add .env.example and update README for environment variable configuration

.env.example

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# Root TeslaCam directory containing RecentClips/SavedClips/SentryClips
+TESLACAM_DIRECTORY=/mnt/TeslaCam
+
+# Local dev server only (ignored when run under a WSGI server like gunicorn)
+FLASK_RUN_HOST=0.0.0.0
+FLASK_RUN_PORT=5000
+FLASK_DEBUG=0

.gitignore

@@ -8,3 +8,4 @@ __pycache__/
 .ruff_cache/
 .github/AGENTS.md
 .github/instructions/
+.env

README.md

@@ -1 +1,125 @@
 # TeslaCam View
+
+A Flask web app for browsing and playing TeslaCam (Tesla Dashcam/Sentry) recordings from a local drive. It scans a TeslaCam folder for video files, categorizes them by camera view, and presents them in a dark, Tesla-styled web interface with synchronized multi-angle playback.
+
+## Features
+
+- **Recursive scan** of the TeslaCam directory tree (`RecentClips`, `SavedClips`, `SentryClips`, etc.) for `.mp4` files matching the TeslaCam naming convention `YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM-SS-${camera_view}.mp4`.
+- **Categorization by camera view** — front, left repeater, right repeater, rear, left pillar, right pillar — with friendly display names.
+- **Multi-angle synchronized playback** — clips sharing the same timestamp are grouped so you can switch between camera angles for the same moment.
+- **Search & sort** — filter clips by filename, sort oldest-first or A–Z.
+- **Safe streaming** — videos are served via Flask with path resolution relative to the configured TeslaCam root.
+- **Dark Tesla-themed UI** built with responsive HTML/CSS (no build step).
+
+## Project Structure
+
+```txt
+tesla-cam-view-1/
+├── videoplayer.py          # Flask app: scanning, routing, video streaming
+├── requirements.txt        # Python dependencies (Flask)
+├── templates/
+│   ├── index.html          # Main page: camera tabs, player, clip list
+│   └── camera_view.html    # Single-camera view page
+└── README.md
+```
+
+## Requirements
+
+- Python 3.x
+- Flask, python-dotenv, gunicorn (see `requirements.txt`)
+
+## Setup
+
+1. Create and activate a virtual environment (optional but recommended):
+
+   ```bash
+   python -m venv venv
+   # Windows
+   venv\Scripts\activate
+   # macOS/Linux
+   source venv/bin/activate
+   ```
+
+2. Install dependencies:
+
+   ```bash
+   pip install -r requirements.txt
+   ```
+
+3. Configure the TeslaCam directory via environment variables. Copy the example
+   file and edit it:
+
+   ```bash
+   cp .env.example .env
+   ```
+
+   ```ini
+   TESLACAM_DIRECTORY=/mnt/TeslaCam
+   FLASK_RUN_HOST=0.0.0.0
+   FLASK_RUN_PORT=5000
+   FLASK_DEBUG=0
+   ```
+
+   `TESLACAM_DIRECTORY` should point to the root folder containing your
+   `RecentClips`, `SavedClips`, and `SentryClips` subfolders. Variables set in
+   the real environment take precedence over `.env`.
+
+## Usage
+
+### Local development server
+
+```bash
+python videoplayer.py
+```
+
+Then open [http://localhost:5000](http://localhost:5000) in your browser.
+
+### Production (WSGI server on Linux)
+
+For production, run the app behind a WSGI server such as **gunicorn**. The
+`app` object in `videoplayer.py` is the WSGI entry point:
+
+```bash
+gunicorn -w 4 -b 0.0.0.0:5000 'videoplayer:app'
+```
+
+`TESLACAM_DIRECTORY` is read from the environment (or `.env`), so make sure it
+is set for the gunicorn process, e.g.:
+
+```bash
+export TESLACAM_DIRECTORY=/mnt/TeslaCam
+gunicorn -w 4 -b 0.0.0.0:5000 'videoplayer:app'
+```
+
+For a systemd service or other process manager, set the variable in the unit
+file / environment rather than relying on `.env`.
+
+- The **main page** lists all clips grouped by camera view with a player and searchable clip list.
+- Click a clip to play it; use the camera switch buttons to jump between angles for the same timestamp.
+- The `/camera/<view>` route shows all clips for a single camera.
+
+## Routes
+
+| Route                    | Description                                          |
+| ------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------- |
+| `/`                      | Main page with all videos categorized by camera view |
+| `/camera/<camera_view>`  | All videos for a single camera view                  |
+| `/video/<path:filepath>` | Streams a video file from the TeslaCam directory     |
+
+## Camera Views
+
+| Key              | Display Name   |
+| ---------------- | -------------- |
+| `front`          | Front          |
+| `left_repeater`  | Left Repeater  |
+| `right_repeater` | Right Repeater |
+| `rear`           | Rear           |
+| `left_pillar`    | Left Pillar    |
+| `right_pillar`   | Right Pillar   |
+
+## Notes
+
+- Debug mode is off by default (`FLASK_DEBUG=0`) and is only used by the local
+  dev server. It has no effect when running under a WSGI server like gunicorn.
+- The TeslaCam directory must be accessible from the machine running the app (e.g., a mounted USB drive or network share).
+- Filename parsing assumes the standard TeslaCam naming format; files not matching the regex are ignored.

requirements.txt

@@ -1 +1,3 @@
 flask
+python-dotenv
+gunicorn

templates/camera_view.html

@@ -505,9 +505,9 @@
           >Right Repeater</a
         >
         <a
-          href="/camera/rear"
+          href="/camera/back"
-          class="{% if camera_view_key == 'rear' %}active{% endif %}"
+          class="{% if camera_view_key == 'back' %}active{% endif %}"
-          >Rear</a
+          >Back</a
         >
         <a
           href="/camera/left_pillar"
@@ -555,7 +555,6 @@
         <div class="list-toolbar">
           <span id="resultCount">0 clips</span>
           <select id="sortSelect" aria-label="Sort options">
-            <option value="newest">Newest first</option>
             <option value="oldest">Oldest first</option>
             <option value="name">Filename A–Z</option>
           </select>
@@ -601,7 +600,7 @@
         const resultCount = document.getElementById("resultCount");
 
         let query = "";
-        let sortMode = "newest";
+        let sortMode = "oldest";
         let currentVideo = null;
 
         function parseTimestamp(ts) {

videoplayer.py

@@ -11,12 +11,18 @@ play videos from different camera views.
 
 import os
 import re
+
+from dotenv import load_dotenv
 from flask import Flask, render_template, send_from_directory, abort
 
+# Load variables from a .env file if present (does not override real env vars)
+load_dotenv()
+
 app = Flask(__name__)
 
 # Root TeslaCam directory containing RecentClips, SavedClips, SentryClips, etc.
-TESLACAM_DIRECTORY = '/mnt/TeslaCam'
+# Override via the TESLACAM_DIRECTORY environment variable (see .env.example).
+TESLACAM_DIRECTORY = os.environ.get('TESLACAM_DIRECTORY', '/mnt/TeslaCam')
 
 # Regular expression matching TeslaCam filenames: YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM-SS-${camera_view}.mp4
 VIDEO_FILENAME_REGEX = re.compile(
@@ -132,5 +138,11 @@ def serve_video(filepath):
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
-    host = '0.0.0.0'
+    # Local dev server. For production, run behind a WSGI server instead, e.g.:
-    app.run(debug=True, host=host, port=5000)
+    #   gunicorn -w 4 -b 0.0.0.0:5000 'videoplayer:app'
+    # or
+    #   waitress-serve --host=0.0.0.0 --port=5000 videoplayer:app
+    host = os.environ.get('FLASK_RUN_HOST', '0.0.0.0')
+    port = int(os.environ.get('FLASK_RUN_PORT', '5000'))
+    debug = os.environ.get('FLASK_DEBUG', '0').lower() in ('1', 'true', 'yes')
+    app.run(debug=debug, host=host, port=port)