Get Started#

Smart NVR is a GenAI-powered video analytics application that transforms traditional network video recorders with intelligent event detection and real-time insights at the edge. This guide will walk you through deploying and configuring the application to extract valuable insights from your video data.

Prerequisites#

System Requirements#

System must meet minimum requirements.
VSS and Smart NVR can run on the same device using VSS Dual Mode, or on separate devices.

Deployment Option	VSS Mode	Minimum Devices
Single device	Dual Mode (`--summary --search`)	1
Separate VSS device	Any mode	2
With GenAI (optional)	Any	+1 for VLM Microservice

Deploy VSS before starting Smart NVR. See VSS Documentation for setup instructions.

Software Dependencies#

Docker: Installation Guide
- Must be configured to run without sudo (Post-install guide)
Git: Installation Guide

Quick Start#

Step 1: Build from Source#

Go to the target directory of your choice and clone the suite. If you want to clone a specific release branch, replace main with the desired tag. To learn more on partial cloning, check the Repository Cloning guide.

git clone --filter=blob:none --sparse --branch release-2026.2.0 https://github.com/open-edge-platform/edge-ai-suites.git
cd edge-ai-suites
git sparse-checkout set metro-ai-suite
cd metro-ai-suite/smart-nvr

Step 2: Configure Environment#

Set up the required environment variables:

# Docker Registry Details
export REGISTRY_URL="intel"
export TAG="2026.2.0-rc1"

# VSS Service Endpoint (required)
export VSS_IP=<vss-device-ip>
export VSS_PORT=<vss-port>                         # optional, default 12345

# Optional — set only if needed
# export NVR_SCENESCAPE=false           # optional, default false; set to 'true' to enable SceneScape integration
# export http_proxy=<http-proxy>
# export https_proxy=<https-proxy>
# export no_proxy=<no_proxy>
# export MQTT_USER=<mqtt-username>      # auto-generated if omitted
# export MQTT_PASSWORD=<mqtt-password>  # auto-generated if omitted

Step 3: Launch Application#

# Start all services
source setup.sh start

The batch settings control how the NVR Event Router groups videos detected by the continuous-ingestion watcher, and how often it polls Pipeline Manager for asynchronous embedding-job completion. They do not affect single event-rule clips or video summarization.

This launches all required containers:

Services overview

Step 4: Access the Interface#

Open your browser and navigate to:

http://<host-ip>:7860

Step 5: Stop Services#

# Stop all services when done
source setup.sh stop

Advanced Configuration#

For optional features including AI-powered event descriptions (GenAI) and custom build options, see the Advanced Configuration Guide.

Scenescape Integration#

For traffic analytics capabilities with Scenescape (vehicle counting, traffic flow analysis), see the Scenescape Integration Guide.

Custom Build Configuration#

If using custom build flags, ensure the same environment variables are set before running the setup script.

Next Steps#

Explore Features: Learn about application capabilities in the How to Use Guide
Troubleshooting: If you encounter issues, check the Troubleshooting Guide