Rhombus React SDK (@rhombussystems/react)

React + TypeScript library for streaming Rhombus cameras using federated session tokens: MPEG-DASH live (Dash.js) via RhombusBufferedPlayer, and low-latency H.264 over WebSocket via RhombusRealtimePlayer (WebCodecs). Your Rhombus API key must never ship to the browser; the usual pattern is a short-lived federated token from your backend (or a token minted server-side with a browser-authorized domain — see the Rhombus Generate federated session token API docs).

Install

Add the published package to your application (requires React 18+):

npm install @rhombussystems/react

With Yarn or pnpm: yarn add @rhombussystems/react or pnpm add @rhombussystems/react.

Peer dependencies: react and react-dom (>= 18). Install them in your app if needed. dashjs is included as a dependency of this package for DASH playback—you do not need to install it separately for RhombusBufferedPlayer.

Realtime WebSocket: RhombusRealtimePlayer uses the browser WebCodecs VideoDecoder (Chrome, Edge, Safari 16.4+ with H.264; Firefox support is still limited). There is no extra npm dependency for realtime mode.

Quick start

import { RhombusBufferedPlayer } from "@rhombussystems/react";

export function CameraView() {
  return <RhombusBufferedPlayer cameraUuid="YOUR_CAMERA_UUID" />;
}

Warning

Server setup required. The SDK calls your app’s origin for a token, then Rhombus for media. Your server must implement POST /api/federated-token (the default path), or set paths.federatedToken to match whatever route you expose. Server side, when you call Rhombus generateFederatedSessionToken, include a domain that allows this page’s origin to use the token against api2.rhombussystems.com from the browser—otherwise you may see CORS or auth failures.

See the Rhombus Generate federated session token API docs. If something fails, check the browser console for [RhombusBufferedPlayer] messages.

Under the hood: the SDK **POST**s to window.location.origin + paths.federatedToken (default /api/federated-token), then **POST**s media URIs directly to the Rhombus API (rhombusApiBaseUrl, default https://api2.rhombussystems.com/api, path default /camera/getMediaUris) with federated auth headers. For this direct browser request to succeed, your server must include a domain field when calling Rhombus generateFederatedSessionToken — domain authorizes the browser's origin to call api2.rhombussystems.com with the token. Without it, the request will be blocked by CORS or rejected with a 401/403. Alternatively, set apiOverrideBaseUrl (or override paths.mediaUris) to route media-URI requests through your own backend, avoiding direct browser-to-Rhombus calls entirely.

Buffered DASH: connectionMode (WAN vs LAN)

RhombusBufferedPlayer uses the same getMediaUris response as realtime:

• connectionMode="wan" (default) — reads wanLiveMpdUri and plays the cloud / WAN manifest with Dash.js.
• connectionMode="lan" — reads lanLiveMpdUris (or lanLiveMpdUri if present); the first non-empty entry is used (same selection idea as RhombusRealtimePlayer LAN). The page must be able to reach that host (routing, firewall, HTTPS vs HTTP mixed-content rules). Manifest and segments still get x-auth-scheme=federated-token and x-auth-ft on the URL query string.

bufferedStreamQuality / applyBufferedStreamQuality apply on LAN the same as WAN (query _ds on manifest and segments). Rhombus Console often hides quality controls on LAN; set applyBufferedStreamQuality={false} if you want full-resolution LAN only.

VOD / historical footage

RhombusBufferedPlayer also supports playing back recorded (VOD) footage from Rhombus cameras. Set startTimeSec to switch from live to VOD mode — when omitted the player streams live as before:

import { RhombusBufferedPlayer } from "@rhombussystems/react";

export function HistoricalView() {
  // Play back footage starting at midnight UTC on 2025-04-15
  const start = Math.floor(new Date("2025-04-15T00:00:00Z").getTime() / 1000);

  return (
    <RhombusBufferedPlayer
      cameraUuid="YOUR_CAMERA_UUID"
      startTimeSec={start}
      vodDurationSec={3600}   // 1-hour manifest window (default 7200 = 2 hours)
      seekOffsetSec={300}     // begin playback 5 minutes in
    />
  );
}

Prop	Role
startTimeSec	Unix epoch seconds. When set, the player fetches a VOD MPD URI template (wanVodMpdUriTemplate / lanVodMpdUrisTemplates) from getMediaUris instead of the live URI. Changing this value tears down and re-creates the Dash.js player with a new manifest.
vodDurationSec	Length of the manifest window in seconds. Default 7200 (2 hours). Controls how far the user can seek forward within the loaded manifest before a new one is needed.
seekOffsetSec	Offset in seconds from startTimeSec at which playback begins. Default 0.

How it works: Rhombus getMediaUris returns VOD URI templates like .../dash/web/outbound/{camera}/{session}/{START_TIME}/{DURATION}/vod/file.mpd (WAN) or .../store/{START_TIME}_{DURATION}/clip.mpd (LAN). The SDK fills {START_TIME} and {DURATION} from your props, then initializes Dash.js with VOD-tuned settings (larger buffers, no live catchup, buffering while paused for scrubbing). Auth, quality modifiers, and connection mode work identically to live.

Sliding the window: To navigate beyond the current manifest window, update startTimeSec in your app state. The player will tear down and re-attach with the new manifest. For example, a custom timeline control could update startTimeSec when the user drags past the window edge.

Advanced: formatVodMpdUri(template, startTimeSec, durationSec) and getDefaultRhombusVodDashSettings() are exported for consumers who need to build VOD URLs or configure Dash.js themselves.

Federated token refresh (SDK-managed)

When federatedSessionToken is omitted, the SDK periodically re-fetches the token from your POST federated-token route so streams outlive a single token TTL. The next refresh is scheduled at approximately 97% of the effective lifetime, where effective lifetime is the minimum of:

• the requested tokenDurationSec (sent as durationSec in the JSON body), and
• optional server hints in the token JSON response: expiresInSec (seconds), expiresAtMs (Unix ms), or expiresAt (ISO date string or Unix seconds/ms).

DASH (RhombusBufferedPlayer): Dash.js keeps running; segment and manifest requests read the current token from an internal ref, so rotation does not reset the player.

Realtime (RhombusRealtimePlayer): Auth is on the WebSocket URL, so each refresh closes and reopens the socket (expect a short blip). onReady fires only after the first successful connection for that mount.

When federatedSessionToken is set, the SDK does not call your token endpoint. You must mint and refresh tokens yourself; pass an updated string to rotate. DASH picks up the new value without remounting; realtime reconnects when the prop changes.

Optional helpers (advanced / testing): fetchFederatedSessionToken, getFederatedTokenRefreshDelayMs, type FederatedTokenFetchResult.

Realtime WebSocket: RhombusRealtimePlayer

Use getMediaUris (same POST as DASH). The component reads wanLiveH264Uri or wanLiveH264Uris, and lanLiveH264Uri or lanLiveH264Uris (Rhombus may return either a single string or an array). It decodes Rhombus’s TLV-framed H.264 stream and draws to a <canvas>.

• connectionMode="wan" — Uses wanLiveH264Uri / wanLiveH264Uris and appends x-auth-scheme=federated-token and x-auth-ft=<token> to the WebSocket URL (same idea as DASH segment URLs).
• connectionMode="lan" — Uses lanLiveH264Uri / lanLiveH264Uris and appends the same federated query parameters on the socket URL so LAN realtime works without cookies (including from localhost).

Note

v1.0 (breaking): LAN no longer uses document.cookie or props like applyLanAuthCookie. setRhombusLanAuthCookie was removed. Upgrade only when your Rhombus deployment accepts federated-token query params on LAN WebSocket URLs.

import { RhombusRealtimePlayer } from "@rhombussystems/react";

export function RealtimeCameraWan() {
  return (
    <RhombusRealtimePlayer
      cameraUuid="YOUR_CAMERA_UUID"
      connectionMode="wan"
      apiOverrideBaseUrl="https://your-api.example.com"
    />
  );
}

Optional exports for custom wiring: resolveLiveH264WebSocketUrl, startRhombusRealtimeSession.

Stream quality (optional)

You can change how aggressively Rhombus serves live video without touching token or media-URI fetching yourself.

DASH — RhombusBufferedPlayer

• bufferedStreamQuality: "HIGH" (default) | "MEDIUM" | "LOW". Each step asks Rhombus to downscale on the server by adding a _ds=… query on segment and manifest URLs (same idea as Rhombus Console buffered quality). Works for connectionMode="wan" and "lan". Dash.js ABR stays off; quality follows this setting.
• applyBufferedStreamQuality: default true. Set false to omit _ds entirely (WAN or LAN).

Changing bufferedStreamQuality or applyBufferedStreamQuality does not re-fetch the MPD or federated token—the Dash RequestModifier reads the latest values on each request, so a simple prop update is enough. Changing connectionMode re-initializes Dash.js.

Realtime WebSocket — RhombusRealtimePlayer

• realtimeStreamQuality: "HD" (default) | "SD". SD rewrites the socket path /ws → /wsl, which requests a lower-resolution stream from Rhombus (aligned with Console realtime SD/HD).

Changing realtimeStreamQuality closes and reopens the WebSocket, so expect a short blip—there is no in-place path switch.

Types are exported as RhombusBufferedStreamQuality, RhombusRealtimeStreamQuality, RhombusConnectionMode (also RhombusRealtimeConnectionMode, an alias), and RhombusBufferedPlayerProps / RhombusRealtimePlayerProps.

import {
  RhombusBufferedPlayer,
  RhombusRealtimePlayer,
  type RhombusBufferedStreamQuality,
  type RhombusRealtimeStreamQuality,
} from "@rhombussystems/react";
import { useState } from "react";

export function CameraWithQualityControls() {
  const [dashQ, setDashQ] = useState<RhombusBufferedStreamQuality>("HIGH");
  const [rtQ, setRtQ] = useState<RhombusRealtimeStreamQuality>("HD");

  return (
    <>
      <label>
        DASH quality{" "}
        <select value={dashQ} onChange={e => setDashQ(e.target.value as RhombusBufferedStreamQuality)}>
          <option value="HIGH">High</option>
          <option value="MEDIUM">Medium</option>
          <option value="LOW">Low</option>
        </select>
      </label>
      <RhombusBufferedPlayer cameraUuid="YOUR_CAMERA_UUID" bufferedStreamQuality={dashQ} />

      <label>
        Realtime{" "}
        <select value={rtQ} onChange={e => setRtQ(e.target.value as RhombusRealtimeStreamQuality)}>
          <option value="HD">HD</option>
          <option value="SD">SD</option>
        </select>
      </label>
      <RhombusRealtimePlayer
        cameraUuid="YOUR_CAMERA_UUID"
        connectionMode="wan"
        realtimeStreamQuality={rtQ}
      />
    </>
  );
}

Optional: apiOverrideBaseUrl (backend on another host)

When set, both the federated-token request and the media-URIs request use this base:

• joinUrl(apiOverrideBaseUrl, paths.federatedToken) (default path /api/federated-token)
• joinUrl(apiOverrideBaseUrl, paths.mediaUris) (default path /api/media-uris)

Use this if your API lives on another origin/port, or you do not use a domain-scoped federated token and need your own backend to forward Rhombus requests (so the browser never talks to Rhombus directly).

<RhombusBufferedPlayer
  cameraUuid="YOUR_CAMERA_UUID"
  apiOverrideBaseUrl="https://your-api.example.com"
/>

Props reference

Shared and RhombusBufferedPlayer-specific:

Prop	Role
apiOverrideBaseUrl	Optional. If omitted, token uses same-origin + Rhombus API for media. If set, both requests use this base.
rhombusApiBaseUrl	Optional. Rhombus REST base when apiOverrideBaseUrl is omitted. Default https://api2.rhombussystems.com/api.
paths.federatedToken	Default /api/federated-token. Override if your route differs.
paths.mediaUris	With override: default /api/media-uris. Without override: default /camera/getMediaUris on Rhombus.
federatedSessionToken	If set, skips the token fetch; you supply rotation. DASH uses the latest value without teardown; realtime reconnects when the prop changes.
tokenDurationSec	Requested token TTL (seconds) for SDK-managed fetch/refresh. Default 86400. Changing it re-mints without resetting DASH.
headers / getRequestHeaders	Merged into the federated-token request always; into the media-URIs request only when apiOverrideBaseUrl is set. Not sent to Rhombus in direct mode.
connectionMode	RhombusBufferedPlayer optional, default wan. wan → wanLiveMpdUri; lan → lanLiveMpdUris / lanLiveMpdUri (first entry). Changing it re-initializes Dash.js.
startTimeSec	RhombusBufferedPlayer only. Unix epoch seconds. When set, switches to VOD mode using wanVodMpdUriTemplate / lanVodMpdUrisTemplates. Omit for live.
vodDurationSec	RhombusBufferedPlayer only. VOD manifest window length in seconds. Default 7200. Only used when startTimeSec is set.
seekOffsetSec	RhombusBufferedPlayer only. Playback start offset from startTimeSec in seconds. Default 0. Only used when startTimeSec is set.
bufferedStreamQuality	RhombusBufferedPlayer only. HIGH | MEDIUM | LOW. Server downscale via _ds on DASH requests (WAN and LAN). Default HIGH. Updating does not re-fetch the manifest.
applyBufferedStreamQuality	RhombusBufferedPlayer only. Default true. If false, _ds is not appended.
maxRetryIntervalMs	RhombusBufferedPlayer only. Ceiling for the auto-recovery retry interval. Default 30000. Set to 0 to disable. See Auto-recovery.
stallTimeoutMs	RhombusBufferedPlayer only. Stall watchdog timeout in ms. Default 12000. Set to 0 to disable. See Auto-recovery.
onRecoveryAttempt	RhombusBufferedPlayer only. Called on each retry: (attempt, error) => void. Use to render a "reconnecting…" overlay.

RhombusRealtimePlayer also accepts everything above that applies to token/media resolution, plus:

Prop	Role
connectionMode	"wan" or "lan" — which getMediaUris H.264 URI field to use; both append federated auth query params on the WebSocket.
realtimeStreamQuality	HD | SD. Default HD. SD uses /wsl instead of /ws; changing this prop reconnects the WebSocket.
maxRetryIntervalMs	Ceiling for the auto-reconnect retry interval. Default 30000. Set to 0 to disable. See Auto-recovery.
stallTimeoutMs	Stall watchdog timeout in ms (no decoded frame ⇒ reconnect). Default 12000. Set to 0 to disable. See Auto-recovery.
onRecoveryAttempt	Called on each reconnect: (attempt, error) => void. Use to render a "reconnecting…" overlay.

Auto-recovery / reconnect

Both players retry indefinitely with exponential backoff (2s → 4s → 8s → 16s → … capped at maxRetryIntervalMs, default 30s). Backoff resets to 2s after roughly 30 seconds of healthy playback. Pass onRecoveryAttempt to surface "reconnecting…" UI to the user.

RhombusBufferedPlayer (DASH) rebuilds the dash.js player when:

• A recoverable dash.js error fires (manifest load, segment download, etc.).
• The initial buffer never loads within stallTimeoutMs after the manifest attaches.
• <video>.currentTime stops advancing for stallTimeoutMs while not paused/seeking/ended (live or VOD).

RhombusRealtimePlayer (H.264 WebSocket) tears down and reopens the socket when:

• WebSocket.onerror or an unexpected onclose fires.
• The socket fails to open within ~8 seconds.
• No decoded frame arrives within stallTimeoutMs after the connection is established.
• The Rhombus server issues a reconnect control message (kept on the existing 10s delay).

Non-OK responses (e.g. 404 on the default token path) log [RhombusBufferedPlayer] hints in the console with the request URL and how to adjust paths / apiOverrideBaseUrl, while onError still receives a concise Error.

Backend routes

Same-origin token endpoint (typical with direct Rhombus)

Your server should expose POST (default /api/federated-token):

• Body: { "durationSec": number } (forward to Rhombus POST /org/generateFederatedSessionToken with your API key server-side).
• Response JSON must include federatedSessionToken (string).
• Optionally include expiresInSec, expiresAtMs, or expiresAt (see Federated token refresh) so refresh timing matches server-enforced caps.
• When minting the token, pass Rhombus domain so the browser may call api2.rhombussystems.com for getMediaUris (Generate federated session token).

Override mode (both hops through your server)

Your server exposes two POST JSON endpoints (paths configurable; defaults /api/federated-token and /api/media-uris):

1. Federated token — as above.
2. Media URIs — body { "cameraUuid": string }; forward the Rhombus POST /camera/getMediaUris JSON. For WAN DASH the response must include wanLiveMpdUri (live) or wanVodMpdUriTemplate (VOD). For LAN DASH (connectionMode="lan"), the browser needs lanLiveMpdUris / lanLiveMpdUri (live) or lanVodMpdUrisTemplates (VOD) from that same payload—return the upstream object as-is so those fields are present when Rhombus provides them.

The player appends x-auth-scheme=federated-token and x-auth-ft=<token> to all media segment requests. See the Rhombus player-example and ai-context.md.

Do not put Rhombus API keys in frontend headers.

Developing this package (maintainers)

If you are working in this repository rather than consuming the published package:

yarn install
yarn build

Typecheck only: yarn typecheck. Publishing: npm publish --access public (from a clean yarn build).

License

MIT