# gilesknap/gphotos-sync

Google Photos and Albums backup with Google Photos Library API

Repository: https://github.com/gilesknap/gphotos-sync
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/gphotos-sync
Language: Python
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: google, photos, albums, google-photos, google-photos-albums, google-photos-library-api, google-photos-backup, python, python3, backup
Archived: true
Last push: 2026-03-17T20:57:13+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 10/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 72, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3323, "days_push": 169, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: archived
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2084, forks 162 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:11.867472+00:00)

## What it is
A Python command-line tool that backs up Google Photos libraries to local storage using the Google Photos Library API, organizing media by albums and including creations like animations and collages. It is read-only against the cloud library and uses a local SQLite index for incremental syncs.

## Use cases
- back up my google photos library to local disk
- download all photos and videos from google photos
- mirror google photos albums into folders
- incremental backup of google photos with an index database
- archive google photos creations like animations and collages

## When to choose
- you want a safe, read-only backup that never modifies your cloud library
- you need album-based folder organization of downloaded media
- you want incremental syncing backed by a local index database

## When to avoid
- you need a true lossless backup - the Google Photos API transcodes videos and strips GPS metadata
- you need an actively maintained tool - the project was archived in October 2024
- you want two-way sync or cloud library management

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: abandoned
- function: backup, cli, file-system, database
- domain: files, media, photography, cloud-computing, self-hosted
- platform: python, cli, cross-platform
- tags: google-photos, media-backup, album-sync, incremental-backup, sqlite-index

## Member repositories
- gilesknap/gphotos-sync (main) score 10

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:11.867472+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T02:55:52.384713+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/gilesknap/gphotos-sync (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:11.867472+00:00, sha 95e959911ef6)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.