[Question]: Unable to find manual recording video

[xavan83]

Checklist

• I have updated to the latest available Frigate version.
• I have cleared the cache of my browser.
• I have tried a different browser to see if it is related to my browser.
• I have tried reproducing the issue in incognito mode to rule out problems with any third party extensions or plugins I have installed.
• I have asked the AI at https://docs.frigate.video about my issue.

Describe the problem you are having

A click on the "Start on-demand recording" button generate a new event with the On Demand type but no recording is generated (I check in the recording segment).
Do I need a motion (because my camera are not in continuous recording)?

I spot something unusual in one of my camera (inside a motion mask zone) and I immediately think at this button to force the recording.

Steps to reproduce

1. In live view, click Start on-demand recording - stop recording
2. Check Explore view - on demand video tab

Version

0.17.0-657a68978

In which browser(s) are you experiencing the issue with?

Google chrome

Frigate config file

record:
  enabled: true
  alerts:
    retain:
      days: 30
    pre_capture: 15
    post_capture: 15
  detections:
    retain:
      days: 30
    pre_capture: 15
    post_capture: 15
  continuous:
    days: 0
  motion:
    days: 15

docker-compose file or Docker CLI command

services:
  frigate:
    container_name: frigate
    privileged: true
    image: docker.io/library/frigate:latest
    shm_size: "1.5gb"
    devices:
      - /dev/dri/renderD128
    volumes:
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
      - /home/xavan/frigate/config16:/config/
      - /extend/media16:/media/frigate
      - /home/xavan/frigate/db16:/db
      - type: tmpfs
        target: /tmp/cache
        tmpfs:
          size: 1.5g
    ports:
      - "5000:5000"
      - "1935:1935"
      - "1984:1984" #go2rtc
      - "8554:8554"
    restart: unless-stopped

Relevant Frigate log output

error | 2025-10-15 16:46:18 | frigate.api.media | No recordings found for sonnette during the requested time range
info  | 2025-10-15 16:46:18 | logging           | Last message repeated 1 times

Relevant go2rtc log output

NA

Operating system

Other Linux

Install method

Docker Compose

Network connection

Wired

Camera make and model

Hikvision, reolink

Screenshots of the Frigate UI's System metrics pages

Any other information that may be helpful

No response

[inkeep-ai-assistant[bot]]

Based on your configuration, the issue is likely related to your recording retention settings. Your configuration shows:

record:
  enabled: true
  alerts:
    retain:
      days: 30
    pre_capture: 15
    post_capture: 15
  detections:
    retain:
      days: 30
    pre_capture: 15
    post_capture: 15
  continuous:
    days: 0
  motion:
    days: 15

The problem is that you have continuous: days: 0, which means continuous recording is disabled(1). For on-demand recording to work properly, you need some form of recording retention configured beyond just alerts and detections(1).

Frigate stores recordings at /media/frigate/recordings with the folder structure YYYY-MM-DD/HH/<camera_name>/MM.SS.mp4 in UTC time(1). New recording segments are written from the camera stream to cache and are only moved to disk if they match the setup recording retention policy(1).

Since on-demand recording was implemented in Frigate 0.16(2), and manual events can be created via the Frigate API(2), the feature should work. However, your current configuration may not be retaining the recordings because they don't match your retention policies.

To resolve this, consider adjusting your recording configuration to include some basic recording retention:

record:
  enabled: true
  retain:
    days: 3
    mode: motion

(1)

This would ensure that recordings containing motion are retained for 3 days, which should allow your on-demand recordings to be saved and accessible(1).

📚 Sources:

1. Recording
2. Need On-Demand recording

---

Have another question? Just tag @inkeep.

[NickM-27]

The default for alert and detection is also motion. This means that your recording config requires motion, this is not a bug.

[xavan83]

And that will required 1tb more to keep the 48hours recording of all the camera.
Would it be possible to force the recording with that button or/and with an api call (like my knx system that wants to force recording in case of a security alert)?

[NickM-27]

And that will required 1tb more to keep the 48hours recording of all the camera.

Of course it would not, you are only changing the recording segments that are saved during the alert / detection. it will effectively not change anything except this behavior

[NickM-27]

This will be the default in 0.17 which should make this work correctly for users

#20506

[NickM-27]

implementation ended up changing a bit, if you update to the latest this will work as you expect