Adding License Plate OCR to Blue Iris & ZoneMinder (2026 Guide)

import requests
import base64
import sys

# Blue Iris can pass the image path as a command line argument
# Example: python run_alpr.py "C:\BlueIris\Alerts\cam1_snapshot.jpg"

def process_vms_alert(image_path):
    try:
        with open(image_path, "rb") as image_file:
            base64_image = base64.b64encode(image_file.read()).decode('utf-8')

        url = "https://api.structocr.com/v1/license-plate"
        headers = {
            "x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
            "Content-Type": "application/json"
        }
        payload = {
            "img": base64_image
        }

        print(f"Analyzing motion frame: {image_path}")
        response = requests.post(url, headers=headers, json=payload)
        result = response.json()

        if result.get('success'):
            plates = result['data'].get('plates', [])
            if plates:
                plate = plates[0]
                print(f"✅ Vehicle Detected: {plate.get('plate_number')} (Normalized: {plate.get('plate_number_normalized')}) | Color: {plate.get('plate_color')}")
                print(f"Region: {result['data'].get('region_text')} | Country Guess: {result['data'].get('country_guess')} | Confidence: {result['data'].get('confidence_score')}")
                # Insert logic here to check database or send MQTT message
            else:
                print("No readable plates found in this frame.")
        else:
            print(f"❌ API Error: {result.get('error') or result.get('message')}")

    except Exception as e:
        print(f"System error: {e}")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    if len(sys.argv) > 1:
        process_vms_alert(sys.argv[1])
    else:
        print("Please provide an image path.")