easy-rtsp

Python library for ingesting video, transforming frames with NumPy/OpenCV, and republishing over RTSP, RTSPS, or SRT using FFmpeg, with optional MediaMTX for a proper RTSP server and WebRTC browser playback.

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Building an edge computer-vision pipeline? Start with the GStreamer, DeepStream, and Triton integration guide.

Status: early development. See ROADMAP.md for scope and roadmap.

Install

pip install easy-rtsp

For webcam capture, add the OpenCV extra:

pip install "easy-rtsp[webcam]"

Development from a clone:

uv sync --extra dev

Quick usage (Python API)

from easy_rtsp import Stream

# Ingest RTSP
for frame in Stream.open("rtsp://camera/live").frames():
    ...

# Ingest RTSP from connection parts
relay = Stream.open_rtsp(
    "camera.local",
    "cam/main",
    username="user",
    password="secret",
)

# Webcam -> transform -> publish
Stream.from_webcam(0).map(process_frame).serve("live")

# Make it reachable by other devices on the same network
stream = Stream.from_webcam(0, lan_access=True).serve("live")
print(stream.lan_viewer_urls)

# File with options
Stream.from_file("clip.mp4", file_loop=True).serve("live")

# RTSP relay with audio passthrough
relay.serve_rtsp("127.0.0.1", "live", audio_mode="passthrough")

# Wait for shutdown
stream = Stream.from_webcam(0).serve("live")
print(stream.viewer_url)
print(stream.status())
stream.wait()

CLI

Commands:

• relay - ingest RTSP/RTSPS and republish
• webcam - capture from webcam index (default 0)
• file - publish from a file source
• doctor - print FFmpeg, ffprobe, MediaMTX, and platform status
• install-backends - show FFmpeg hints and optionally download MediaMTX
• --version - print the installed easy-rtsp version

Examples:

easy-rtsp relay rtsp://camera/live --serve live
easy-rtsp webcam 0 --serve live --webrtc
easy-rtsp webcam 0 --serve live --lan
easy-rtsp file input.mp4 --serve demo
easy-rtsp file clip.mp4 --serve live --fps 24 --no-loop
easy-rtsp relay rtsp://cam/live --serve live --record out.mp4 --hls-dir ./hls
easy-rtsp doctor
easy-rtsp --version
easy-rtsp install-backends

Shared --serve flags include endpoint, transport (relay), reconnect options, --server-host / --server-port, --lan, --low-latency-input, --record, --hls-dir, --hls-segment-time, --video-encoder, --audio-mode, --webrtc / --no-webrtc, --webrtc-port, and -v.

Logs go to stderr. Play: and WebRTC: URLs go to stdout. SIGINT is wired so Ctrl+C calls stop() reliably on Windows. CLI commands return a non-zero exit code and print FFmpeg's useful error tail when publishing fails.

Dependencies

Download help:

easy-rtsp install-backends

Set EASY_RTSP_MEDIAMTX to the mediamtx executable or add it to PATH after install.

Features

Ingest sources

• Stream.open(url) - RTSP or RTSPS URL with configurable reconnect retries.
• Stream.open_rtsp(host, path=..., username=..., password=...) - helper that builds a safe RTSP/RTSPS URL.
• Stream.from_webcam(index) - camera via OpenCV.
• Stream.from_file(path) - file decode; looping uses FFmpeg -stream_loop.
• Stream.from_frames(factory, fps, size) - synthetic or custom frame iterators (BGR uint8).

Frame processing

• stream.map(fn) - per-frame transform; return None to drop a frame. Chaining is supported.

Publishing (serve)

• Shorthand path - "live" maps to rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/live using StreamConfig.server_host / server_port.
• Full URLs - rtsp://, rtsps://, and srt://.
• RTSP query strings and multi-segment paths are preserved; IPv6 literals are bracketed automatically by the URL builders.
• audio_mode="passthrough" - relay source audio for RTSP ingest when using Stream.open(...) / Stream.open_rtsp(...) without frame transforms.
• Local MediaMTX - easy-rtsp writes a minimal config and starts MediaMTX when possible.
• LAN access - set lan_access=True or pass --lan; easy-rtsp binds MediaMTX to the network and reports ready-to-copy URLs in lan_viewer_urls / CLI output.
• No MediaMTX - FFmpeg listens for one MPEG-TS client over TCP.
• Existing server - FFmpeg pushes RTSP in client mode when something is already listening.

Side outputs

• record_path - duplicate stream to MP4.
• hls_output_dir - HLS output with index.m3u8 and segments.
• hls_segment_time - optional HLS segment duration.

Encoder / quality

• codec / video_encoder - choose H.264 encoder, including hardware encoders.
• preset - default, low_latency, or quality.
• bitrate - for example "4M".
• input_realtime_pace - FFmpeg -re pacing for raw sources.

RTSP ingest (relay)

• transport - tcp or udp.
• reconnect, retry_interval_sec, max_reconnect_attempts - reconnect policy.
• on_reconnecting - optional callback (attempt_number).
• latency_ms - optional ingest hint.

LAN access

Local publishing is loopback-only by default. To watch from VLC or another RTSP client on a phone, TV, or computer connected to the same network:

easy-rtsp webcam 0 --serve live --lan

The CLI prints output such as LAN: rtsp://192.168.1.42:8554/live; open that exact URL on the other device. LAN RTSP requires MediaMTX, uses RTSP-over-TCP so only the selected RTSP TCP port is needed, and is unauthenticated—use it only on a trusted network. If the connection is blocked, allow inbound TCP port 8554 (or your --server-port) for MediaMTX in the host firewall. Client isolation on guest Wi-Fi can also prevent devices from reaching each other.

Add --webrtc for browser playback. The CLI will also print LAN WebRTC: URLs; WebRTC additionally needs TCP 8889 and UDP/TCP 8189 by default.

WebRTC (optional, local MediaMTX)

• webrtc_enabled - off by default.
• webrtc_http_port - signaling port, default 8889.
• Pair with lan_access=True / --lan for automatically reported browser URLs on other devices.

File-specific

• file_loop - loop file continuously, default true.
• fps - override publish FPS.

Control flow

• serve() - starts publish in a background thread.
• serve_rtsp(host, path=..., username=..., password=...) - convenience wrapper for authenticated RTSP/RTSPS publish URLs.
• wait() / wait(timeout=...) - block until publish ends.
• stop() - stop encode/decode FFmpeg children and MediaMTX if started.
• wait_async() / stop_async() - async wrappers for service environments.
• latest_frame() - read the latest processed frame.
• save_snapshot(path) - write the latest processed frame to an image file.
• status() - get an immutable health snapshot with state, reconnect count, URLs, and error state.
• Context manager - with stream: calls stop() on exit.
• Stream.state, reconnect_count, viewer_url, webrtc_play_url, lan_viewer_urls, lan_webrtc_play_urls.

Releases

Releases use Git tags plus GitHub Actions:

• Run the Cut Release workflow with a version like 0.2.0, or push a tag manually with git tag -a v0.2.0 -m "Release v0.2.0" && git push origin v0.2.0.
• The Release workflow tests the repo, builds sdist and wheel, and publishes to PyPI.
• Publishing uses PyPI Trusted Publishing, so configure a trusted publisher for this repository, workflow, and environment in PyPI before the first release.
• If this repository does not have a historical release tag yet, create a baseline tag such as v0.1.0 before relying on tag-derived versions for future releases.

Third-party software

easy-rtsp only ships Python code under the license below. At runtime it invokes tools you install yourself; those are separate projects:

easy-rtsp install-backends may download a MediaMTX release from GitHub; it does not bundle FFmpeg. Use official FFmpeg builds or your OS package manager and keep their license terms alongside any binaries you redistribute.

License

MIT