immich-drop: Collect Photos and Videos into Immich

Overview

immich-drop provides a guest-facing upload page for an Immich server. An administrator creates public-by-URL invite links, which recipients can use to send photos and videos without creating an account or receiving access to browse the server’s media.

It suits Immich owners who need a simple way to gather files from friends, family, or event participants. Uploads are handled by a Python web app using a server-side Immich API key, with session-local status rather than a media library interface.

Key Features

• Create invite links that can be one-time or reusable, with optional expiry and passwords.
• Upload files to Immich, optionally assigning them to a configured or invite-specific album.
• Show per-file upload progress through WebSockets and retry failed uploads.
• Check for duplicates using a local SHA-1 cache and optionally Immich’s bulk upload check.
• Support optional chunked uploads for large files.
• Provide a responsive uploader with dark mode and drag-and-drop or file selection.
• Keep the Immich API key on the server and limit displayed upload items to the current session.

Use Cases

• Immich administrators collecting photos from guests who should not need an Immich account.
• Families or groups sharing an invite link for a gathering, with uploads directed to an album.
• Event organizers collecting participant photos while avoiding a shared media-browsing account.
• Self-hosters receiving large files through a reverse-proxy setup where chunked uploads may help with upload-size limits.

Project Facts

• Language: Python
• License: MIT
• Stars: 627
• Forks: 30
• Topics: none listed
• Archived: no

Getting Started

The project provides a Docker image and Compose setup. Configure the Immich API URL and API key, then start the service:

docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

See the README for configuration, local development, and deployment details.

Alternatives

• Lychee: Lychee manages and shares its own photo library, while immich-drop collects guest uploads into a configured Immich server.
• zipline: Zipline is a general-purpose file upload and sharing server, while immich-drop is specifically for collecting guest uploads into Immich.

Considerations

• Requires a running Immich server and an API key with the permissions needed for the selected upload and album features.
• Invite links are public to anyone who has the URL. Optional invite passwords are available, but links should still be shared carefully.
• Production deployment should use HTTPS and a suitably restricted reverse proxy configuration.
• The app does not provide media browsing. Its uploader shows only uploads associated with the current browser session.
• The project is not archived, but repository activity and issue counts do not by themselves establish maintenance guarantees.