Overview

RESTful control for Sony cameras — shooting, settings, live view, and file transfer

The Alpha Camera REST API is a community-built developer tool and is not officially supported by Sony. It is built on Sony’s native Camera Remote SDK, but this site focuses on the REST API, client SDKs, and tools.

The Alpha Camera REST API provides HTTP endpoints to control Sony cameras connected via USB or network. It runs as a local server and supports multi-camera simultaneous operation.

Connection Modes

Mode	Capabilities
remote	Full camera control — shooting, settings, live view. Auto-transfers images to the host PC.
remote-transfer	Full camera control + explicit SD card file access. Most capable mode.
contents	SD card file access only. No shooting or settings control.

Architecture

The Alpha Camera REST API is an HTTP + SSE server built on Sony’s native Camera Remote SDK. It translates RESTful requests into native SDK calls, enabling camera control from any language or tool that can make HTTP requests.

If you’d rather call typed methods than build URLs by hand, three language clients wrap this API:

• TypeScript / Node — @alpha-sdk/client
• Python — alpha-sdk-client
• Swift (iOS / macOS) — AlphaSDK

To run the server itself: npm install -g @alpha-sdk/api && camera-server start. Or embed it in your Node app via the ServerManager class.

Quick Start

Alpha Camera REST API overview

Discover, connect, and shoot with curl in under 5 minutes

1. Discover cameras

   curl http://localhost:8080/api/cameras
   
2. Connect

   curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/api/cameras/{id}/connection \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"mode": "remote"}'
   
3. Set Priority Key

   curl -X PUT http://localhost:8080/api/cameras/{id}/priority-key \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"setting": "pc-remote"}'
   

   Priority key must be set to pc-remote before the camera accepts remote commands.
4. Configure settings

   curl -X PUT http://localhost:8080/api/cameras/{id}/properties/iso \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"value": "400"}'
   
5. Shoot

   curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/api/cameras/{id}/actions/af-shutter
   
6. Disconnect

   curl -X DELETE http://localhost:8080/api/cameras/{id}/connection
   

Base URL

http://localhost:8080

The server runs locally. The port is configurable via --port flag or the TypeScript CameraServer({ port }) option.

Response Format

All endpoints return JSON with a consistent shape:

{
  "success": true,
  "message": "Description of what happened",
  "camera": {
    "connected": true,
    "model": "ILCE-9M3",
    "id": "D10F60149B0C"
  },
  "data": { ... }
}

Errors return "success": false with an HTTP status of 400, 404, or 500.

Compatibility

Not all APIs are supported on every camera model. See the Compatibility page for per-camera API support, connection mode requirements, and OS compatibility.