectors: — matches Frigate’s documented convention. The model file path goes inside this block as model.path. (The Pydantic schema also accepts per-detector overrides under detectors.<name>.model and detectors.<name>.model_path, but those are only useful in multi-detector setups where each detector runs a different model. For Fregata’s single-detector default, the top-level form is what you want.)

See Detection tuning for the practical guide to swapping models, choosing a backend, and tuning thresholds.

FFmpeg defaults

Fregata’s macOS ffmpeg presets use VideoToolbox out of the box:

Pipeline	Default	Notes
Input decode	`-hwaccel videotoolbox`	Applied to every stream input.
Recording encode	`h264_videotoolbox -allow_sw 1 -realtime 1 -g 50 -profile:v high`	`-allow_sw 1` is a software fallback safety net.
RTSP re-stream	`h264_videotoolbox -allow_sw 1 -profile:v high`	Used by go2rtc.
Preview snapshot	`h264_videotoolbox -allow_sw 1`	Used for hourly thumbnails.

You can override any preset via ffmpeg.output_args in your config.yml exactly as on Linux Frigate. The presets are macros; the underlying Frigate ffmpeg command-line is unchanged.

Adaptive transcoding — `adaptive_transcoding:`

A Fregata-exclusive top-level block — not read by upstream Frigate-on-Docker. All keys default to off; no cameras are affected until you explicitly set enabled: true.

# Global defaults (applied to every camera unless overridden)
adaptive_transcoding:
  enabled: false                  # recordings ABR, per-camera or global
  live: false                     # live view rungs (separate opt-in)
  lan_networks:                   # clients here receive the source stream, not the ladder
    - "127.0.0.0/8"
    - "10.0.0.0/8"
    - "172.16.0.0/12"
    - "192.168.0.0/16"
  rungs:
    - { height: 1080, bitrate: 4000, name: high }
    - { height: 720,  bitrate: 1500, name: medium }
    - { height: 360,  bitrate: 600,  name: low }

# Per-camera override
cameras:
  my_camera:
    adaptive_transcoding:
      enabled: true
      live: true

Resource fields (lan_networks) are honored only at the global level — not per-camera — because a single Media Engine backs every transcode.

See Adaptive transcoding for the full field-by-field reference, hardware requirements, VPN/Tailscale notes, and debugging tips.

Reloading config

If you modify config.yml restart Frigate after making changes:

Click Restart Frigate in the tray or Save & Restart in the Frigate Web UI Configuation Editor.