Ring API: does Ring have one, and how to script your cameras

As of November 2026, Ring does not offer an open public API that a home user can sign up for and call with a personal key. Ring does document a Partner API, but it is meant for companies that build apps for the Ring AppStore. Hobbyists usually use an unofficial library or a bridge such as Home Assistant. This article covers Ring doorbells and cameras, and has nothing to do with RingCentral.

Port OS publishes this article, so read the third option with that interest in mind. The facts about Ring come from the vendor and project pages linked below. We did not run a benchmark, and we do not claim that any option is faster or more reliable than another.

What Ring offers officially

Amazon hosts Ring Partner API documentation. It describes a way for partner apps to link a Ring user's account, discover that user's devices, receive signed webhook events such as motion, stream live video and download clips and snapshots. To use it, a company registers an app in the Ring Developer Portal, accepts Ring's security and privacy standards, builds server-side token exchange and webhook endpoints, and goes through Ring's certification and publishing review. The documentation says partner-initiated account linking is invitation only. It also says devices must be covered by an active Ring base plan.

That is a partner program for product teams. We found no self-service key for a single person who wants to script their own porch camera. If Ring has changed this since our check, trust Ring's own pages over this one.

The options for a hobbyist

Unofficial libraries

• ring-client-api is a TypeScript library in the dgreif/ring repository. Its README describes the packages as unofficial and covers doorbells, cameras, alarm systems and lighting. It signs in with a Ring refresh token, so store that token as carefully as a password.
• python-ring-doorbell is the usual answer for "Ring API Python". Its README says Ring.com does not provide an official API and that the library relies on reverse engineering. It signs in with your username and password, raises an error when two-factor authentication needs a code, and lets you save the returned token so you do not repeat the login.

Both rely on endpoints Ring has not published or promised to keep stable. An update on Ring's side can break them until the maintainers catch up.

Home Assistant

The Home Assistant Ring integration signs in with your Ring email and password plus a verification code if you use two-factor authentication. Its page classifies it as cloud polling, checking Ring's cloud every 60 seconds, and says it does not connect locally to the devices. It lists motion and doorbell events, live view, battery and Wi-Fi sensors, motion-detection switches and sirens on cameras that have them. It notes that live-view two-way audio is not supported and that playing the last recording needs a Ring subscription. This is a strong fit if Home Assistant already runs in your home.

Port OS

Port OS is a cloud service that links your device accounts and exposes them to AI assistants over MCP and to code over a REST API. Its Ring integration works like this:

1. Connect Ring in the Port OS website form. It asks for your Ring email and password, then the verification code Ring sends. Keep both out of chat.
2. Port OS lists the doorbells, cameras and chimes in the account as endpoints.
3. Your code calls the REST API, or an AI assistant calls the same devices over MCP. See connect your AI.

Port OS says its Ring integration can request a camera snapshot, open an available live view, read connectivity and battery information when the device provides it, and use supported controls such as motion detection or pan and tilt on models that expose them. Availability depends on your device and your Ring account.

Example: find cameras and request a snapshot

These calls use https://api.portoperatingsystem.com and a bearer token, as in our smart home REST API guide, which also explains how to get a token. List your cameras with POST /endpoint-query:

curl -s https://api.portoperatingsystem.com/endpoint-query \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PORTOS_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "query": { "match": { "key": "type", "value": "CAMERA" } },
    "paginationContext": { "maxResults": 10 }
  }'

Doorbells use the type DOORBELL. Copy the endpoint id from the response. Then ask for a still image with POST /message-requests. The Idempotency-Key header is required, and get-snapshot accepts a responseFormat of URL (a short-lived Port OS link, the default) or BASE64:

PORTOS_REQUEST_KEY="$(uuidgen)"
curl -s https://api.portoperatingsystem.com/message-requests \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PORTOS_TOKEN" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $PORTOS_REQUEST_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "target": {
      "type": "ENDPOINT",
      "id": "port1/systems/home/endpoints/front-porch-camera"
    },
    "message": {
      "header": {
        "namespace": "port1/systems/zero/capability-interfaces/snapshot",
        "name": "get-snapshot",
        "version": "1.0"
      },
      "body": { "responseFormat": "URL" }
    },
    "responseType": "SYNC"
  }'

The endpoint id is a placeholder. Only call this on an endpoint that lists the snapshot capability in the query response. The reply carries the image and a timeOfSample, so check that time before treating the picture as current. The camera guide explains snapshots, recordings and streams as separate capabilities, and the API reference lists every path and schema. Do not invent message fields for other camera controls; read their definitions there first.

Google Nest uses a different camera path in Port OS: the Nest integration supports live view. Google's event-image API requires a supported camera event. This Port OS connection does not subscribe to that event feed and does not provide on-demand snapshots.

Limits and privacy

• Alpha service. Port OS is in alpha, and the catalog and behavior can change.
• No continuous monitoring. Port OS does not watch your cameras in the background, and it does not guarantee that a notification will be delivered. If a doorbell alert must reach you, keep the Ring app's own notifications on.
• Model differences. A battery camera and a wired camera can expose different controls. Pan, tilt and sirens need the matching hardware.
• Sign-in can expire. Reconnect through the website if Ring asks for a new verification.
• Camera images are private. A snapshot can show your household, visitors and neighbors. Select the intended camera by name, approve only the cameras and controls an AI client needs, and review that client's data settings and the Port OS privacy policy. Disconnect the AI client and the Ring account separately when you no longer want either connection.
• Terms. Check Ring's terms for your account before automating it with any unofficial method.

FAQ

Does Ring have an API? Ring has a Partner API for approved app partners. As of November 2026 we found no open API for individual users to script their own devices.

Does Ring have a public API for Python? Not an official one. The python-ring-doorbell library works with reverse-engineered endpoints, according to its own README.

Where is the Ring API documentation? The Partner API documentation is on Amazon's developer site, linked above. Unofficial libraries document themselves in their repositories.

Is ring.com's API safe to use with my password? Unofficial libraries and integrations sign in with your Ring credentials or tokens. Store tokens carefully, use two-factor authentication, and review what each project does with your login.

Can an AI assistant see my Ring camera? Through Port OS, a connected AI client can request a snapshot from a camera you approved for it. See Ring with AI for setup.

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