---
name: immich-import
description: Import photos into Immich from Google Takeout, local folders, and other sources using immich-go CLI
tags:
  - immich
  - google-takeout
  - photo-import
  - self-hosting
  - immich-go
---

# Immich Photo Import

Import photos into a self-hosted Immich server. Covers Google Takeout imports (the most common case), plain folder uploads, and troubleshooting.

## When to load this skill

- User says "import photos to Immich", "Google Takeout", "immich-go", or "upload to Immich"
- User is migrating from Google Photos to Immich
- User has a folder of photos to bulk-upload to Immich

## Prerequisites

- Immich server URL (e.g. `http://192.168.50.150:2283`)
- API key with sufficient permissions (needs at minimum `user.read` + upload rights)
- `immich-go` binary installed (for large imports) or the Immich CLI inside the server container

## Workflow

### 1. Verify immich-go is installed

```bash
/usr/local/bin/immich-go version
```

Install if needed (from [simulot/immich-go](https://github.com/simulot/immich-go) releases).

### 2. Get a valid API key

**Option A — Via Immich web UI:**
- Settings → API Keys → Create New Key → name it → copy the key

**Option B — Via Immich API (if you know the password):**
```bash
# Login and create key
TOKEN=$(curl -s -X POST http://<server>:2283/api/auth/login \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email":"admin@example.com","password":"..."}' | python3 -c "import json,sys; print(json.load(sys.stdin).get('accessToken',''))")

curl -s -X POST http://<server>:2283/api/api-key \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -d '{"name":"immich-go-import"}'
```

**Option C — Find admin email from DB:**
```bash
docker exec immich_postgres psql -U postgres -d immich -c \
  'SELECT id, email, name, "isAdmin" FROM "user";'
```

### 3. Google Takeout Import

#### 3a. Download the Takeout zips

If using Chrome in a KasmVNC container to download and Chrome kills the downloads:

**Fix Chrome Safe Browsing (kills large Takeout zips):**
```bash
docker exec -u 0 chrome sh -c 'cat > /etc/opt/chrome/policies/managed/download_safety.json << '\''EOF'\''
{
    "DownloadRestrictions": 0,
    "SafeBrowsingEnabled": false,
    "SafeBrowsingProtectionForDownloadEnabled": false
}
EOF
'
# Kill Chrome so it restarts with the new policies
docker exec -u 0 chrome pkill -f "chrome" || true
```

#### 3b. Extract the zips

```bash
# install unzip if missing
sudo apt install -y unzip

mkdir -p /path/to/extracted
for f in takeout-*.zip; do
  unzip -q -o "$f" -d extracted/
done
```

#### 3c. Import to Immich

```bash
# From Google Takeout (preserves albums, metadata, people tags):
/usr/local/bin/immich-go \
  --server=http://<server>:2283 \
  --api-key=<your-key> \
  upload from-google-photos /path/to/extracted/

# From a plain folder (no Takeout metadata):
/usr/local/bin/immich-go \
  --server=http://<server>:2283 \
  --api-key=<your-key> \
  upload from-folder --recursive /path/to/folder/
```

Using the Immich CLI inside the server container instead:
```bash
docker exec immich_server /usr/src/app/server/bin/immich \
  --url http://localhost:3001 \
  --key <your-key> \
  upload --recursive /path/
```

### 4. Verify

After import, check Immich web UI for:
- Albums created (if using `from-google-photos`)
- Asset counts
- Background jobs processing (thumbnails, face detection, etc.)

## Pitfalls

- **Flag names**: immich-go uses `--api-key` and `--server` (double-dash long form). Single-dash `-key` or `-server` gets parsed as short flags (e.g. `-k` + `ey=...`) and fails silently or shows help.
- **API key permissions**: immich-go checks several endpoints during startup. A key needs **all** of these permissions or it will fail with 403 at each check:
  - `user.read` — connection validation (`GET /api/users/me`)
  - `server.about` — server info check (`GET /api/server/about`)
  - `asset.statistics` — pre-upload stats (`GET /api/assets/statistics`)
  - `asset.write` + `asset.read` — actual upload + duplicate detection
  - `job.create` — pausing background jobs during upload (optional — skip with `--pause-immich-jobs=FALSE`)
  
  **Best practice:** Create a fresh key and enable **all permissions**, or you'll hit a whack-a-mole of 403s one endpoint at a time.
- **Chrome Safe Browsing**: Google Takeout zips can be 50GB+. Chrome flags them as "uncommon" and kills the download with `FILE_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILED` (reason 40, danger UNCOMMON). The `.crdownload` files will be orphaned — they will never complete. Fix: set managed policies to disable Safe Browsing for downloads, then restart Chrome.
- **`unzip` not installed**: Check first. On Ubuntu/Debian: `sudo apt install unzip`.
- **DB table names**: Immich PostgreSQL uses lowercase table names. The user table is `"user"`, not `"users"`. Column names use camelCase quoting (e.g. `"isAdmin"`, `"oauthId"`).
**Key permissions vs --pause-immich-jobs flag:** If the API key lacks `job.create`, immich-go fails trying to pause background jobs. Workaround: add `--pause-immich-jobs=FALSE` to skip the job-pausing step:
```bash
/usr/local/bin/immich-go \\
  --server=http://<server>:2283 \\
  --api-key=<your-key> \\
  --pause-immich-jobs=FALSE \\
  upload from-google-photos /path/to/extracted/
```
This lets uploads proceed without admin-level job permissions. Thumbnails/face detection will process in the background normally.
