@sealad886/homebridge-blink-cameras-new-api


> Important: This plugin uses Blink's new (OAuth-based) API and has been validated to work in at least one European locale. It has not yet been tested in the United States. Feedback from multiple locales is welcome—the new API requires region-aware resolution.

Modern Blink platform plugin for Homebridge using the official OAuth endpoints. Exposes Blink devices as proper HomeKit accessories:

- SecuritySystem for arm/disarm control of networks
- MotionSensor for motion detection events
- Doorbell service for ring notifications
- Switch for enabling/disabling motion detection per device

All API interactions are based on reverse-engineered endpoints from the official Blink Android app (v50.1).

Two-Way Talk Status

Two-way talk is temporarily disabled. The HomeKit microphone/talk UI is hidden and the plugin forces twoWayAudio off until IMMIS uplink framing is validated. Even if you previously enabled talkback, the setting is ignored for now. We will re-enable the UI once payload sequencing and ACK handling are confirmed stable.

Features

- ✅ Proper HomeKit SecuritySystem - Arm/disarm networks using the Security System tile in Home app
- ✅ Motion Detection - Receive motion alerts in HomeKit when your cameras detect motion
- ✅ Doorbell Support - Ring notifications appear as HomeKit doorbell events
- ✅ Status Polling - Automatically syncs device states with Blink cloud
- ✅ OAuth Authentication - Modern OAuth 2.0 with automatic token refresh
- ✅ 2FA Support - Works with Blink accounts that have two-factor authentication enabled
- ✅ Retry Logic - Automatic retry with exponential backoff for rate limits and server errors

Requirements

- Homebridge 1.11.1 or later
- Node.js 18.0.0 or later (native fetch API required)
- A Blink account with credentials

Installation

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1. Open the Homebridge UI
2. Navigate to Plugins
3. Search for "@sealad886/homebridge-blink-cameras-new-api"
4. Click Install

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``bash
npm install -g @sealad886/homebridge-blink-cameras-new-api
`

Restart Homebridge after installing.

Configuration

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The plugin provides a full configuration UI. Navigate to Plugins → Settings for @sealad886/homebridge-blink-cameras-new-api.

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Add a platform entry to your Homebridge config.json:

`json
{
"platforms": [
{
"platform": "BlinkCameras",
"name": "Blink",
"username": "you@example.com",
"password": "your-blink-password",
"deviceId": "homebridge-blink-01",
"persistAuth": true,
"trustDevice": true,
"pollInterval": 60,
"motionTimeout": 30,
"enableMotionPolling": true,
"enableStreaming": true,
"ffmpegPath": "ffmpeg",
"enableAudio": true
}
]
}
`

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| Option | Required | Default | Description |
| ------ | -------- | ------- | ----------- |
| platform | Yes | - | Must be BlinkCameras |
| name | Yes | Blink | Platform name shown in logs |
| username | Yes | - | Your Blink account email |
| password | Yes | - | Your Blink account password |
| deviceId | No | homebridge-blink | Unique identifier sent to Blink (hardware_id) |
| deviceName | No | - | Fallback for deviceId |
| twoFactorCode | No | - | 2FA code (only needed during initial setup) |
| clientVerificationCode | No | - | New-device verification PIN (only when prompted) |
| accountVerificationCode | No | - | Account/phone verification PIN (only when prompted) |
| persistAuth | No | true | Persist auth tokens across restarts |
| trustDevice | No | true | Trust this device during client verification |
| tier | No | prod | Blink API tier: prod, sqa1, cemp, prde, prsg, a001, or srf1 (auto-detected tiers from Blink are honored for routing) |
| sharedTier | No | - | Override shared REST tier (defaults to tier) |
| debugAuth | No | false | Enable verbose authentication logging |
| pollInterval | No | 60 | Seconds between state polls (min 15) |
| motionTimeout | No | 30 | Seconds motion stays active |
| enableMotionPolling | No | true | Poll for motion events |
| enableStreaming | No | true | Enable HomeKit live streaming (FFmpeg required) |
| ffmpegPath | No | ffmpeg | Path to FFmpeg binary |
| ffmpegDebug | No | false | Log FFmpeg debug output |
| rtspTransport | No | tcp | RTSP transport for Blink live view |
| maxStreams | No | 1 | Max concurrent HomeKit streams |
| enableAudio | No | true | Enable audio streaming from camera |
| twoWayAudio | No | false (forced off) | Talkback is disabled; HomeKit microphone UI is hidden until IMMIS uplink is validated |
| audioCodec | No | opus | Preferred audio codec (opus, aac-eld, pcma, pcmu) |
| audioBitrate | No | 32 | Audio bitrate (kbps) |
| videoBitrate | No | - | Cap video bitrate (kbps) |
| debugStreamPath | No | - | Save raw MPEG-TS stream recordings for debugging |
| snapshotCacheTTL | No | 60 | Snapshot cache duration (seconds); 0 always fetches new snapshots |
| excludeDevices | No | - | List of device IDs/serials/names to exclude |
| deviceNames | No | - | Map of device IDs/serials to custom display names |
| deviceSettings | No | - | Per-device overrides (e.g., motion timeout/enable) |

When persistAuth is enabled, auth tokens are stored in a sibling folder to Homebridge's HAP
storage (for example, /var/lib/homebridge/blink-auth/) to avoid corrupting the HAP
persist directory.

Quick Start: Login & Authorization

On first setup, Blink may prompt for up to three codes. Provide only the one being requested at the time, then remove it after successful login/verification. Keep persistAuth: true so you won’t be prompted again.

1. Start with your username, password, unique deviceId, and persistAuth: true.
2. If prompted for a two-factor code, set twoFactorCode temporarily and restart Homebridge.
3. If prompted for client verification (new device approval), set clientVerificationCode temporarily and restart.
4. If prompted for account/phone verification, set accountVerificationCode temporarily and restart.
5. After successful login/verification, remove any *Code values from your config and restart Homebridge.

Tips:

- Ensure deviceId is unique per Homebridge instance.
- Leave trustDevice: true so future sessions are approved automatically.
- If you keep seeing verification prompts, confirm that persistAuth is enabled and the Homebridge process can write to the auth directory.

Live Streaming (FFmpeg)

Live streaming uses FFmpeg to transcode Blink's RTSPS stream to HomeKit SRTP. Make sure FFmpeg is installed
and accessible in your PATH, or set ffmpegPath to the full binary location.

If you use brew (MacOS or Linux), install ffmpeg using:

`bash
brew install 'ffmpeg@8'
`

Supported Devices

| Blink Device | HomeKit Service | Features |
| ------------ | --------------- | -------- |
| Network | SecuritySystem | Arm/disarm all cameras in network |
| Camera | Switch + MotionSensor | Enable/disable motion, motion events |
| Doorbell | Doorbell + Switch + MotionSensor | Ring events, enable/disable motion |
| Owl (Mini) | Switch + MotionSensor | Enable/disable motion, motion events |

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The HomeKit SecuritySystem exposes standard modes:

- Away Arm → Network is armed
- Stay Arm → Network is armed (same as Away)
- Night Arm → Network is armed (same as Away)
- Disarm → Network is disarmed

Note: Blink only has armed/disarmed states, so all "armed" modes map to Blink's armed state.

Two-Factor Authentication

When you first connect a new device to your Blink account:

1. Blink sends an email with a verification code
2. Add the code to twoFactorCode in your config
3. Restart Homebridge
4. After successful login, remove the 2FA code from your config
5. Restart Homebridge again

Future logins will use refresh tokens and won't require 2FA.

Client Verification (New Device Approval)

Blink may require a one-time client verification for new devices, which is separate from 2FA:

1. The plugin will request a verification code on first login.
2. Check your email/SMS for the code.
3. Add the code to clientVerificationCode in your config.
4. Restart Homebridge.
5. After successful verification, remove the code from your config.

If you keep seeing verification prompts, ensure persistAuth is enabled and your deviceId is unique.

Account/Phone Verification

Some accounts require an additional account or phone verification step:

1. The plugin will request a verification code when required.
2. Check your email/SMS for the code.
3. Add the code to accountVerificationCode in your config.
4. Restart Homebridge.
5. After successful verification, remove the code from your config.

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Add only one code at a time when requested by Blink:

`json
{
"platform": "BlinkCameras",
"username": "you@example.com",
"password": "your-blink-password",
"deviceId": "homebridge-blink-01",
"persistAuth": true,
"twoFactorCode": "123456" // remove after success, then restart
}
`

Troubleshooting

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- Regenerate a unique deviceId
- Check your email for the Blink device approval prompt
- Provide a fresh twoFactorCode if prompted
- If logs show tier_info with a different tier, restart after the plugin auto-updates routing

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The plugin automatically backs off and retries. If you're hitting rate limits frequently:

- Increase pollInterval to reduce API calls
- Set enableMotionPolling to false to reduce calls

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This plugin requires Node.js 18+ for the native fetch API. Check your version:

`bash
node --version
`

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- Ensure enableMotionPolling is true
- Check that the network is armed (motion events only trigger when armed)
- Reduce pollInterval for faster detection (but more API calls)

API Documentation

This plugin's API implementation is based on reverse engineering the official Blink Home Monitor Android app (v50.1). Key technical details:

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- OAuth 2.0 password grant flow via api.oauth.blink.com (production)
- Automatic token refresh when tokens expire
- Hardware ID required for device identification
- Client verification PIN flow for new device approval
- Region-aware routing based on tier and locale; behavior may differ by country

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- Homescreen: GET v4/accounts/{account_id}/homescreen
- Arm/Disarm: POST v1/accounts/{account_id}/networks/{network_id}/state/arm|disarm
- Motion Enable/Disable: POST accounts/{account_id}/networks/{network_id}/cameras/{camera_id}/enable|disable
- Media: GET v4/accounts/{account_id}/media

For full endpoint documentation, see the API dossier in the source repository.

Development

`bash


Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/sealad886/homebridge-blink-cameras-new-api.git
cd homebridge-blink-cameras-new-api

Install dependencies

npm install

Build

npm run build

Watch + Homebridge (uses test/hbConfig)

npm run watch

TypeScript-only rebuilds

npm run watch:ts

Run tests

npm test

Lint

npm run lint
`

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1. npm run build
2. npm test
3. npm run lint
4. npm pack and confirm the tarball includes dist/, config.schema.json, and homebridge-ui/
5. npm run watch and confirm the plugin boots with test/hbConfig/config.json

Changelog

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- Complete TypeScript rewrite with full API dossier evidence
- SecuritySystem service for proper HomeKit arm/disarm
- MotionSensor service for motion detection events
- Doorbell service for ring notifications
- Status polling with configurable interval
- Media API polling for motion event detection
- OAuth 2.0 authentication with automatic token refresh
- Comprehensive configuration UI

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- Legacy implementation using node-blink-security`

License

MIT - see LICENSE for details.

Credits

- API documentation derived from reverse engineering the Blink Android app
- Homebridge platform plugin architecture
- Community feedback on locale-specific behavior (EU validated; US pending)