Activity Summaries
Activity Summaries provide AI-generated overviews of what's happening around your home, helping you quickly understand patterns and notable events without reviewing every individual alert.
Understanding Summaries
What Are Summaries?
Summaries are natural language reports generated by AI that analyze your event history and describe:
- Daily activity overview: What happened throughout the day
- Notable patterns: Recurring visitors, regular deliveries
- Unusual activity: Anything out of the ordinary
- Key events: Important moments highlighted
How Summaries Work
- At scheduled intervals, ArgusAI collects recent events
- AI analyzes the events collectively
- A human-readable summary is generated
- The summary is stored and displayed
Viewing Summaries
Summaries Page
Navigate to Summaries to see all generated reports:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Date | When the summary covers |
| Period | Daily, Weekly, or Custom |
| Preview | First few lines of the summary |
| Events | Number of events analyzed |
Dashboard Widget
The dashboard shows the current day's summary:
- Located in the Activity Summary card
- Updates throughout the day
- Click View Full Summary for details
Summary Detail View
Click any summary to see the full report:
Summary Content
- Complete AI-generated text
- Broken into logical sections
- Highlights notable events
- Patterns and observations
Linked Events
- List of events included in analysis
- Click to view individual events
- Understand what informed the summary
Feedback
- Rate the summary quality
- Help improve future generations
Summary Types
Daily Summary
Generated for each day:
| Aspect | Content |
|---|---|
| Morning | Early activity (6 AM - 12 PM) |
| Afternoon | Midday activity (12 PM - 6 PM) |
| Evening | Later activity (6 PM - 10 PM) |
| Night | Overnight activity (10 PM - 6 AM) |
Example daily summary:
December 25, 2025
Today was relatively quiet with 12 events detected. The morning started with the usual mail delivery at 10:15 AM, followed by several package deliveries throughout the afternoon. A white Toyota Camry (recognized as a recurring visitor) arrived at 2:30 PM and departed at 4:15 PM. No unusual activity detected overnight.
Weekly Summary
Generated each week covering 7 days:
- Aggregate patterns across the week
- Day-to-day comparisons
- Weekly trends and observations
- Notable recurring events
Custom Summaries
Generate on-demand summaries:
- Click Generate Summary
- Select date range
- Choose cameras to include
- Wait for AI analysis
- View the custom report
Summary Configuration
Generation Schedule
Configure when summaries are created:
| Setting | Options |
|---|---|
| Daily | Generate daily summaries |
| Weekly | Generate weekly roll-ups |
| Time | When to generate (e.g., 6 AM) |
Access via Settings > AI Models > Summary Settings.
AI Prompt Customization
Customize what summaries focus on:
- Go to Settings > AI Models
- Expand Summary Settings
- Edit the Summary Prompt
- Include specific instructions
Example custom prompt additions:
- "Focus on package deliveries and visitors"
- "Highlight any vehicles that stayed for extended periods"
- "Note any activity between 10 PM and 6 AM"
Camera Inclusion
Control which cameras are included:
- All Cameras: Include everything
- Selected Cameras: Choose specific cameras
- Useful for excluding non-essential cameras
Providing Feedback
Rating Summaries
After reading a summary:
- Click thumbs up if helpful and accurate
- Click thumbs down if unhelpful or inaccurate
- Optionally add a comment explaining why
How Feedback Helps
Your feedback improves future summaries:
| Feedback | System Learns |
|---|---|
| Thumbs up | This style/content is valuable |
| Thumbs down | This approach needs improvement |
| Comments | Specific areas to adjust |
Over time, summaries become more tailored to your preferences.
Summary Examples
Quiet Day
December 24, 2025
A quiet day with only 5 events recorded. The mail carrier arrived at 11:22 AM (Front Door camera). A single vehicle passed on the driveway camera at 3:45 PM but did not stop. No other notable activity detected.
Busy Day
December 20, 2025
A busy day with 47 events across all cameras. Highlights include:
- Package deliveries: 4 packages delivered between 10 AM and 4 PM (Amazon, UPS, FedEx)
- Visitors: 3 different vehicles arrived, including the recurring white Toyota Camry at 2:30 PM
- Evening activity: Multiple person detections between 5-7 PM as family arrived home
- Pet activity: The family dog was detected 8 times on the backyard camera
No unusual or concerning activity detected.
Unusual Activity
December 18, 2025
Notable: An unrecognized vehicle (black sedan) was detected on the driveway camera at 2:15 AM. The vehicle remained for approximately 4 minutes before departing. No other nighttime activity was detected.
During the day, normal activity included mail delivery at 10:30 AM and the regular UPS truck at 3:22 PM.
Tips
Getting Better Summaries
- Ensure cameras are properly named with locations
- Enable relevant detection types
- Review and correct entity assignments
- Provide feedback on generated summaries
Using Summaries Effectively
- Review daily summaries each morning
- Use weekly summaries for pattern recognition
- Share summaries with family members
- Reference summaries when reviewing past events
Summary Limitations
- Summaries reflect detected events only
- Missed detections won't appear
- AI interpretation may not always be perfect
- Complex scenarios may be oversimplified
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
| No summaries generating | Check AI provider is configured |
| Summary too brief | Ensure events are being detected |
| Inaccurate summary | Review and correct entity data |
| Missing time periods | Check camera coverage for gaps |