Technical Integration Guide

OpticLink Pro is designed to be an open, highly integratable video and audio orchestrator. This document specifies the integration protocols, local network standards, and deep-linking APIs that enable external systems, custom dashboards, and smart home systems to seamlessly interface with OpticLink Pro.

1. The ip-camera:// URI Protocol Specification

OpticLink Pro registers as the default client for the custom ip-camera:// URI protocol at the OS level. This deep-linking standard allows external web portals, native apps, or scripting engines to command OpticLink Pro to instantly establish connection parameters, spawn stream controllers, and render camera feeds.

URI Schema Structure

The query string requires four primary connection parameters to configure a camera pipeline on the fly:

Single-Instance Lifecycle Handling

When an ip-camera:// URI is triggered, the application manages the system lifecycle seamlessly:

• Startup Behavior: If OpticLink Pro is closed, launching the protocol opens the application and immediately connects to the camera specified in the query parameters.
• Running Singleton Behavior: If OpticLink Pro is already running, a second-instance lock handler intercepts the URI parameters in the background, focuses the window, maps the credentials to the appropriate stream controller, and reloads the active layout with the new target camera feed.

2. Local Network & Stream Integration Standards

OpticLink Pro operates locally to ensure extreme security, high throughput, and zero external dependency. It utilizes standard open networking protocol layers:

ONVIF WS-Discovery

The application incorporates local subnetwork discovery using standard ONVIF WS-Discovery multicast probes (IP 239.255.255.250, port 3702). External configuration systems can expect the application to automatically discover all local ONVIF-compliant cameras and return their key endpoint data:

// Discovered Node Schema Returned by Local Search:
{
    "ip": "192.168.1.108",
    "name": "TP-Link CW61",
    "manufacturer": "TP-Link"
}

RTSP Stream Direct Integration

Once connection parameters are established via the protocol or UI, OpticLink Pro directly requests and pulls camera feeds via local RTSP (Real-Time Streaming Protocol).

• Transport Mode: OpticLink Pro enforces RTSP over TCP transport. This prevents frame dropping, color artifacts, and stream corruption associated with packet loss in UDP connections across local network switches and VPN tunnels.
• Resolution Layering: The system utilizes dual-stream feeds from cameras when available, allowing high-performance switching between 4K high-bitrate streams for active views and lower-resolution stream layers to conserve network bandwidth in multi-camera grids.

Two-Way Intercom & Audio Mappings

For compatible hardware supporting ONVIF backchannels, OpticLink Pro establishes low-latency audio backchannel pipes. Audio captured by the local host's microphone is processed in the browser context via custom AudioWorklet processors before being packetized and sent to the core engine. This ensures the latency remains below 100ms for high-clarity local talkback.

Recording Persistent Storage Integration

OpticLink Pro writes video and audio directly to the host filesystem inside high-reliability containers. For external applications (such as a local Plex Server, customized surveillance indexes, or NAS scripts) looking to consume archived footage, the file structure is structured as follows:

• Recording Paths: By default, videos are placed in Videos/OpticLink_Recordings/. A custom recording path can be passed via IPC or saved in local settings.
• File Format: Captured footage is stored in highly resilient Fragmented MP4 (fMP4) or MKV containers. Fragmented files remain readable and perfectly indexable by third-party decoders even if power is lost or the host process is terminated abruptly.
• Screenshot Directories: Real-time screenshots captured by OpticLink Pro are archived in a subfolder screenshots/ with unique ISO-8601 timestamps (e.g., Snapshot_Camera_1_2026-05-31T13-30-00.jpg).

3. Third-Party Application & Smart Home Mappings

Developers can leverage OpticLink Pro to extend local home automation platforms and customize physical operations.

Home Assistant (HASS) Integration

By combining Home Assistant shell commands with the ip-camera:// URI protocol, you can configure your dashboard to instantly open active streams on wall-mounted wall tablets or local monitoring PCs when events occur:

# Define a service to launch a specific stream on a monitoring terminal
shell_command:
  launch_opticlink_gate_camera: >-
    explorer "ip-camera://connect?ip=192.168.1.120&port=80&username=admin&password=MyGateSecurePassword"

This service can be triggered by standard HASS Automations, such as when a door sensor is opened, a smart button is pressed, or security parameters change.

Custom Operations Dashboards

For enterprise operations centers, developers can design a lightweight HTML dashboard with visual maps. Clicking an area on the interactive map issues a call to window.location.href = "ip-camera://connect?ip=...". OpticLink Pro will instantly snap its interface focus to the camera feed corresponding to the map coordinates.