PhotoPrism smart home integration, free and open source
Your PhotoPrism photo library in Gladys: counters, new photos, indexing and import from scenes.
Published by guim31
- Devices
- Version 1.0.0
- Requires Gladys >=5.1.0
- ★ 0
Bring your PhotoPrism photo library into Gladys, over your local network: the number of photos, videos, albums, places and photos to review, the date and place of the last photo added, scenes that react when new photos arrive or an album grows, and scene actions that start an indexing or an import, with a trigger when it is finished.
The integration was tested against a real PhotoPrism server (the official Docker image, version 261007), not yet in a real Gladys installation: feedback is welcome on the Gladys forum or in the issues.
What you need
- Gladys Assistant 5.1.0 or later.
- A PhotoPrism server reachable from Gladys (same network).
- An app password with full access: in PhotoPrism, Settings →
Account → Apps and Devices → Add, scope "full access" (or on the
server:
photoprism auth add -n Gladys -s "*" -e -1 admin). The import needs full access; a narrower scope works for the counters only. - Without app passwords (older servers, two-factor authentication off), the user name and password of an admin account work too.
- A server in public mode (
PHOTOPRISM_AUTH_MODE=public) needs neither.
Set up
- Install the integration from the Gladys catalog.
- In Configuration, enter the Server URL with its port (for example
http://192.168.1.20:2342; behind a reverse proxy,https://example.org/photos) and the app password. Leave the user name empty with an app password. - Choose the Refresh (5 minutes by default) and the Language of the names, then save. Test the connection reads the server at once.
- In Discovery, add the PhotoPrism device.
Devices
One PhotoPrism device, with these features (read-only):
| Feature | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Photos | Photos of the library (archived ones excluded) |
| Videos | Videos of the library |
| Albums | Albums made by the users |
| Places | Places of the photos (needs the geocoding of PhotoPrism) |
| To review | Photos PhotoPrism puts aside for review (low quality, missing date) |
| Last photo added | Day it was taken and place: May 14, 2026 · Toulouse, Occitanie, France |
| Indexing in progress | 1 while an indexing or an import started from Gladys runs |
The integration reads the server itself (three requests per reading): nothing to set on the Gladys side. The connection badge of the device turns red when the server stops answering.
Dashboard
The Photo library widget shows the counters of photos, videos, albums and photos to review, the last photos added (place, day taken, a badge for the videos; a tap shows the title and the day added), and two buttons: Index (new and changed files) and Import (the import folder). While a job runs, a status line replaces the buttons.
Thumbnails are off by default: with the Show thumbnails setting, the 224-pixel tile of each photo is shown, which means your photos appear on every screen that displays this dashboard (a shared tablet, a public dashboard, Gladys Plus). The browser never loads PhotoPrism directly: Gladys asks the integration, which only serves the photos the widget lists.
Scenes
Triggers
- New photos added: photos or videos were added to the library, whatever the way (upload from the app, WebDAV, import, indexing), seen at the next reading. Variables: number of photos and videos added, photos, videos, title, place and day taken of the last one.
- Photos added to an album: an album holds more photos than at the previous reading (a new album counts from zero). Filter: the album title, exactly as in PhotoPrism. Variables: album title, photos added, photos in the album.
- Indexing or import finished: an indexing or an import started from Gladys (scene or widget) is finished. Filters: kind (indexing, import) and result (success, failure). Variables: kind, result, duration in seconds, photos and videos added.
The additions of an indexing or import started from Gladys are announced together at its end, just before Indexing or import finished.
Actions
- Start an indexing: PhotoPrism indexes the new and changed files of the
originals, or of one folder (
2026/05). Complete rescan (slow) reads every file again. Output: Already finished (an indexing of a few files ends within three seconds). - Start an import: PhotoPrism copies the files of its import folder into the library (they are copied, not moved), into an album when one is named (created if needed). Output: Already finished.
Both actions return within a few seconds: PhotoPrism keeps working, and the Indexing or import finished trigger tells the end. Only one job started from Gladys runs at a time; PhotoPrism also refuses a job while another one runs (started from its own interface, for example).
Scene ideas
- Every night at 3 a.m., Start an indexing; on Indexing or import finished with result "failure", send yourself a message.
- On New photos added, send the family a message with the number of new photos and the place of the last one (variables of the trigger).
- On Photos added to an album "Holidays 2026", show a message on the living room tablet.
Troubleshooting
- "app password, user name or password refused": the app password was deleted or mistyped; with a user name, check the password. An account with two-factor authentication needs an app password.
- "permission denied": the app password lacks a scope (the import needs full access), or the account is not an admin.
- "the server does not answer": check the address and the port (2342 for the Docker image) from the Gladys machine.
- "certificate refused": a self-signed certificate; use the
http://address on your network. - "an indexing or an import is already running": PhotoPrism is busy; try again once it is done.
- The indexing ends in failure after a minute behind a reverse proxy: the proxy cut the request (PhotoPrism answers only at the end). Use the local address, or raise the timeout of the proxy.
LOG_LEVEL=debugin the logs of the integration shows each reading.
Limits
- PhotoPrism has no way to tell whether an indexing runs: Indexing in progress only follows the jobs started from Gladys.
- New photos are seen at the next reading (5 minutes by default).
- Albums: only the albums made by the users, not the moments, folders or calendar.
- No photo leaves your network through the integration unless you turn on the thumbnails of the widget, and nothing is deleted or moved: no cleanup, imports copy.
- Not affiliated with PhotoPrism UG. PhotoPrism is a registered trademark of PhotoPrism UG.
Configuration settings
These are the settings PhotoPrism asks for in its configuration screen in Gladys.
| Setting | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Connect to your PhotoPrism server | section | No | Enter the address of the server (for example http://192.168.1.20:2342) and an app password: in PhotoPrism, Settings > Account > Apps and Devices, full access. Without app passwords, enter the user name and password of an admin account. |
| Server URL | string | Yes | Address of the server, port included (2342 for the Docker image). An https address behind a reverse proxy works too. |
| User name (without app password) | string | No | Leave empty with an app password. Filled in: the password below is the one of this account. |
| App password (or account password) | secret | No | |
| Refresh | select | No | How often the counters, the last photos added and the albums are read (three requests). |
| Language of the names | select | No | Language of the feature names and of the texts of the scene actions. Names are set when a device is created: to rename them after a change, delete and re-add the device. |
How to install PhotoPrism in Gladys
- In Gladys, open Integrations: PhotoPrism appears in the catalog, next to the native integrations, with a community badge.
- Click Install. Gladys pulls the Docker image (
ghcr.io/guim31/gladys-photoprism:1.0.0), starts it in a sandbox isolated from the core, and generates the integration's interface (devices, discovery and configuration). - Open the Configuration screen of the integration, fill in the settings, and save.
- You can also install it directly from its repository URL: https://github.com/guim31/gladys-photoprism.
PhotoPrism requires Gladys >=5.1.0. The catalog inside Gladys refreshes every hour, so a new version becomes available at most one hour after its release.
Not running Gladys yet? It is free and open source: follow the installation guide to get started.
About external integrations
PhotoPrism is an external integration: a community integration packaged as a Docker container and published on GitHub, that Gladys installs in one click and runs in a sandbox isolated from its core. It is published and maintained by guim31, not by the Gladys core team.
- Browse all integrations, native and community
- Build and publish your own external integration
- Source code on GitHub — source of this documentation