Dahua MCP Server

MCP server for managing Dahua/Amcrest IP cameras via their CGI HTTP API. Supports multiple cameras from a single instance, with both stdio and HTTP transports.

Quick Start

1. Create a cameras config file

Create ~/.config/dahua-mcp/cameras.yaml (or cameras.json) with your camera credentials. This is the default config location — no env var needed.

JSON (cameras.json):

{
  "cameras": [
    {
      "name": "front-door",
      "host": "192.168.1.108",
      "port": 80,
      "username": "admin",
      "password": "secret"
    },
    {
      "name": "backyard",
      "host": "192.168.1.109",
      "port": 80,
      "username": "admin",
      "password": "secret"
    }
  ]
}

YAML (cameras.yaml):

cameras:
  - name: front-door
    host: 192.168.1.108
    port: 80
    username: admin
    password: secret
  - name: backyard
    host: 192.168.1.109
    port: 80
    username: admin
    password: secret

Each camera entry supports:

Field	Required	Default	Description
name	Yes	—	Unique camera name used in all tool calls
host	Yes	—	Camera hostname or IP address
port	No	80	HTTP port (443 auto-enables HTTPS)
username	Yes	—	Camera username
password	Yes	—	Camera password
verify_ssl	No	false	Verify SSL certificates

2. Add the MCP server

Option A: stdio (Claude Code / Claude Desktop)

Using the Claude Code CLI (cameras config auto-discovered from ~/.config/dahua-mcp/):

# From PyPI
claude mcp add dahua-mcp -- uvx dahua-mcp

# From a local clone
claude mcp add dahua-mcp -- uv run --directory /path/to/dahua-mcp dahua-mcp

# With a custom config path
claude mcp add dahua-mcp -e DAHUA_CAMERAS_CONFIG=/path/to/cameras.json -- uvx dahua-mcp

Or manually add to your Claude Code settings (~/.claude.json) or Claude Desktop config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "dahua-mcp": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["dahua-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Or run from a local clone:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "dahua-mcp": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "--directory", "/path/to/dahua-mcp", "dahua-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

To override the config location, add an env block:

{
  "env": {
    "DAHUA_CAMERAS_CONFIG": "/custom/path/cameras.yaml"
  }
}

Option B: Docker container (HTTP transport)

Run the container with your config file volume-mounted:

docker run -d \
  -v /path/to/cameras.json:/config/cameras.json:ro \
  -p 8000:8000 \
  ghcr.io/brianegge/dahua-mcp:latest

Then add the HTTP server to your MCP client config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "dahua-mcp": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://localhost:8000/mcp"
    }
  }
}

To use a YAML config with Docker:

docker run -d \
  -v /path/to/cameras.yaml:/config/cameras.yaml:ro \
  -e DAHUA_CAMERAS_CONFIG=/config/cameras.yaml \
  -p 8000:8000 \
  ghcr.io/brianegge/dahua-mcp:latest

To add bearer token authentication:

docker run -d \
  -v /path/to/cameras.json:/config/cameras.json:ro \
  -e MCP_HTTP_BEARER_TOKEN=your-secret-token \
  -p 8000:8000 \
  ghcr.io/brianegge/dahua-mcp:latest

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "dahua-mcp": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://localhost:8000/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer your-secret-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Environment Variables

All settings beyond camera credentials are configured via environment variables:

Variable	Default	Description
DAHUA_CAMERAS_CONFIG	~/.config/dahua-mcp/cameras.yaml	Path to cameras config file (JSON or YAML). Auto-discovers from ~/.config/dahua-mcp/ if not set.
DAHUA_TIMEOUT	20	HTTP request timeout in seconds
DAHUA_SNAPSHOT_DIR	system temp dir	Directory take_snapshot writes JPEGs to
READ_ONLY_MODE	false	Disable all write tools (reboot, set_config, etc.)
DISABLED_TAGS	—	Comma-separated tags to disable (e.g. destructive,write)
LOG_LEVEL	INFO	Logging level
RATE_LIMIT_ENABLED	false	Enable rate limiting
RATE_LIMIT_MAX_REQUESTS	60	Max requests per window
RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW_MINUTES	1	Rate limit window in minutes
MCP_TRANSPORT	stdio	Transport type: stdio, sse, or http
MCP_HTTP_HOST	0.0.0.0	HTTP bind host
MCP_HTTP_PORT	8000	HTTP bind port
MCP_HTTP_BEARER_TOKEN	—	Optional bearer token for HTTP auth

Available Tools

Discovery

Tool	Description	Read-Only
list_cameras	List all configured cameras (name, host, port)	Yes

System Info

Tool	Description	Read-Only
get_system_info	Get full system info (device type, serial, firmware, etc.)	Yes
get_device_type	Get the device type/model	Yes
get_software_version	Get firmware version	Yes
get_machine_name	Get the camera's machine name	Yes
get_serial_number	Get the serial number	Yes
get_hardware_version	Get the hardware version	Yes
get_vendor	Get the vendor/manufacturer	Yes

Config Read

Tool	Description	Read-Only
get_config	Get any config section by name	Yes
get_motion_detection	Get motion detection config	Yes
get_video_in_mode	Get video input mode (day/night profile)	Yes
get_exposure	Get exposure mode, shutter range and gain per day/night profile	Yes
get_encoding_config	Get encoding/streaming config	Yes
get_network_config	Get network config (IP, gateway, DNS)	Yes
get_ntp_config	Get NTP time sync config	Yes

Config Write

Tool	Description	Destructive
set_config	Set arbitrary config key-value pairs	Yes
enable_motion_detection	Enable/disable motion detection	No
set_shutter_range	Cap the slowest shutter (e.g. 1/60) to cut motion blur	No
set_exposure_auto	Hand exposure back to the camera	No
set_record_mode	Set recording mode (auto/manual/off)	No

System Control

Tool	Description	Destructive
reboot	Reboot the camera	Yes
take_snapshot	Take a JPEG snapshot, saved to disk (returns the path)	No

Storage / Recordings

Tool	Description	Read-Only
get_storage_info	Hard drive status, capacity and health	Yes
find_recordings	List recorded files, to confirm a recorder is recording	Yes

Logs

Tool	Description	Read-Only
search_logs	Search camera logs by time range and type	Yes

Firmware quirks

The device protocol lives in aiodahua, which this server is a thin MCP layer over. That is where the digest/basic auth negotiation, the CGI parsing and the firmware quirks are implemented and tested, so the Home Assistant integration and this server share one implementation instead of two.

Behaviours confirmed against real hardware, handled for you:

• Clearing a config field. Sending Key= with an empty value returns OK and changes nothing. Pass "" to set_config and it is sent as a single space, which the device trims back to "".
• & cannot appear in a config value. The firmware percent-decodes the whole query string before splitting it on &, so an encoded & still terminates the value — the request either returns HTTP 400 or the value is silently truncated. set_config raises a clear error instead. #, +, %, =, / and ' are all fine and round-trip correctly.
• used == total on a healthy disk. A recorder pre-allocates the whole drive into fixed-size blocks when it formats, so even a brand new disk reports 100% used. get_storage_info flags this so it is not mistaken for a full disk; use find_recordings to confirm writes are landing.
• find_recordings channels are 1-based. Channel 0 is rejected.
• A missing endpoint is an error body, not a 404. Older firmware answers Bad Request!, 2024 builds answer Not Implemented! with HTTP 501, and some failures arrive as HTTP 200 with an error body that would otherwise parse into a plausible-looking dict.
• Some devices only accept basic auth. Digest is tried first and the fallback is automatic.
• A Lorex E891AB reboots if asked for audio.cgi, dropping HTTP and RTSP for ~105 seconds. The library refuses that request on the brands known to do it.

Development

git clone https://github.com/brianegge/dahua-mcp.git
cd dahua-mcp
uv sync
uv run pre-commit install  # Install ruff format/lint hook
uv run pytest              # Run tests
uv run ruff check .        # Lint

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.