ring-client-api

This is an unofficial TypeScript api for Ring Doorbells, Ring Cameras, the Ring Alarm System, Ring Smart Lighting, and third party devices that connect to the Ring Alarm System. Built to support the homebridge-ring Plugin

Installation

npm i ring-client-api

Setup and Config

First, generate a refreshToken using the instructions in the Refresh Tokens Wiki

import { RingApi } from 'ring-client-api'

const ringApi = new RingApi({
  refreshToken: 'token generated with ring-auth-cli.  See https://github.com/dgreif/ring/wiki/Refresh-Tokens',

  // The following are all optional. See below for details
  cameraStatusPollingSeconds: 20,
  cameraDingsPollingSeconds: 2,
  locationIds: ['488e4800-fcde-4493-969b-d1a06f683102', '4bbed7a7-06df-4f18-b3af-291c89854d60']
});

Optional Parameters

Option	Default	Explanation
cameraStatusPollingSeconds	undefined (No Polling)	How frequently to poll for updates to your cameras and chimes (in seconds). Information like light/siren/volume/snooze status do not update in real time and need to be requested periodically.
cameraDingsPollingSeconds	undefined (No Polling)	How frequently to poll for new events from your cameras (in seconds). These include motion and doorbell presses. Without this option, cameras will not emit any information about motion and doorbell presses.
locationModePollingSeconds	undefined (No Polling)	How frequently to poll for location mode updates (in seconds). This is only useful if you are using location modes to control camera settings and want to keep an up-to-date reference of the current mode for each location. Polling is automatically disabled for locations equipped with a Ring Alarm.
locationIds	All Locations	Allows you to limit the results to a specific set of locations. This is mainly useful for the homebridge-ring Plugin, but can also be used if you only care about listening for events at a subset of your locations and don't want to create websocket connections to all of your locations. This will also limit the results for ringApi.getCameras() to the configured locations. If this option is not included, all locations will be returned.
debug	false	Turns on additional logging. In particular, ffmpeg logging.
ffmpegPath	undefined	A custom path to the ffmpeg executable. By default, ffmpeg will be installed using ffmpeg-for-homebridge, and then fall back to using the PATH environment variable.
ffmpegPath	Uses ffmpeg-for-homebridge	A custom path to the ffmpeg executable. By default, the static binaries built in ffmpeg-for-homebridge will be used. If you prefer to use your own version of ffmpeg, you can pass a complete path, or simply "ffmpeg" to use ffmpeg from your PATH.
controlCenterDisplayName	'ring-client-api'	This allows you to change the displayed name for the Authorized Device within Control Center in the Ring app
avoidSnapshotBatteryDrain	false	Causes snapshots for battery cameras to be fetched at a minimum 10 minute interval to avoid draining the battery.

Locations

const locations = await ringApi.getLocations()
const location = locations[0]
location.hasHubs // does this location have an alarm and/or lighting bridge
location.disarm()
location.armHome([/* optional array of zids for devices to bypass */])
location.armAway([/* bypass zids */])
location.getAlarmMode() // returns Promise<'all' | 'some' | 'none'>
location.soundSiren()
location.silenceSiren()
location.cameras // array of cameras at this location
location.getHistory() // historical events from alarm/lights
location.getCameraEvents() // ding events from all cameras in the location

locations is an array of your Ring locations. Each location can be armed or disarmed, and used to interact with all devices in that location.

Devices

Once you have acquired the desired location, you can start to interact with associated devices. These devices include ring alarm, ring lighting, and third party devices connected to ring alarm

import { RingDeviceType } from 'ring-client-api'

const devices = await location.getDevices()
const baseStation = devices.find(device => device.data.deviceType === RingDeviceType.BaseStation)
baseStation.setVolume(.75) // base station and keypad support volume settings between 0 and 1
console.log(baseStation.data) // object containing properties like zid, name, roomId, faulted, tamperStatus, etc.
baseStation.onData.subscribe(data => {
    // called any time data is updated for this specific device
})

Cameras

You can get all cameras using await ringApi.getCameras() or cameras for a particular location with location.cameras

const camera = location.cameras[0]
camera.data // camera info including motion zones, light status, battery, etc.
camera.onData.subscribe(data => {
  // called every time new data is fetched for this camera
})
camera.setLight(true) // turn light on/off
camera.setSiren(true) // turn siren on/off
camera.getHealth() // fetch health info like wifi status
camera.startVideoOnDemand() // ask the camera to start a new video stream
camera.createSipSession() // creates a new SipSession which allows you to control RTP flow
camera.getEvents() // fetch ding events for the camera (like motion and doorbell presses)
camera.getRecordingUrl(dingIdStr, { transcoded: true }) // fetch the url for a recording
camera.getSnapshot() // returns a Promise<Buffer> of the latest snapshot from the camera

Camera also includes the following observables:

• onNewDing: this will include the sip info and ding information every time a new ding is created
• onActiveDings: dings created within the last 65 seconds
• onDoorbellPressed: emits a ding every time the doorbell is pressed
• onMotionDetected: true or false based on onActiveDings containing a motion ding

Some other useful propeties

• id
• name: same as description from data
• hasLight: does this camera have a light
• hasSiren: does this camera have a siren
• isDoorbot: is this camera a doorbell

See the examples directory for additional code examples.

Refresh Token

Ring has restricted refresh tokens so that they expire shortly after use. See https://github.com/dgreif/ring/wiki/Refresh-Tokens#refresh-token-expiration for details on how to properly handle refresh tokens in your library.

homebridge-ring

The homebridge-ring is also maintained in this repo. Its readme can be found in the homebridge directory

Credits

I'd like to give a big thanks to a number developers who have put a lot of hard work into analyzing the Ring api and building similar libraries which were extremely valuable in my creation of this project. Thank you all for your hard work!

• @davglass - https://github.com/davglass/doorbot - The original node project that proved we can interact with Ring's api
• @jimhigson - https://github.com/jimhigson/ring-api - A promisified api for Ring's original line of products
• @tchellomello - https://github.com/tchellomello/python-ring-doorbell - A python api which is widely used for Ring integrations
• @mrose17 - https://github.com/homespun/homebridge-platform-ring-video-doorbell - The original Ring camera homebridge plugin
• @codahq - Thanks for all your help debugging the Ring api
• @joeyberkovitz - Great discovery work on the Ring Alarm websockets api