Caesa

Guide

Installing Caesa Bridge

Caesa Bridge runs beside Blue Iris on the same PC and sends alerts to Caesa the moment Blue Iris’s AI confirms them. It’s free.

What you need

  • The Windows PC that runs Blue Iris (Windows 10, 11 or Server 2016 or later).
  • Blue Iris reachable from outside your home through a reverse proxy (nginx, Caddy, Nginx Proxy Manager, and so on), which is how most people already use UI3 away from home. If you only use Caesa at home, you don’t need one.

1. Install

  1. Download Caesa Bridge on the Blue Iris PC.
  2. Double-click caesa-bridge.exe.
  3. Windows may say “Windows protected your PC”. Choose More info, then Run anyway.
  4. Accept the administrator prompt.

The Bridge then installs itself:

  • copies itself to C:\Program Files\CaesaBridge
  • runs as a Windows service that starts with the PC, and restarts itself if it ever stops
  • allows its port, 8743, through Windows Firewall on private and domain networks only
  • adds itself to Apps & features, where you can uninstall it

When it’s done, its setup page opens: http://127.0.0.1:8742. It’s only reachable on that PC.

2. Check the setup page

The Bridge finds Blue Iris on the same PC by itself (it tries ports 81, 80 and 8080). If yours uses another port, enter Blue Iris’s address there.

The page also shows the phones that have connected, the reverse proxy settings to copy, and a Send a test alert button.

3. Point your reverse proxy at it

Add one rule: anything under /caesa/ goes to the Bridge on port 8743. See Reverse proxy for nginx, Caddy and Nginx Proxy Manager.

4. Turn on notifications in Caesa

In Caesa, open Settings → Notifications and turn on Alert notifications. Caesa finds the Bridge by itself and signs in with your Blue Iris login. The Bridge never sees your password: Blue Iris checks it.

The line under the switch should say Caesa Bridge connected. Then try Show a sample notification.

Several people

Everyone in the household can use Caesa with their own Blue Iris user. Each person only hears about the cameras Blue Iris lets them see. However many phones there are, the Bridge asks Blue Iris for new alerts once a second.

Updates

When a newer Bridge is available, Caesa offers it in Settings → Servers & network to a phone signed in as a Blue Iris administrator. Every Bridge release is signed, and the Bridge checks the signature before replacing itself.

Uninstalling

Windows Settings → Apps → Caesa Bridge → Uninstall. Its settings stay in C:\ProgramData\CaesaBridge in case you reinstall; delete that folder to remove everything.