Sentry Bridge

Plug your old CCTV into Sentry in two minutes.

The Bridge is a tiny free helper that runs on any computer in the same building as your cameras — a Mac, a Windows PC you already have, or a $50 Raspberry Pi. It speaks RTSP to your camera and hands Sentry a regular snapshot URL. Camera credentials never leave your machine.

1. Pick your setup

  1. 1
    Install Docker Desktop — then open it
    Free for personal use. Mac, Windows, Linux. Download Docker Desktop →

    After installing, open Docker Desktop and wait until the status (bottom-left) says "Engine running". Keep it running in the background. If you skip this, step 3 will show 'docker' is not recognized.

    Windows users: when the installer asks about "Allow Windows Containers", leave it unchecked. Sentry Bridge uses Linux containers — Windows Containers are a separate feature you don't need.

  2. 2
    Download the Sentry Bridge bundle
    sentry-bridge.zip

    ~5 KB. Contains the Docker config, a starter go2rtc.yaml, and start scripts.

  3. 3
    Unzip & launch
    Unzip the file. Then double-click:
    • start.command on Mac / Linux
    • start.bat on Windows

    A terminal opens and shows [bridge] listening on … — that's it, you're running.

  4. 4
    Continue to step 2 below
    Configure your first camera ↓

2. Add your camera to the config

Fill in the form. We'll generate the go2rtc.yaml snippet you paste in.

api:
  listen: ":1984"
rtsp:
  listen: ":8554"
streams:
  front_door: rtsp://192.168.1.50:554/h264Preview_01_main

Open go2rtc.yaml in any text editor, replace the streams: block with the snippet above, save, then restart the Bridge (docker compose restart).

3. Add it in Sentry

  1. Open Cameras → Add camera → RTSP via Bridge.
  2. Keep Bridge host as http://localhost:1984 (same machine) or http://<bridge-ip>:1984.
  3. Set Stream slug to front_door — must match the YAML key above.
  4. Click Test snapshot. You should see a still from your camera.

Troubleshooting

“Mixed content blocked” in the browser
Sentry is served over HTTPS, but the Bridge runs over plain HTTP on your LAN. Use Chrome/Edge, click the shield icon in the address bar, and allow insecure content for sentry.today. Or run a small reverse-proxy with a self-signed cert (advanced).
“stream not found”
The slug in your URL must match the key in go2rtc.yaml exactly. Restart after editing.
“ffmpeg not found” (Node option only)
Install ffmpeg from ffmpeg.org and make sure it's on your PATH.
Firewall blocks port 1984
Allow inbound TCP 1984 on the machine running the Bridge. On a Pi: sudo ufw allow 1984/tcp.