Simplify highlight API for automation

README.md

@@ -85,23 +85,25 @@ To create a highlight in the player, play the recording, press **Mark start**,
 move to the end of the interesting part, press **Mark end**, enter a name, and
 press **Add highlight**. Highlights are saved in `media-mp4/highlights.json`.
 
-The highlight API is intentionally simple. An AI or script can list highlights:
+The highlight API is intentionally simple. An AI agent can list highlights:
 
 ```sh
 curl http://127.0.0.1:8765/api/highlights
 ```
 
-It can append a highlight with a date, seconds from midnight, and a label:
+It can append one using normal date and clock values:
 
 ```sh
 curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:8765/api/highlights \
   -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-  -d '{"date":"20260827","start":34000,"end":34120,"label":"Person at entrance"}'
+  -d '{"date":"2026-08-27","start_time":"09:26:40","end_time":"09:28:40","title":"Person at entrance"}'
 ```
 
-The API stores the entry without changing any video. Times are seconds from
-midnight, so `34000` means `09:26:40`. This makes it straightforward for an
-AI to append detections, labels, or review segments programmatically.
+The API stores the entry without changing any video. `start` and `end` may also
+be used as seconds from midnight, and `duration` may be used instead of an end
+time. For example, `{"start":"09:26:40","duration":120}` creates a
+two-minute highlight. This makes it straightforward for an AI to append
+detections, labels, or review segments programmatically.
 
 ## Custom Folders And Ports
 

server.py

@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ from urllib.parse import parse_qs, urlparse
 
 DATE_RE = re.compile(r"^\d{8}$")
 VIDEO_RE = re.compile(r"^(\d{2})\.(\d{2})\.(\d{2})\.(avi|mp4)$", re.IGNORECASE)
+TIME_RE = re.compile(r"^(\d{1,2}):(\d{2})(?::(\d{2}))?$")
 APP_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parent
 
 
@@ -43,6 +44,25 @@ def scan_recordings(root):
     return recordings
 
 
+def parse_clock(value):
+    if isinstance(value, (int, float)):
+        return float(value)
+    match = TIME_RE.fullmatch(str(value).strip())
+    if not match:
+        raise ValueError
+    hour, minute, second = int(match.group(1)), int(match.group(2)), int(match.group(3) or 0)
+    if hour > 23 or minute > 59 or second > 59:
+        raise ValueError
+    return hour * 3600 + minute * 60 + second
+
+
+def normalize_date(value):
+    date = str(value).replace("-", "")
+    if not DATE_RE.fullmatch(date):
+        raise ValueError
+    return date
+
+
 class PlayerHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
     protocol_version = "HTTP/1.1"
 
@@ -75,17 +95,21 @@ class PlayerHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
             try:
                 length = int(self.headers.get("Content-Length", "0"))
                 item = json.loads(self.rfile.read(length))
-                date = str(item["date"])
-                start = float(item["start"])
-                end = float(item["end"])
-                if not DATE_RE.fullmatch(date) or not (0 <= start < end <= 86400):
+                date = normalize_date(item["date"])
+                start = parse_clock(item.get("start", item.get("start_time")))
+                end_value = item.get("end", item.get("end_time"))
+                if end_value is None and item.get("duration") is not None:
+                    end = start + parse_clock(item["duration"])
+                else:
+                    end = parse_clock(end_value)
+                if not (0 <= start < end <= 86400):
                     raise ValueError
                 highlight = {
                     "id": max((entry["id"] for entry in self.server.highlights), default=0) + 1,
                     "date": date,
                     "start": start,
                     "end": end,
-                    "label": str(item.get("label", "Untitled highlight"))[:120],
+                    "label": str(item.get("label", item.get("title", "Untitled highlight")))[:120],
                 }
             except (KeyError, TypeError, ValueError, json.JSONDecodeError):
                 return self.send_error(400, "Invalid highlight")