S3 integration + APIs .

[Rekoo-PS]

I’d like to suggest adding native S3 integration, as well as improving API support, based on a real use case we implemented.

1. Native S3 Integration
   Currently, we worked around S3 by mounting it inside the container using a tool like rclone (S3 mount), and then pointing PicPeak’s storage path to that mounted directory. as i'm running a local server with low storage.

Our setup:
S3 bucket mounted as a local directory inside the container (e.g. /app/uploads)
PicPeak configured to use that path as its storage directory
This allows files to be stored directly in S3 transparently

Issues with this approach:
Adds complexity to deployment (extra service + mount management)
Potential performance and caching issues depending on mount config
Not ideal for scaling or production environments

Suggestion:
Add native S3 support similar to:
Direct upload to S3 (via SDK)
Configurable bucket, region, credentials
Optional local cache or hybrid mode

This would greatly simplify deployment and improve scalability.

==================================

2. API Support / Extensibility (IMPORTANT)
   It would be very useful to have more official APIs, for example:

Upload images programmatically
List / manage images
Generate or retrieve share links
Webhooks for events (upload, delete, etc.)

This would allow integration with:

The most important : Automation tools _(like n8n - auto deliver photos to clients ) _
External systems (websites, apps)
Custom workflows

Why this matters
We are using PicPeak in a semi-production setup, and these features would make it:
Much easier to deploy at scale
More flexible for automation and integrations
More competitive with tools like Cloudreve / Photoprism

I also believe it would be very beneficial to start designing and exposing APIs during the beta stage.

Integrating APIs early helps:
Build a cleaner and more consistent architecture from the start
Avoid major refactoring later
Allow developers/Testers to start building integrations early
Gather real-world feedback on API design before the system scales

Even a basic or experimental API during beta would be extremely valuable.

• adding an optional phone number field with the event or customer - ( to use it later for WhatsApp delivery with n8n or any automations)

Thanks again for your work — looking forward to future updates!

Sorry, I asked GPT to translate what I wanted to say since I'm not a native English speaker 🤷‍♂️

[the-luap]

Thanks for the detailed write-up — really helpful, and your point about getting APIs out during beta is right.

Two of the three landed in #319, available in the next beta release:

• Public v1 REST API at /api/v1. Five endpoints to start (POST /events, GET /events, GET /events/:id, POST /events/:id/photos, GET /events/:id/share-link) — enough to drive the n8n flow you described.
• API tokens with three scopes (read, write, admin), managed under Settings → API Tokens. Token format pp_live_… for easy log-grepping. Plaintext shown exactly once on creation.
• OpenAPI 3 spec at /api/openapi.json and a Swagger UI at /api/docs (admin-gated). Spec is also versioned in the repo at docs/openapi.yaml.
• Optional phone-number field on events, off by default — flip the toggle in Settings → Events to enable it. Once on, it's an optional input on the create-event form and surfaces on the v1 API. Designed exactly for the WhatsApp-via-n8n flow.

For now n8n can poll /api/v1/events on a 1–2 minute cron to get most of the way there.

The remaining two have their own tracking issues so they don't get lost:

• Webhooks → Outbound webhooks for event/photo lifecycle (push API) #327. Push side of the integration story (n8n receives a POST the moment a gallery is published, no polling). Probably this week.
• Native S3 storage → Native S3 storage backend (and S3-compatible providers) #328. The rclone-mount path you're using works fine — this is an ergonomics + reliability upgrade, not a missing capability. Probably this week as well.

Thanks again for the contribution — this is the kind of feedback that's really useful while still in beta.

[Rekoo-PS]

I want to explain the integration/use case I’m planning to build with the new API.

My main goal is to make the upload workflow much easier for photo delivery. In my studio workflow, I usually upload full folders of photos, not single images/galleries one by one.

The idea is to build a small web uploader tool:

• Drag & drop a full folder of photos
• Automatically create an album/event using the folder name
• Optionally allow editing the album name before upload
• Optional fields for phone number and/or email, to be used later for automatic delivery
• Use the default gallery/theme settings
• No password by default
• Optional password field could be nice, but it is not very important for my use case
• Generate a share link automatically after upload
• Set a default link expiration, for example 7 days
• Allow changing the expiration date if needed

For me, most deliveries are done by sending a temporary share link to the customer, usually valid for a few days.

So the perfect flow would be:

Folder drag & drop
→ create album/event
→ upload all photos
→ generate share link
→ show/copy the link
→ later send automatically via WhatsApp/SMS using the phone number / via N8N

This would solve around 90% of my current manual workflow.

I also wanted to explain my current n8n workflow, just to give more context on what I’m trying to achieve.

Right now, when the photos are ready, the system sends an SMS to the client asking them to contact us via WhatsApp.

When the client sends a message on WhatsApp:

• The n8n workflow checks the stored phone numbers
• If there is a match, it sends the corresponding gallery link to that client
• The link is typically intended for one-time or limited access

This is why having fields like phone number (and optionally email), along with easy link generation and expiration, is very important for my use case.

I just wanted to share this to clarify the real workflow and help guide which APIs and features are most useful.

I'll work on a workflow tomorrow and try the new beta <3