Photonix does not detect newly added photos.

[grainsoflight]

Describe the bug
When adding photos to the server path mapped to /data/photos. photos do not appear in photonix. Additionally, the "watch folder for new photos" toggle in settings will not remain on. Photonix does recognize photo path as it did create the "raw-photos...." directory in that location when running docker-compose.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:
Add photos to photo directory, see no change in photonix.

Toggle "watch folder.." on in "settings." Leave settings and return to settings, option will be off again.

Expected behavior
Photos should automatically add to photonix.

Server (please complete the following information):

• Device: QNAP NAS running container station utilizing Docker Compose
• OS: QutOS 5.0.1
• Architecture: x86_x64

Desktop (please complete the following information):

• OS: Mac OS Ventura
• Browser Chrome, Safari

[grainsoflight]

YEs I experience both of these also. Currently need to restart the docker!

Restarting the container does not resolve this for me

[grainsoflight]

Anyone?

[grainsoflight]

`2023-01-19 02:02:05,847 ERROR Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.8/site-packages/promise/promise.py", line 489, in resolve_from_executor
executor(resolve, reject)
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.8/site-packages/promise/promise.py", line 756, in executor
return resolve(f(*args, **kwargs))
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.8/site-packages/graphql/execution/middleware.py", line 75, in make_it_promise
return next(*args, **kwargs)
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.8/site-packages/graphql_jwt/mutations.py", line 60, in mutate
return cls.refresh(*arg, **kwargs)
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.8/site-packages/graphql_jwt/decorators.py", line 110, in wrapper
result = f(cls, root, info, **kwargs)
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.8/site-packages/graphql_jwt/refresh_token/mixins.py", line 24, in refresh
refresh_token = get_refresh_token(refresh_token, context)
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.8/site-packages/graphql_jwt/refresh_token/shortcuts.py", line 20, in get_refresh_token
raise JSONWebTokenError(('Invalid refresh token'))
graphql.error.located_error.GraphQLLocatedError: Invalid refresh token

2023-01-19 02:02:21,523 ERROR Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.8/site-packages/promise/promise.py", line 489, in resolve_from_executor
executor(resolve, reject)
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.8/site-packages/promise/promise.py", line 756, in executor
return resolve(f(*args, **kwargs))
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.8/site-packages/graphql/execution/middleware.py", line 75, in make_it_promise
return next(*args, **kwargs)
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.8/site-packages/graphql_jwt/mutations.py", line 60, in mutate
return cls.refresh(*arg, **kwargs)
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.8/site-packages/graphql_jwt/decorators.py", line 110, in wrapper
result = f(cls, root, info, **kwargs)
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.8/site-packages/graphql_jwt/refresh_token/mixins.py", line 24, in refresh
refresh_token = get_refresh_token(refresh_token, context)
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.8/site-packages/graphql_jwt/refresh_token/shortcuts.py", line 20, in get_refresh_token
raise JSONWebTokenError(('Invalid refresh token'))
graphql.error.located_error.GraphQLLocatedError: Invalid refresh token

2023-01-19 02:02:37,514 ERROR Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.8/site-packages/promise/promise.py", line 489, in resolve_from_executor
executor(resolve, reject)
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.8/site-packages/promise/promise.py", line 756, in executor
return resolve(f(*args, **kwargs))
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.8/site-packages/graphql/execution/middleware.py", line 75, in make_it_promise
return next(*args, **kwargs)
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.8/site-packages/graphql_jwt/mutations.py", line 60, in mutate
return cls.refresh(*arg, **kwargs)
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.8/site-packages/graphql_jwt/decorators.py", line 110, in wrapper
result = f(cls, root, info, **kwargs)
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.8/site-packages/graphql_jwt/refresh_token/mixins.py", line 24, in refresh
refresh_token = get_refresh_token(refresh_token, context)
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.8/site-packages/graphql_jwt/refresh_token/shortcuts.py", line 20, in get_refresh_token
raise JSONWebTokenError(('Invalid refresh token'))
graphql.error.located_error.GraphQLLocatedError: Invalid refresh token

[patchedmonkey]

Same here! I mean there was a command via the console to reload the photos manually. Will get back to you when I know more.

[patchedmonkey]

Same here! I mean there was a command via the console to reload the photos manually. Will get back to you when I know more.

Docker build of the developer version works for me.

[grainsoflight]

Make sure you change the default database password, that fixed it for me

…

On Sun, Jan 29, 2023, 3:48 PM Patched Monkey ***@***.***> wrote: Same here! I mean there was a command via the console to reload the photos manually. Will get back to you when I know more. Docker build of the developer version works for me. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#417 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AHANMY4VRCYQZ36GTDSMHC3WU3QSLANCNFSM6AAAAAATV5BKB4> . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[steffenr]

You can trigger a rescan by running
python photonix/manage.py rescan_photos
in your photonix installation.

[sammy-assistant]

Hi! We've been looking into this and wanted to share some context.

How photo detection works

Photonix uses two mechanisms to detect new photos:

1. Real-time watcher — uses Linux inotify to detect file changes immediately (watch_photos management command)
2. Periodic rescan — a full directory walk that runs every hour as a backup (rescan_photos_periodically command)

Recent changes

There have been some recent improvements to the import/scanning logic (commit 8bb796e) which improved how already-imported files are tracked and reduced log noise. The core watcher itself hasn't changed.

Known potential causes

1. inotify watch limit
Linux has a default limit of ~8192 inotify watches. If your photo library has many subdirectories, you can silently hit this limit and new directories/files won't be detected. You can check and increase it:

# Check current limit
cat /proc/sys/fs/inotify/max_user_watches

# Increase temporarily
echo 65536 | sudo tee /proc/sys/fs/inotify/max_user_watches

# Increase permanently
echo 'fs.inotify.max_user_watches=65536' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
sudo sysctl -p

2. Docker on non-Linux hosts (macOS/Windows)
inotify is a Linux kernel feature. If you're running Docker on macOS or Windows, filesystem events from bind-mounted volumes may not propagate to the container. This is a known Docker limitation — the real-time watcher won't fire, and you'd be relying entirely on the hourly rescan.

3. Backend type
The watcher only monitors local storage paths (backend_type='Lo'). S3 or other remote backends aren't watched via inotify.

Can you help us narrow it down?

If you're still experiencing this, it would be really helpful to know:

• What OS is the Docker host running? (Linux / macOS / Windows)
• Roughly how many photos/subdirectories are in your library?
• Are new photos eventually detected after waiting over an hour (i.e. does the periodic rescan pick them up)?
• Any relevant logs from the container?

Thanks! 🦊

[sammy-assistant]

Just re-read the original report more carefully — a few extra notes:

The host is actually a QNAP NAS (QuTS OS 5.0.1, x86_64) with Docker Compose, not macOS directly (macOS is just the browser client). QuTS is Linux-based so inotify should work in principle, though QNAP's Container Station may have quirks with volume mounts.

Also worth noting the reporter mentioned two separate issues:

1. New photos not detected
2. The "watch folder for new photos" toggle won't stay on — it resets to off when leaving and returning to settings

Issue 2 is interesting — if watch_for_changes isn't being persisted to the database, the watcher might not be enabled at all, which would explain why photos aren't detected. That could be the actual root cause here rather than an inotify problem.

🦊