This is a python script designed to automatically create albums in [Immich](https://immich.app/) from a folder structure mounted into the Immich container.
This is useful for automatically creating and populating albums for external libraries.
This script is mostly based on the following original script: [REDVM/immich_auto_album.py](https://gist.github.com/REDVM/d8b3830b2802db881f5b59033cf35702)
Number of sub-folders or range of sub-folder levels below the root path used for album name creation. Positive numbers start from top of the folder structure, negative numbers from the bottom. Cannot be 0. If a range should be set, the start level
and end level must be separated by a comma like '<startLevel>,<endLevel>'. If negative levels are used in a range, <startLevel> must be less than or equal to <endLevel>. (default: 1)
Use either literals or glob-like patterns to ignore assets for album name creation. This filter is evaluated after any values passed with --path-filter. May be specified multiple times. (default: None)
Mode for the script to run with. CREATE = Create albums based on folder names and provided arguments; CLEANUP = Create album nmaes based on current images and script arguments, but delete albums if they exist; DELETE_ALL = Delete all albums. If the
mode is anything but CREATE, --unattended does not have any effect. Only performs deletion if -d/--delete-confirm option is set, otherwise only performs a dry-run. (default: CREATE)
-d, --delete-confirm Confirm deletion of albums when running in mode CLEANUP or DELETE_ALL. If this flag is not set, these modes will perform a dry run only. Has no effect in mode CREATE (default: False)
A user name (or email address of an existing user) to share newly created albums with. Sharing only happens if the album was actually created, not if new assets were added to an existing album. If the the share role should be specified by user, the
format <userName>=<shareRole> must be used, where <shareRole> must be one of 'viewer' or 'editor'. May be specified multiple times to share albums with more than one user. (default: None)
The default share role for users newly created albums are shared with. Only effective if --share-with is specified at least once and the share role is not specified within --share-with. (default: viewer)
Synchronization mode to use. Synchronization mode helps synchronizing changes in external libraries structures to Immich after albums have already been created. Possible Modes: 0 = do nothing; 1 = Delete any empty albums; 2 = Trigger offline asset
removal (REQUIRES API KEY OF AN ADMIN USER!) (default: 0)
By default, the script only finds assets that are not assigned to any album yet. Set this option to make the script discover assets that are already part of an album and handle them as usual. If --find-archived-assets is set as well, both options
Use either literals or glob-like patterns to filter assets before album name creation. This filter is evaluated before any values passed with --ignore. May be specified multiple times. (default: None)
Set first/last/random image as thumbnail for newly created albums or albums assets have been added to. If set to random-filtered, thumbnails are shuffled for all albums whose assets would not be filtered out or ignored by the ignore or path-filter
options, even if no assets were added during the run. If set to random-all, the thumbnails for ALL albums will be shuffled on every run. (default: None)
-v, --archive Set this option to automatically archive all assets that were newly added to albums. If this option is set in combination with --mode = CLEANUP or DELETE_ALL, archived images of deleted albums will be unarchived. Archiving hides the assets from Immich's timeline. (default: False)
--find-archived-assets
By default, the script only finds assets that are not archived in Immich. Set this option to make the script discover assets that are already archived. If -A/--find-assets-in-albums is set as well, both options apply. (default: False)
A Docker image is provided to be used as a runtime environment. It can be used to either run the script manually, or via cronjob by providing a crontab expression to the container. The container can then be added to the Immich compose stack directly.
#### Environment Variables
The environment variables are analoguous to the script's command line arguments.
| ROOT_PATH | yes | A single or a comma separated list of import paths for external libraries in Immich. <br>Refer to [Choosing the correct `root_path`](#choosing-the-correct-root_path).|
| CRON_EXPRESSION | yes | A [crontab-style expression](https://crontab.guru/) (e.g. `0 * * * *`) to perform album creation on a schedule (e.g. every hour). |
| ALBUM_LEVELS | no | Number of sub-folders or range of sub-folder levels below the root path used for album name creation. Positive numbers start from top of the folder structure, negative numbers from the bottom. Cannot be `0`. If a range should be set, the start level and end level must be separated by a comma. <br>Refer to [How it works](#how-it-works) for a detailed explanation and examples. |
| ALBUM_SEPARATOR | no | Separator string to use for compound album names created from nested folders. Only effective if `-a` is set to a value `> 1`(default: "` `") |
| CHUNK_SIZE | no | Maximum number of assets to add to an album with a single API call (default: `2000`) |
| FETCH_CHUNK_SIZE | no | Maximum number of assets to fetch with a single API call (default: `5000`) |
| LOG_LEVEL | no | Log level to use (default: INFO), allowed values: `CRITICAL`,`ERROR`,`WARNING`,`INFO`,`DEBUG` |
| INSECURE | no | Set to `true` to disable SSL verification for the Immich API server, useful for self-signed certificates (default: `false`), allowed values: `true`, `false` |
| MODE | no | Mode for the script to run with. <br>__`CREATE`__ = Create albums based on folder names and provided arguments<br>__`CLEANUP`__ = Create album nmaes based on current images and script arguments, but delete albums if they exist <br>__`DELETE_ALL`__ = Delete all albums. <br> If the mode is anything but `CREATE`, `--unattended` does not have any effect. <br> (default: `CREATE`). <br>Refer to [Cleaning Up Albums](#cleaning-up-albums). |
| DELETE_CONFIRM | no | Confirm deletion of albums when running in mode `CLEANUP` or `DELETE_ALL`. If this flag is not set, these modes will perform a dry run only. Has no effect in mode `CREATE` (default: `False`). <br>Refer to [Cleaning Up Albums](#cleaning-up-albums).|
| SHARE_WITH | no | A single or a colon (`:`) separated list of existing user names (or email addresses of existing users) to share newly created albums with. If the the share role should be specified by user, the format <userName>=<shareRole> must be used, where <shareRole> must be one of `viewer` or `editor`. May be specified multiple times to share albums with more than one user. (default: None) Sharing only happens if an album is actually created, not if new assets are added to it. <br>Refer to [Automatic Album Sharing](#automatic-album-sharing).|
| SHARE_ROLE | no | The role for users newly created albums are shared with. Only effective if `SHARE_WITH` is not empty and no explicit share role was specified for at least one user. (default: viewer), allowed values: `viewer`, `editor` |
| SYNC_MODE | no | Synchronization mode to use. Synchronization mode helps synchronizing changes in external libraries structures to Immich after albums have already been created. Possible Modes: <br>`0` = do nothing<br>`1` = Delete any empty albums<br>`2` = Trigger offline asset removal (REQUIRES API KEY OF AN ADMIN USER!)<br>(default: `0`)<br>Refer to [Dealing with External Library Changes](#dealing-with-external-library-changes). |
| ALBUM_ORDER | no | Set sorting order for newly created albums to newest (`desc`) or oldest (`asc`) file first, Immich defaults to newest file first, allowed values: `asc`, `desc` |
| FIND_ASSETS_IN_ALBUMS | no | By default, the script only finds assets that are not assigned to any album yet. Set this option to make the script discover assets that are already part of an album and handle them as usual. If --find-archived-assets is set as well, both options apply. (default: `False`)<br>Refer to [Assets in Multiple Albums](#assets-in-multiple-albums). |
| PATH_FILTER | no | A colon `:` separated list of literals or glob-style patterns to filter assets before album name creation. (default: ``)<br>Refer to [Filtering](#filtering). |
| SET_ALBUM_THUMBNAIL | no | Set first/last/random image as thumbnail (based on image creation timestamp) for newly created albums or albums assets have been added to.<br> Allowed values: `first`,`last`,`random`,`random-filtered`,`random-all`<br>If set to `random-filtered`, thumbnails are shuffled for all albums whose assets would not be filtered out or ignored by the `IGNORE` or `PATH_FILTER` options, even if no assets were added during the run. If set to random-all, the thumbnails for ALL albums will be shuffled on every run. (default: `None`)<br>Refer to [Setting Album Thumbnails](#setting-album-thumbnails). |
| ARCHIVE | no | Set this option to automatically archive all assets that were newly added to albums.<br>If this option is set in combination with `MODE` = `CLEANUP` or `DELETE_ALL`, archived images of deleted albums will be unarchived.<br>Archiving hides the assets from Immich's timeline. (default: `False`)<br>Refer to [Automatic Archiving](#automatic-archiving). |
| FIND_ARCHIVED_ASSETS | no | y default, the script only finds assets that are not archived in Immich. Set this option make the script discover assets that are already archived. If -A/--find-assets-in-albums is set as well, both options apply. (default: `False`)<br>Refer to [Automatic Archiving](#automatic-archiving). |
To set up the container to periodically run the script, give it a name, pass the TZ variable and a valid crontab expression as environment variable. This example runs the script every hour:
If your external library uses multiple import paths or you have set up multiple external libraries, you can pass multiple paths in `ROOT_PATH` by setting it to a comma separated list of paths:
The root path `/path/to/external/lib/` is the path you have mounted your external library into the Immich container.
If you are following [Immich's External library Documentation](https://immich.app/docs/guides/external-library), you are using an environment variable called `${EXTERNAL_PATH}` which is mounted to `/usr/src/app/external` in the Immich container. Your `root_path` to pass to the script is `/usr/src/app/external`.
The script utilizies [Immich's REST API](https://immich.app/docs/api/) to query all images indexed by Immich, extract the folder for all images that are in the top level of any provided `root_path`, then creates albums with the names of these folders (if not yet exists) and adds the images to the correct albums.
-`root_path` is the base path where images are looked for. Multiple root paths can be specified by adding the `-r` argument as many times as necessary. Only images within that base path will be considered for album creation.
It is possible to specify not just a number for `--album-levels`, but a range from level x to level y in the folder structure that should make up an album's name:
> When passing negative ranges as album levels, you __must__ pass the argument in the form `--album-levels="-2,-2"`. Emphasis is on the equals sign `=` separating the option from the value. Otherwise, you might get an error `argument -a/--album-levels: expected one argument`!
> Note that with negative `album-levels` or album level ranges, images from different parent folders will be mixed in the same album if they reside in sub-folders with the same name (see `Vacation` in example above).
It is possible filter images by either specifying keywords or path patterns to either specifically filter for or ignore assets based on their path. Two options control this behavior.
Internally, the script converts literals to glob-patterns that will match a path if the specified literal occurs anywhere in it. Example: `--ignore Feb` is equal to `--ignore **/*Feb*/**`.
The option `-i / --ignore` can be specified multiple times for each literal or glob-style path pattern.
When using Docker, the environment variable `IGNORE` accepts a semicolon-separated `:` list of literals or glob-style patterns. If an image's path **below the root path** matches the pattern, it will be ignored.
### Filtering for Assets
The option `-f / ---path-filter` can be specified multiple times for each literal or glob-style path pattern.
When using Docker, the environment variable `PATH_FILTER` accepts a semicolon-separated `:` of literals or glob-style patterns. If an image's path **below the root path** does **NOT** match the pattern, it will be ignored.
> When working with path filters, consider setting the `-A / --find-assets-in-albums` option or Docker environment variable `FIND_ASSETS_IN_ALBUMS` for the script to discover assets that are already part of an album. That way, assets can be added to multiple albums by the script. Refer to the [Assets in Multiple Albums](#assets-in-multiple-albums) section for more information.
- To only create a `Birthdays` album with all images directly in `Birthdays` or in any subfolder on any level, run the script with the following options:
-`root_path=/external_libs/photos`
-`--album-level=1`
-`--path-filter Birthdays/**`
- To only create albums for the 2020s (all 202x years), but with the album names like `2020 02 Feb`, run the script with the following options:
-`root_path=/external_libs/photos`
-`--album-level=2`
-`--path-filter=202?/**`
- To only create albums for 2020s (all 202x years) with the album names like `2020 02 Feb`, but only with images in folders **one level** below `2020` and **not** any of the `Vacation` images, run the script with the following options:
-`root_path=/external_libs/photos`
-`--album-level=2`
-`--path-filter=202?/*/*`
- To create a `Vacation` album with all vacation images, run the script with the following options:
The scripts support sharing newly created albums with a list of existing users. The sharing role (`viewer` or `editor`) can be specified for all users at once or individually per user.
### Album Sharing Examples (Bare Python Script)
Two arguments control this feature:
-`-o / --share-role`: The default role for users an album is shared with. Allowed values are `viewer` or `editor`. This argument is optional and defaults to `viewer`.
-`-x / --share-with`: Specify once per user to share with. The value should be either the user name or the user's email address as specified in Immich. If the user name is used and it contains blanks ` `, it must be wrapped in double quotes `"`. To override the default share role and specify a role explicitly for this user, the format `<userName>=<shareRole>` must be used (refer to examples below).
To share new albums with users `User A` and `User B` as `viewer`, use the following call:
-`SHARE_ROLE`: The default role for users an album is shared with. Allowed values are `viewer` or `editor`. This argument is optional and defaults to `viewer`.
-`SHARE_WITH`: A colon `:` separated list of either names or email addresses (or a mix) of existing users. To override the default share role and specify a role explicitly for each user, the format `<userName>=<shareRole>` must be used (refer to examples below).
To share new albums with users `User A` and `User B` as `viewer`, use the following call:
The script supports differnt run modes (option `-m`/`--mode` or env variable `MODE` for Docker). The default mode is `CREATE`, which is used to create albums.
The other two modes are `CLEANUP` and `DELETE_ALL`.
> [!CAUTION]
> Regardless of the mode you are using, deleting albums cannot be undone! The only option is to let the script run again and create new albums base on the passed arguments and current assets in Immich.
To prevent accidental deletions, setting the mode to `CLEANUP` or `DELETE_ALL` alone will not actually delete any albums, but only perform a dry run. The dry run prints a list of albums that the script __would__ delete.
To actually delete albums, the option `-d/--delete-confirm` (or env variable `DELETE_CONFIRM` for Docker) must be set.
The script will generate album names using the script's arguments and the assets found in Immich, but instead of creating the albums, it will delete them (if they exist). This is useful if a large number of albums was created with no/the wrong `--album-separator` or `--album-levels` settings.
### `DELETE_ALL`
> [!CAUTION]
> As the name suggests, this mode blindly deletes **ALL** albums from Immich. Use with caution!
By default, the script only fetches assets from Immich that are not assigned to any album yet. This makes querying assets in large libraries very fast. However, if assets should be part of either manually created albums as well as albums based on the folder structure, or if multiple script passes with different album level settings should create differently named albums with overlapping contents, the option `--find-assets-in-albums` (bare Python) or environment variable `FIND_ASSETS_IN_ALBUMS` (Docker) may be set.
In that case, the script will request all assets from Immich and add them to their corresponding folders, even if the also are part of other albums.
The script supports automatically setting album thumbnails by specifying the `--set-album-thumbnail` option (bare Python) or `SET_ALBUM_THUMBNAIL` environment variable (Docker). There are several options to choose from for thumbnail selection:
-`first`: Sets the first image as thumbnail based on image creation timestamps
-`last`: Sets the last image as thumbnail based on image creation timestamps
-`random`: Sets the thumbnail to a random image
When using one of the values above, the thumbnail of an album will be updated whenever assets are added.
Furthermore, the script supports two additional modes that are applied __even if no assets were added to the album__:
-`random-all`: In this mode the thumbnail for __all albums__ will be shuffled every time the script runs, ignoring any `root_path`, `--ignore` or `--path-filter` values.
-`random-filtered`: Using this mode, the thumbnail for an albums will be shuffled every run if the album is not ignored by `root_path` or due to usage of the `--ignore` or `--path-filter` options.
In Immich, 'archiving' an image means to hide it from the main timeline.
This script is capable of automatically archiving images it added to albums during the run to hide them from the timeline. To achieve this, run the script with option `--archive` or Docker environment variable `ARCHIVE=true`.
>[!IMPORTANT]
>Archiving images has the side effect that they are no longer detected by the script with default options. This means that if an album that was created with the `--archive` option set is deleted from the Immich user interface, the script will no longer find the images even though they are no longer assigned to an album.
To make the script find also archived images, run the script with the option `--find-archived-assets` or Docker environment variable `FIND_ARCHIVED_ASSETS=true`.
>[!WARNING]
>If the script is used to delete albums using `--mode=CLEANUP` or `--mode=DELETE_ALL` with the `--archive` option set, the script will automatically unarchive all assets of deleted albums to revert them to their prior state. If you manually archived selected assets in albums, this will be reverted!
Due to their nature, external libraries may be changed by the user without Immich having any say in it.
Two examples of this are the user deleting or renaming folders in their external libraries after the script has created albums, or the user moving single files from one folder to another. The script would create new albums from renamed folders or add images to their new album after they have been moved.
Immich itself deals with this by marking images/videos it no longer sees in their original location as "offline". This can lead to albums being completely populated by "offline" files only (if the folder was renamed or deleted) while they exist normally in a new album or with single images being offline in one album, while existing normally in their new albums.
There is an administrative option to trigger deletion of "offline assets" from libraries in the Immich Admin Interface. However, in the first example this might leave behind empty albums if the album only contained offline files.
To clean up this mess this script offers an option called `Sync Mode`. It is an optional argument / environment variable that may have values from 0 to 2.
The following behaviors wil be triggered by the different values:
The complete syncing process consists of two stages:
1. Trigger Offline Asset Removal
This will start a background job for each library to find and delete files from Immich's database that are marked as 'offline'. It is asynchronous and might take some time (depending on the size of the databases and the numver of offline files).
Offline Asset Removal can only be triggered by Administrators, so the API Key used for this sync mode must be one of an Administrator. This might not be the same you use for creating albums!
2. Delete Empty Albums
Step 1 might leave behind empty albums for a different user. The script is capable of removing empty albums at the end of a run to clean up after Offline Asset Removal.
> It is __not__ possible for the script to distinguish between an album that was left behind empty after Offline Asset Removal and a manually created album with no images added to it! All empty albums of that user will be deleted!
# Run 10 minutes past the hour to give Offline Asset Removal time to work
CRON_EXPRESSION: "10 * ** *"
TZ: Europe/Berlin
# Delete empty albums after each run
SYNC_MODE: "1"
```
The `immich-folder-album-creator-offline-asset-removal` service has the one and only purpose of triggering Offline Asset Removal, since we do not want to create albums for the Admin User. Thus, a dummy `ROOT_PATH` is passed so that the script will never find any assets to create albums from. `SYNC_MODE` is set to `2` to regularly trigger Offline Asset Removal.
The `immich-folder-album-creator` service is the normal service for creating albums from an external library. The cron job triggers 10 minutes past the hour, whereas Offline Asset Removal is trigger at the full hour. This gives the job 10 minutes of time to run before any empty albums are deleted at the end of the run due to `SYNC_MODE` being set to `1`.
