Fussel

Fussel is a static photo gallery generator that builds beautiful, mobile-friendly photo galleries from a directory of photos. Once generated, your gallery is a completely static site with no server-side code required.

View Demo Site

✨ Features

• 🖼️ Static Site Generation - No server-side code required once generated
• 📷 EXIF Info Panel - View camera, lens, shot settings, and GPS data for each photo
• 👥 People Detection - Automatically creates galleries for people found in XMP face tags
• 🏷️ Face Tag Overlay - Face rectangles displayed over photos in the modal viewer
• 🔍 Zoom & Pan - Pinch/scroll to zoom and drag to pan photos in the viewer
• 🎨 Watermarking - Add watermarks to protect your photos
• 📱 Mobile Friendly - Responsive design that works on all devices
• 🌙 Dark Mode - Automatic dark mode support
• 🔄 EXIF Transpose - Uses EXIF data to automatically rotate photos
• 🔗 Clean URLs - Predictable slug-based URLs for easy sharing
• ⚡ Fast Generation - Parallel processing for quick builds
• ⬇️ Download Control - Optionally allow/prevent original photo downloads

📸 Screenshots

Albums View	Album View

People View	Person View

🎬 Demo

🚀 Quick Start

Option 1: Using Docker (Recommended - No Dependencies Required)

Docker is the easiest way to run Fussel without installing any dependencies locally.

Using Docker Compose (Easiest)

1. Set your paths using environment variables:

   export INPUT_DIR=/absolute/path/to/your/photos
   export OUTPUT_DIR=/absolute/path/to/output
   docker-compose up

   Or edit docker-compose.yml directly and replace the path placeholders.

2. Optional: Customize settings via environment variables or .env file:

   # Example .env file (or export these before running docker-compose)
   INPUT_DIR=/home/user/photos
   OUTPUT_DIR=/home/user/gallery-output
   PUID=1000              # Your user ID (run 'id -u' to find it)
   PGID=1000              # Your group ID (run 'id -g' to find it)
   PARALLEL_TASKS=4
   FACE_TAG_ENABLE=True
   WATERMARK_ENABLE=True

3. After generation completes, your gallery will be in the OUTPUT_DIR you specified. You can preview it locally or upload it to a web host.

Using Docker Run

docker run \
  -v <input-dir>:/input:ro \
  -v <output-dir>:/output \
  -e PGID=$(id -g) \
  -e PUID=$(id -u) \
  -e INPUT_PATH="/input" \
  -e OUTPUT_PATH="/output" \
  -e PARALLEL_TASKS="4" \
  ghcr.io/cbenning/fussel:latest

Notes:

• Replace <input-dir> and <output-dir> with absolute paths to your directories
• The PGID and PUID environment variables set the output folder permissions to match your user, preventing root-owned files
• After the container completes, your generated gallery will be in <output-dir>

See Docker Configuration below for all available options.

Option 2: Local Installation

If you prefer not to use Docker or want to develop Fussel, you can install it locally.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10+
• uv - Python package manager (install)
• Node.js v18+ (LTS recommended)
• Yarn 1.22+ (required)
• Make (optional, but recommended for easier setup)

Installation Steps

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/cbenning/fussel.git
   cd fussel

2. Install dependencies:

   make install

3. Configure Fussel:

   cp sample_config.yml config.yml

   Edit config.yml and set at minimum:

   • gallery.input_path - Path to your photos directory
   • gallery.output_path - Where to generate the site (default: site/)

4. Generate your gallery:

   make generate

5. Preview your site:

   make serve

   Then visit http://localhost:8000 in your browser.

📁 Organizing Your Photos

Your photo directory structure determines your album structure. Each subfolder becomes an album. This section explains how to organize your photos before generating your gallery.

Directory Structure

Point gallery.input_path to a directory containing subfolders, where each subfolder name becomes an album name:

/home/user/Photos/gallery/
├── Album 1/
│   ├── photo1.jpg
│   └── photo2.jpg
├── Album 2/
│   ├── Sub Album 1/
│   │   └── photo3.jpg
│   └── photo4.jpg
└── Album 3/
    └── Sub Album 2/
        └── photo5.jpg

Supported Image Formats

Fussel supports common image formats:

• JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg)
• PNG (.png)
• GIF (.gif)

⚙️ Configuration

The config.yml file (or Docker environment variables) controls all aspects of gallery generation.

Gallery Settings

gallery:
  input_path: "/path/to/photos"      # Required: Your photos directory
  output_path: "site/"               # Where to generate the site
  overwrite: False                   # Force rebuild all photos
  parallel_tasks: 4                  # Parallel processing workers
  exif_transpose: False              # Use EXIF rotation data
  allow_download: True               # Allow downloading original photos

Album Settings

gallery:
  albums:
    enable: True                     # Show Albums navigation button
    recursive: True                  # Process subfolders as albums
    recursive_name_pattern: "{parent_album} > {album}"  # Sub-album naming

Photos Settings

gallery:
  photos:
    enable: True                     # Show Photos navigation button (all photos view)
    sort_by: "date"                  # Default sort: 'date' or 'filename'
    sort_order: "desc"               # Default order: 'asc' or 'desc'

People/Face Detection

gallery:
  people:
    enable: True                     # Enable face detection from XMP tags

Watermark Settings

gallery:
  watermark:
    enable: True                     # Enable watermarks
    path: "web/src/images/fussel-watermark.png"  # Watermark image
    size_ratio: 0.3                  # Watermark size (0.0-1.0)

Site Settings

site:
  http_root: "/"                     # URL root (include trailing slash)
  title: "Fussel Gallery"            # Browser tab title

🐳 Docker Configuration

This section provides detailed information about Docker configuration options. For a quick start, see the Docker Quick Start section above.

Available Environment Variables

See docker/template_config.yml for all available configuration options. Key variables:

• INPUT_PATH - Path to input photos (inside container)
• OUTPUT_PATH - Path to output directory (inside container)
• PARALLEL_TASKS - Number of parallel workers (default: 1)
• OVERWRITE - Force rebuild of all photos (default: False)
• EXIF_TRANSPOSE - Use EXIF data for rotation (default: False)
• ALLOW_DOWNLOAD - Allow downloading original photos (default: True)
• FACE_TAG_ENABLE - Enable face detection (default: True)
• WATERMARK_ENABLE - Enable watermarks (default: True)
• SITE_TITLE - Gallery title (default: "Fussel Gallery")
• SITE_ROOT - HTTP root path (default: "/")

Complete Docker Run Example

For advanced users who want to customize all options:

docker run \
  -v <input-dir>:/input:ro \
  -v <output-dir>:/output \
  -e PGID=$(id -g) \
  -e PUID=$(id -u) \
  -e INPUT_PATH="/input" \
  -e OUTPUT_PATH="/output" \
  -e PARALLEL_TASKS="4" \
  -e OVERWRITE="False" \
  -e EXIF_TRANSPOSE="False" \
  -e ALLOW_DOWNLOAD="True" \
  -e RECURSIVE="True" \
  -e RECURSIVE_NAME_PATTERN="{parent_album} > {album}" \
  -e FACE_TAG_ENABLE="True" \
  -e WATERMARK_ENABLE="True" \
  -e WATERMARK_PATH="web/src/images/fussel-watermark.png" \
  -e WATERMARK_SIZE_RATIO="0.3" \
  -e SITE_ROOT="/" \
  -e SITE_TITLE="Fussel Gallery" \
  ghcr.io/cbenning/fussel:latest

🌐 Hosting Your Gallery

Once generated, your gallery is a static site. You can host it anywhere:

1. Upload to any web host - Copy the contents of gallery.output_path to your web server's document root

2. Use GitHub Pages - Push the output directory to a GitHub repository and enable Pages

3. Use a CDN - Upload to services like Netlify, Vercel, or Cloudflare Pages

4. Local preview - Use make serve or Python's built-in server:

   make serve

   Or manually:

   python -m http.server --directory <output_path>

🛠️ Development

Development Mode

Run the web app in development/watch mode with hot reload:

make dev

Or manually:

cd fussel/web && yarn start

Running Tests

make test

This runs:

• Python tests via pytest with coverage (output in htmlcov/)
• JavaScript tests via Vitest (cd fussel/web && yarn test)

Code Formatting & Linting

make fmt     # Auto-format Python with ruff
make lint    # Check Python formatting without changes

Project Structure

fussel/
├── fussel/              # Main Python package
│   ├── generator/       # Gallery generation logic
│   └── web/             # Vite/React frontend
│       ├── src/
│       │   └── component/  # React components + tests
│       └── vite.config.js
├── tests/               # Python test suite
├── docker/              # Docker configuration
├── config.yml           # Your configuration (not in git)
└── sample_config.yml    # Configuration template

⬆️ Migrating from v2 to v3

v3 introduces new features and updated tooling. The steps below cover everything you need to do after pulling v3.

1. Update Python dependencies

v3 uses uv instead of pip. Install it, then:

make install

If you previously had a venv/ or .venv/, remove it first — uv manages its own .venv.

2. Update JavaScript dependencies

The build toolchain has changed from react-scripts (Create React App) to Vite. A fresh install is required:

cd fussel/web
rm -rf node_modules
yarn install

3. Update your config.yml

Several new configuration keys are available in v3. Add any you want to use — all are optional and have sensible defaults:

gallery:
  allow_download: True       # NEW: allow/prevent original photo downloads

  albums:
    enable: True             # NEW: show/hide Albums navigation button

  photos:                    # NEW section: all-photos view
    enable: True
    sort_by: "date"
    sort_order: "desc"

Copy from sample_config.yml for the full reference.

4. Regenerate your gallery

make generate

Your existing output_path will be updated in-place.

Breaking changes summary

Area	v2	v3
Python package manager	pip / requirements.txt	uv / pyproject.toml
JS build tool	react-scripts (CRA)	Vite
JS test runner	Jest	Vitest
massedit dependency	required	removed
Python version	3.8+	3.9+

❓ FAQ

How do I update Fussel?

If installed via make install:

git pull
make install

If using Docker:

docker pull ghcr.io/cbenning/fussel:latest

Can I customize the gallery appearance?

The gallery uses a React-based frontend built with Vite. You can modify styles and components in fussel/web/src/ and rebuild with make generate or cd fussel/web && yarn build.

Does Fussel modify my original photos?

No. Fussel only reads from your input directory and writes to your output directory. Your original photos are never modified.

How does the EXIF info panel work?

When viewing a photo in the modal, click the ⓘ button in the toolbar to open the info panel. It displays camera make/model, lens, shot settings (exposure, aperture, ISO, focal length), and GPS coordinates if present in the photo's EXIF data.

Why don't some photos show EXIF data?

EXIF data must be embedded in the photo file. Some tools strip EXIF on export (e.g. certain social media downloads, some editors). Photos taken with a smartphone or dedicated camera typically have full EXIF data.

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

🔗 Links

• Demo Site
• GitHub Repository
• Issue Tracker