End-to-end webhook flow is proven on this NC instance (NodeCreated +
NodeWritten both fired and dispatched scan_folder on a PUT test), so
the watchfiles-based polling layer is no longer needed.
- scanner.start_initial_scan no longer queues watch_folders on boot.
- scan.watch_folders kept as a one-line no-op shim so any leftover
apply_async in flight from the previous deploy doesn't crash a
worker. Will be deleted entirely after the queue drains.
- celery.py reroutes watch_folders to the `default` queue (worker-light)
so the no-op shim actually completes — the `watcher` queue is dead.
- docker-compose drops the mulita-worker-watcher service. Its celery
--beat responsibility (firing discard_missing_photos_beat every 30
min) moves to worker-light's command.
Latency note: NC dispatches webhook events through its background-job
queue, currently run by cron */5. After this commit lands you'll want
to tighten cron to */1 so new uploads land in mule within ~60s instead
of up to 5 min.
Re-enable the watchfiles-based folder watcher with a Redis lock to
prevent multiple instances from stacking up across restarts. The
watcher is now automatically dispatched on startup when scanner.watch
is true (default), and only one instance runs at a time.
- Redis lock (SETNX + TTL renewal) ensures single-instance execution
- Graceful exit if another watcher holds the lock
- New POST /maintenance/start-watcher endpoint for manual control
- Fix: use settings.scanner/vision properties instead of mulita_config
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Introduce username/password authentication with admin and user roles.
Each user gets their own media directory under /photos/{username}/ with
isolated photos, folders, heaps, and tags. Admins manage users and
observe the full library from a dedicated Settings page.
Backend:
- User model with bcrypt passwords and JWT access/refresh tokens
- Auth router (login, refresh, setup, change-password, status)
- Admin router (user CRUD with last-admin protection)
- user_id FK added to photos, folders, source_roots, heaps, tags
- All data routers scoped by authenticated user
- Scanner inherits user_id from source root owner
- Thumbnails stored under user-prefixed paths for isolation
- Library endpoints accept ?scope=global for admin cross-user view
- Alembic migration 0009 with data migration for existing installs
- Defensive bootstrap.py handles fresh vs existing DB startup
Frontend:
- AuthContext with token lifecycle, auto-refresh, login/logout
- Login page, first-run setup page, auth gate in App.tsx
- Bearer token interceptor on all API requests
- User identity + logout in left sidebar
- Admin-only Settings page with Library Management and Users tabs
- UserManagement panel (add, edit role, reset password, deactivate)
- Settings shows global stats across all users for admin
- Filter bar, right sidebar, keyboard hints hidden on settings page
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Diagnosis: every backend restart was dispatching watch_folders.delay()
unconditionally. watch_folders is an infinite-loop celery task
(for changes in watch(*paths)). With CELERYD_CONCURRENCY=4 and several
restarts during dev, all four worker slots ended up pinned by stale
watch_folders instances, leaving zero workers free for scan_folder.
The result: clicking "Scan all folders" successfully queued a task
that then sat in the queue forever, the new /photos/sub folder was
never walked, and the user's newly added photo never appeared.
The watcher was only opportunistically useful and the user already
triggers scans manually. Disabling it removes the foot-gun. Re-
enabling needs:
- a Redis lock so only one watcher runs at a time
- or a dedicated long-running container with concurrency=1
- or a celery beat schedule with a singleton flag
Until then, manual scans work. Cleared the backlog by wiping the
redis broker volume so the stale watch_folders tasks are gone.
Verified: post-fix, scan_folder runs in 0.12s and reports
"Processed 7/7 files. Errors: 0", picking up the previously missing
/photos/sub/Samuel_Colman... file.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Cleans up the maze of overlapping ways folders entered the app, plus
removes the dead trash plumbing left over from the soft-discard
refactor.
Setup model (now)
- ONE env var: PHOTO_DIRS in .env, set to the host path of your
library. Compose mounts that at /photos. That's the entire setup.
- On first boot, the backend auto-creates a SourceRoot row named
"Library" pointing at /photos so the user sees their photos
immediately without configuring anything.
- Source roots and discard live in the database; mulita.yml only
carries operational settings (thumbnails, scanner, performance).
- The "Add Source Folder" dialog is now a directory browser
restricted server-side to /photos and any existing source root —
the user clicks through actual mounted directories instead of
typing container paths they can't possibly know.
Backend
- New services/scanner.bootstrap_default_source_root(): if no
SourceRoot rows exist and /photos is mounted, create one. Wired
into the lifespan handler before cleanup + initial scan.
- New GET /library/browse?path= returning the immediate child
directories of `path`, validated to live under one of the allowed
roots (default mount + every active SourceRoot). Hidden entries
are filtered. Children are tagged with is_existing_root so the UI
can show an "Added" badge. Returns parent path for up-nav, or
null when at the top of the allowed scope.
- scan_all_source_roots now reads from the DB instead of the YAML
config so DB-managed source roots are honoured by initial scan.
- Dropped the placeholder source_roots block from mulita.yml — the
paths /photos/main and /photos/iphone never existed and just
produced startup warnings.
- Dropped TrashSettings, settings.trash, settings.source_roots,
and the SourceRoot pydantic model from config.py. Soft discard
has owned this for a while; it was dead code.
Compose
- Single ${PHOTO_DIRS:-./photos}:/photos:rw mount in both backend
and worker.
- Removed the hardcoded ~/Pictures:/host/Pictures:rw mount — the
PHOTO_DIRS variable is the single source of truth now.
- Removed the trash_data named volume + mounts (no consumers).
- backend/Dockerfile no longer creates /data/trash; it now creates
/data/proxies (which the proxy endpoint actually uses).
Frontend
- AddSourceFolderDialog rewritten as a directory tree picker:
loads /library/browse on open, lets the user navigate up via a
ChevronUp button or down by clicking subfolders, shows the
current path inline, and adds whatever directory is currently
shown. Existing source roots are tagged "Added" so the user
knows what's already registered. Errors from the backend (e.g.
trying to navigate outside the allowed scope) surface inline.
- New library.browse() helper + BrowseChild / BrowseResponse types
in services/api.ts.
Docs
- README Quick Start rewritten around the single PHOTO_DIRS env
var, with macOS/Linux/Windows examples.
- New "How mounted folders and source folders relate" section that
spells out the two-layer model (mount = visibility, source root
= scanning) so the most common confusion is addressed up front.
- Added a "Read-only libraries" subsection that lists exactly which
endpoints fail under :ro.
- "Configuration" section reframed: source roots are managed by the
UI/API now, mulita.yml is operational settings only.
- .env file now has examples for the common host paths.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>