blakeblackshear/frigate · error · ValueError

Invalid model URL. Only .hef files are supported.

Error message

Invalid model URL. Only .hef files are supported.

What it means

Hailo8L detector's download_model validates that the model URL ends with .hef, the Hailo Executable Format; anything else (a .onnx, .tar.gz, or an HTML page URL) is rejected before attempting a download. This is a config-input validation error, not a network error.

Source

Thrown at frigate/detectors/plugins/hailo8l.py:301

            or url.startswith("www.")
        )

    @staticmethod
    def extract_model_name(path: str = None, url: str = None) -> str:
        if path and path.endswith(".hef"):
            return os.path.basename(path)
        elif url and url.endswith(".hef"):
            return os.path.basename(url)
        else:
            if ARCH == "hailo8":
                return H8_DEFAULT_MODEL
            else:
                return H8L_DEFAULT_MODEL

    @staticmethod
    def download_model(url: str, destination: str):
        if not url.endswith(".hef"):
            raise ValueError("Invalid model URL. Only .hef files are supported.")
        try:
            urllib.request.urlretrieve(url, destination)
            logger.debug(f"Downloaded model to {destination}")
        except Exception as e:
            raise RuntimeError(f"Failed to download model from {url}: {str(e)}") from e

    def check_and_prepare(self) -> str:
        if not os.path.exists(self.cache_dir):
            os.makedirs(self.cache_dir)
        model_name = self.extract_model_name(self.model_path, self.url)
        cached_model_path = os.path.join(self.cache_dir, model_name)
        if not self.model_path and not self.url:
            if os.path.exists(cached_model_path):
                logger.debug(f"Model found in cache: {cached_model_path}")
                return cached_model_path
            else:
                logger.debug(f"Downloading default model: {model_name}")
                if ARCH == "hailo8":

View on GitHub (pinned to ca18b8dc13)

Solutions

1. Use the direct URL to a compiled .hef file (Hailo Model Zoo HEF links)
2. Ensure the URL literally ends with .hef (no query string or fragment)
3. Alternatively download the .hef yourself and set model.path to the local file

Example fix

# before
url: https://hailo-model-zoo.s3.../yolov8n.onnx
# after
url: https://hailo-csdata.../yolov8n.hef

from urllib.parse import urlparse

def is_valid_hef_url(url: str) -> bool:
    p = urlparse(url)
    return p.scheme in ('http','https') and os.path.basename(p.path).endswith('.hef')

try:
    HailoDetector.download_model(url, dest)
except ValueError as e:
    if 'Only .hef files' in str(e):
        url = fix_url_to_hef(url)
    raise

When it happens

Trigger: Configuring the hailo8l detector with model.url pointing to a non-.hef file, e.g. an ONNX model from the Hailo model zoo instead of the compiled HEF, or a URL with query string appended after .hef (note: endswith check fails if URL has trailing params).

Common situations: Copying a Hailo Model Zoo ONNX link instead of the HEF link; pasting a redirect/GitHub page URL; URL with query parameters so it does not literally end with .hef.

Related errors

• Failed to download model from {url}: {str(e)}
• Model does not support detector type of {detector}
• Model file not found at: {self.model_path}
• HailoRT inference thread has stopped, restart required.
• Invalid model path: {self.memx_model_path}. Only .zip files

AI-assisted analysis of blakeblackshear/frigate@ca18b8dc13 (2026-08-27). Data as JSON: /api/errors/19f11ff3c632f0fd. Report an issue: GitHub.