SkyBellSharp

Unofficial .NET client for the SkyBell Gen5 cloud API (https://api.skybell.network).

• Authentication: personal API key, email/password (SkyBell login endpoint or Amazon Cognito), automatic token refresh
• Devices: list, details (settings, hardware, telemetry), settings update, reboot, removal
• Live view: starts WebRTC sessions (Amazon Kinesis Video Streams signaling data, ICE servers, temporary credentials)
• Snapshots, activity history (paging, per-day previews, video download, deletion)
• Sharing, webhooks (triggers), tones (catalog, custom upload, test), locations, on-device rules, health
• Real-time events: SkyBellEventMonitor combines local UDP broadcasts with API confirmation and polling
• Local network: UDP button/motion broadcasts and Wi-Fi provisioning of devices in AP mode
• Raw access (GetRawAsync / SendRawAsync) for anything not modelled yet

Unofficial project. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or supported by SkyBell Technologies, Inc. "SkyBell" is a trademark of its owner. Use it with your own account and respect SkyBell's terms of service. SkyBell asks API consumers not to poll more often than once every 60 seconds.

Install

dotnet add package SkyBellSharp

Targets .NET 10.

Quick start

using SkyBellSharp;
using SkyBellSharp.Models;

// Personal API key: https://api.skybell.network/developers
using var client = SkyBellClient.WithApiKey("xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx");

var user = await client.GetUserAsync();
var devices = await client.GetDevicesAsync();
var door = devices[0];

// Fresh picture (the device answers within ~30 s, otherwise SkyBellApiException.IsDeviceTimeout)
var snapshot = await client.GetSnapshotAsync(door.Id);
await File.WriteAllBytesAsync("door.jpg", snapshot.Jpeg);

// Last doorbell presses (last 7 days unless Start is set)
var page = await client.GetActivitiesAsync(new ActivityQuery
{
    DeviceId = door.Id,
    EventType = SkyBellEventTypes.Doorbell,
    Limit = 20
});

// Download the latest clip
await using var mp4 = File.Create("last.mp4");
await client.DownloadActivityVideoAsync(page.Rows[0].ActivityId, mp4);

// Change settings (only non-null values are sent)
await client.UpdateSettingsAsync(door.Id, new DeviceSettingsUpdate { LedColor = "#0055CC", MotionSensitivity = 2 });

Email / password

using var client = await SkyBellClient.LoginAsync("me@example.com", "password");

// Get (or create) a personal API key to avoid storing the password
var apiKey = await client.GetOrCreateApiKeyAsync();

To reuse a session, persist SkyBellLoginAuthenticator.Tokens (raised by TokensRefreshed) and recreate the authenticator with new SkyBellLoginAuthenticator(http, tokens). CognitoAuthenticator logs in directly against the SkyBell Cognito user pool like the mobile app (requires the user-pool app client id).

With IHttpClientFactory / DI

services.AddHttpClient("skybell");
services.AddSingleton(sp => new SkyBellClient(
    sp.GetRequiredService<IHttpClientFactory>().CreateClient("skybell"),
    new ApiKeyAuthenticator(configuration["SkyBell:ApiKey"]!)));

Live view (WebRTC)

StartLiveStreamAsync returns everything a KVS WebRTC viewer needs: channel ARN, signaling endpoints (WssEndpoint), ICE servers and temporary AWS credentials. Feed them to the Kinesis Video Streams WebRTC SDK (e.g. in a WebView2) as a VIEWER. Call StopLiveStreamAsync when done: it also finalizes the recording.

var session = await client.StartLiveStreamAsync(door.Id);
// session.ChannelArn, session.WssEndpoint, session.IceServers, session.Credentials, session.Region

Real-time events

SkyBellEventMonitor raises doorbell presses and motion as they happen:

• UDP (same LAN): a broadcast triggers immediate API lookups (2, 4, 6, 8 s) to get the confirmed activity, its type and preview; if the cloud does not confirm it, an UdpOnly event is still raised;
• polling every 60 s (the minimum allowed by SkyBell) as a fallback when away from home.

Each activity is raised once; events older than Start() are ignored; live views are skipped.

using var monitor = new SkyBellEventMonitor(client, new SkyBellEventMonitorOptions { DeviceId = door.Id });
monitor.EventDetected += (_, e) =>
    Console.WriteLine($"{e.EventType} at {e.Time:T} via {e.Source}"); // e.Activity has the id, preview…
monitor.CheckFailed += (_, ex) => Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
monitor.Start();

Local events (UDP)

Devices broadcast a fixed packet on UDP port 5000 when the button is pressed or motion is detected.

using SkyBellSharp.Local;

using var udp = new SkyBellUdpListener();
udp.EventReceived += (_, e) => Console.WriteLine($"{e.Kind} from {e.Source.Address}");
udp.Start(); // allow inbound UDP in the firewall

Packets matching the two samples of the SkyBell docs are reported as ButtonPressed / MotionDetected; other SkyBell-formatted packets (encrypted payloads can differ) as Unidentified.

Raw access

JsonNode? shares = await client.GetRawAsync("/api/v5/shares");

Returns the whole JSON response (envelope included) for endpoints or fields the models do not cover.

Production API notes

Observed on the live API (v1.52), which differs from the published docs (v1.39):

• GET /api/v5/activity returns the last 7 days when no start is given, and ignores limit/offset (limit: 100000): GetActivitiesAsync applies them client-side. Previews (image) are only returned for ranges within one day (ImagesIncluded).
• video_url is now an API path (/activity/{id}/video); use GetActivityVideoUrlAsync.
• GET /api/v5/activity/day returns [{ activity_day, event_count }] → GetActivityDaysAsync.
• GET /api/v5/rules returns name -> [rules]; device rules are under data.rules.
• Device lat/lon are strings; settings include basic_motion, pir_sensitivity, motion chime options; telemetry includes LAN/public IP, battery voltage and memory.
• /api/v5/user/api_access requires a JWT session (401 "Please login first." with an API key).

Error handling

Every API failure throws SkyBellApiException with StatusCode, ApiMessage, and helpers IsDeviceTimeout (HTTP 599: the device did not answer within 30 s), IsAuthenticationError, IsNotFound. JWT authenticators refresh the token before expiry and retry once after a 401.

API coverage

Area	Endpoints
Auth	POST /api/v5/login, PUT /api/v5/token, GET /api/v5/logout, Cognito InitiateAuth, API key header
User	GET/POST/DELETE /api/v5/user, GET/POST/DELETE /api/v5/user/api_access
Devices	GET /api/v5/devices, GET/DELETE /api/v5/devices/{id}, POST …/settings, POST …/reboot, GET …/snapshot
Live	POST/DELETE /api/v5/devices/{id}/videostream
Activity	GET /api/v5/activity, GET/DELETE /api/v5/activity/day, GET /api/v5/activity/{id}/video, DELETE /api/v5/activity/{id}
Sharing	POST /api/v5/devices/{id}/share, GET /api/v5/shares, GET …/{id}/redeem, PUT/POST/DELETE /api/v5/shares/{id}
Triggers	GET/POST /api/v5/devices/{id}/triggers, DELETE …/triggers/{triggerId}
Tones	GET /api/v5/tones, GET /api/v5/tones/chime, POST/PUT /api/v5/devices/{id}/tone, POST …/testtone
Locations	GET/POST /api/v5/locations, POST/DELETE /api/v5/locations/{id}
Rules	GET /api/v5/rules, GET /api/v5/devices/{id}/rules
Misc	GET /health, POST/DELETE /api/v5/notification_token, GET /api/v5/devices/provision
Local	UDP broadcasts (port 5000), GET /ap/scan, POST /ap/provision

Not covered: legacy SkyBell HD CoAP provisioning, OAuth 2.0 partner flow.

Sample app

dotnet run --project samples/SkyBellSharp.Sample -- <api-key>          # account, devices, last events
dotnet run --project samples/SkyBellSharp.Sample -- <api-key> watch    # real-time events
dotnet run --project samples/SkyBellSharp.Sample -- <api-key> dump     # raw responses -> ./skybell-dump
dotnet run --project samples/SkyBellSharp.Sample -- <api-key> selftest # reversible write tests -> ./skybell-selftest
dotnet run --project samples/SkyBellSharp.Sample -- udp                # raw UDP broadcasts

dump only calls read-only endpoints and redacts secrets and personal data (tokens, keys, emails, serials, MAC addresses, coordinates, ids, signed URLs). Attaching those files to an issue helps fix models for undocumented responses — review them before sharing.

selftest only performs reversible writes: it writes back the current speaker volume, takes a snapshot, creates then deletes a webhook and a location, and plays the button tone only after confirmation.

Build & pack

dotnet build
dotnet test
dotnet pack src/SkyBellSharp -c Release -o artifacts

Releasing

Pushing a vX.Y.Z tag runs .github/workflows/release.yml: build, tests, pack with that version, push to nuget.org through Trusted Publishing (short-lived key obtained with GitHub OIDC; secret NUGET_USER = nuget.org profile name) and GitHub release with the packages.

License

MIT