Argus
Documentation

Argus is an AI security system that watches your store's cameras and automatically detects suspicious behavior — like shoplifting, product concealment, or loitering near high-value items.

Think of it as having an expert security analyst watching every camera feed 24/7, except it never gets tired, never takes a break, and alerts your team the moment something looks wrong.

When you log into Argus, you're actually logging into NEXUS — the management platform that powers Argus behind the scenes.

Why do we use NEXUS?

• One login for everything — Your NEXUS account gives you access to all RION products, not just Argus. As we add new tools, they appear in the same portal automatically.
• Enterprise-grade security — NEXUS uses industry-standard authentication (powered by Clerk) with session management, multi-factor auth, and organization-level access control.
• Multi-location support — If you manage multiple stores, NEXUS lets you organize cameras, incidents, and reports by location — all from one account.
• Built for growth — NEXUS is designed to handle everything from a single-store deployment to a nationwide retail chain. Same platform, same experience, any scale.

Setting up Argus takes about 30 minutes. Here's what you'll need and what happens at each step.

What you'll need

• IP cameras with RTSP streaming (most modern cameras support this)
• A network connection between your cameras and the internet
• An email address for your account

The NEXUS portal is where you'll spend most of your time. Here's what you'll find:

Argus works with any IP camera that supports RTSP streaming. You don't need to buy special hardware — your existing cameras almost certainly work.

Requirements

• Resolution: 720p minimum, 1080p recommended
• Protocol: RTSP (Real Time Streaming Protocol)
• Frame rate: 15 FPS or higher
• Network: Stable internet connection (5 Mbps per camera recommended)

Adding a camera

In the Argus portal, go to Cameras → Add Camera. You'll need:

• A descriptive name (e.g., “Main Entrance” or “Aisle 3”)
• The RTSP stream URL from your camera (your IT team can provide this)

Or use the CLI:

rion cameras add "Main Entrance" rtsp://192.168.1.10:554/stream1

An incident is created whenever Argus detects suspicious behavior on one of your camera feeds. Each incident contains everything you need to understand what happened.

What Argus detects

Argus recognizes seven types of suspicious behavior:

Every incident gets a risk score from 0 to 100. This tells you how confident Argus is that the behavior is genuinely suspicious.

Argus can notify your team the moment a high-risk incident is detected. You choose how and when you want to be alerted.

Notification channels

• Email — Incident details sent to one or more email addresses
• SMS — Text message alerts for critical incidents
• Webhook — Send incident data to your own systems (Slack, PagerDuty, custom tools)

Configuration

In the portal, go to Settings → Alerts. Or use the CLI:

# Set up email alerts for high-risk incidents
rion alerts configure --threshold 0.7 --channels email

# Temporarily mute during maintenance
rion alerts mute alert_001 --duration 4h

# Send a test alert to verify delivery
rion alerts test

Generate reports to share with your team, management, or insurance providers. Reports summarize incident activity over a period with charts and breakdowns.

Report types

• Daily — Summary of the last 24 hours
• Weekly — Week-over-week trends and highlights
• Monthly — Comprehensive monthly review with analytics
• Custom — Pick any date range

Reports can be generated from the portal or CLI:

# Generate a weekly report
rion reports generate weekly

# Schedule automatic Monday morning reports
rion reports schedule --type weekly --frequency monday \
  --email security@yourcompany.com

The RION CLI is a command-line tool that lets you manage your Argus deployment from your terminal. It's optional — everything it does can also be done from the portal — but it's useful for automation, scripting, and quick access.

# Install
npm install -g @rion/cli

# Authenticate
rion login

# Check your cameras
rion cameras status

# View recent incidents
rion incidents list --since 7d --severity high

# Export data
rion incidents export --format csv > incidents.csv

For the full CLI reference, see the CLI Reference Guide.

API keys let you connect external tools and automation scripts to your Argus data. You can create them in the portal under Settings → API Keys.

# Use an API key in automation
export RION_API_KEY=rion_key_your_key_here

# All CLI commands now authenticate automatically
rion incidents list --json

You own your data. Export it at any time in JSON or CSV format for compliance, migration, or analysis.

# Export all incidents from last quarter
rion incidents export --format csv \
  --since 2026-01-01 --until 2026-03-31

# Full account data export
rion export --format json

We take the security of your video data and incident records seriously.

• Encryption in transit — All data is encrypted using TLS 1.3 between your cameras, our servers, and your browser.
• Encryption at rest — Incident data and captured frames are encrypted in storage.
• Access control — Your data is isolated to your organization. No other customer can access it. We use per-tenant isolation at the database level.
• Authentication — Powered by Clerk with support for multi-factor authentication, session management, and SSO.
• Data retention — You control how long incident data is retained. Export or delete it at any time.
• No video storage — Argus processes video frames in real time. We store only the captured incident frames, not continuous video recordings.

For full details, see our Privacy Policy and Compliance Guide.

Need help? We're here for you.

For urgent security incidents, contact your RION representative directly.