# PhotoPrism — AI-Powered Photo Management for the Self-Hosted Era

> PhotoPrism organizes your photo library using AI-powered tagging, face recognition, and location clustering. A polished Google Photos alternative that keeps your photos on your own server.

## Install

Save as a script file and run:

# PhotoPrism — AI-Powered Photo Library

## Quick Use
```bash
# Docker Compose — production-ready
mkdir photoprism && cd photoprism
curl -L https://dl.photoprism.app/docker/docker-compose.yml -o docker-compose.yml

# Edit the compose file to set:
#   PHOTOPRISM_ADMIN_PASSWORD
#   PHOTOPRISM_SITE_URL
#   volume mounts for your photos and storage

docker compose up -d
# Visit http://localhost:2342
```

## Introduction
PhotoPrism is the premier open-source alternative to Google Photos and Apple iCloud Photos. It indexes your photo + video library with AI (labels, face recognition, places), provides fast browsing + search, and handles RAW + HEIC + live photos + videos — all self-hosted, with no analytics.

With over 39,000 GitHub stars, PhotoPrism is the go-to choice for photographers and privacy-conscious users. It scales from a Raspberry Pi with a family library to a multi-TB server hosting a studio archive.

## What PhotoPrism Does
PhotoPrism watches a folder of original photos, runs AI-powered tagging (TensorFlow models for labels, faces, nsfw detection), extracts EXIF + IPTC + XMP metadata, and builds a searchable index in MariaDB. The web UI lets you browse by date, map, albums, labels, and people. Mobile apps (via PWA) give you a Google Photos-like experience.

## Architecture Overview
```
[Originals folder] <-- immutable photo files
       |
[PhotoPrism Go service]
   Indexer: metadata + AI tagging
       |
[TensorFlow models]
  labels (1,000+ categories)
  face detection + clustering
  nsfw detection
       |
[MariaDB]
   metadata, albums, labels, faces
       |
[Storage folder]
   thumbs (generated sizes)
   sidecars (metadata backups)
       |
[Web UI / PWA]
   browse, search, albums, face tagging, map
```

## Self-Hosting & Configuration
```yaml
# docker-compose.yml (excerpt)
services:
  photoprism:
    image: photoprism/photoprism:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    stop_grace_period: 10s
    depends_on: [mariadb]
    environment:
      PHOTOPRISM_ADMIN_PASSWORD: "change-me"
      PHOTOPRISM_SITE_URL: "https://photos.example.com"
      PHOTOPRISM_DISABLE_TLS: "true"                 # behind reverse proxy
      PHOTOPRISM_ORIGINALS_LIMIT: 5000               # per indexing run
      PHOTOPRISM_DETECT_NSFW: "false"
      PHOTOPRISM_UPLOAD_NSFW: "true"
      PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_DRIVER: "mysql"
      PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_SERVER: "mariadb:3306"
      PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_NAME: "photoprism"
      PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_USER: "photoprism"
      PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_PASSWORD: "insecure"
    volumes:
      - "./photos:/photoprism/originals"
      - "./storage:/photoprism/storage"
      - "./import:/photoprism/import"
    ports:
      - "2342:2342"

  mariadb:
    image: mariadb:11
    environment:
      MARIADB_AUTO_UPGRADE: "1"
      MARIADB_INITDB_SKIP_TZINFO: "1"
      MARIADB_DATABASE: "photoprism"
      MARIADB_USER: "photoprism"
      MARIADB_PASSWORD: "insecure"
      MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD: "insecure"
    volumes:
      - "./db:/var/lib/mysql"
```

```bash
# Trigger re-indexing
docker compose exec photoprism photoprism index --rescan

# CLI bulk operations
docker compose exec photoprism photoprism faces recognize
docker compose exec photoprism photoprism photos rescan
docker compose exec photoprism photoprism backup --all
```

## Key Features
- **AI tagging** — auto-classify 1,000+ labels (beach, sunset, cat, pizza, etc.)
- **Face recognition** — detect + cluster faces, manual tagging for identity
- **RAW + HEIC support** — processes modern camera + iPhone formats
- **Live photos + videos** — preserve motion, browse alongside stills
- **Map view** — pin photos by EXIF geolocation
- **Albums + smart albums** — saved searches for dynamic collections
- **PWA** — install on phone for a Google Photos-like app
- **Immutable originals** — strict read-only mode for original files

## Comparison with Similar Tools
| Feature | PhotoPrism | Immich | Lychee | Librephotos | Pigallery2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI tagging | Yes (TF) | Yes (ML) | No | Yes (PhotoSync) | Partial |
| Face recognition | Yes | Yes | No | Yes (strong) | No |
| Video support | Yes | Yes (best) | Limited | Yes | Limited |
| Mobile upload | PWA only | Native iOS/Android | PWA | Native | PWA |
| Maturity | Mature | Newer (fast-moving) | Mature | Moderate | Mature |
| Best For | Photo archives + AI | iPhone/Android users | Simple gallery | Self-host w/ face tagging | Read-only gallery |

## FAQ
**Q: PhotoPrism vs Immich?**
A: Both excellent. Immich has better mobile apps (native iOS + Android with backup). PhotoPrism has more mature AI tagging and better handling of existing libraries. Many users install both and compare.

**Q: Can it handle 500K photos?**
A: Yes with the right hardware — indexing takes hours the first time (AI models run on each photo), subsequent updates are fast. 4GB RAM + SSD storage is the rough minimum for large libraries.

**Q: Does it sync with my existing folder structure?**
A: Yes. PhotoPrism reads your originals folder exactly as it is. Metadata goes to MariaDB; your file layout stays untouched (unless you enable "move imports").

**Q: Is it really free?**
A: Yes, AGPL-3.0 for the open-source edition. PhotoPrism Plus (paid membership) unlocks additional features (e.g., legacy face recognition model, early access) and supports development.

## Sources
- GitHub: https://github.com/photoprism/photoprism
- Website: https://photoprism.app
- Company: PhotoPrism UG
- License: AGPL-3.0

---
Source: https://tokrepo.com/en/workflows/306cea9c-381e-11f1-9bc6-00163e2b0d79
Author: Script Depot