Paul Nothaft
50e8ed6e58
The five authRateLimiter registrations were inert for the same reason the
general one was -- registered below the error handler. Auth endpoints have
never had an IP limit; the 5-attempt behaviour QA observed is the per-account
lockout in authSecurity.js, which is a different mechanism and is untouched.
They could not simply be activated: app.use('/api/auth', ...) is a prefix, so
a 5-per-window budget would have covered GET /api/auth/session and
POST /api/auth/password-strength, which the frontend calls far more than five
times per window. That locks users out.
The real surface was enumerated by loading the routers and walking
router.stack rather than grepping, which showed two of the five registrations
pointed at routes that do not exist: adminAuth.js has no /login (admin login
is POST /api/auth/admin/login) and there is no /api/gallery/:slug/verify
(gallery verify is POST /api/auth/gallery/verify).
Now limited, on exact method+path: admin login, admin MFA verify, gallery
password verify, share-login, client PIN, setup verify-token, setup admin,
customer login, customer password-reset. Deliberately unlimited: session
checks, password-strength, logouts, authenticated change-password, the SSO
round-trip (a 429 on the callback breaks login from shared corporate IPs),
and one-time invite/accept-invite links.
Two choices carry the design. skipSuccessfulRequests means only failed
attempts spend budget, which is what makes 5-per-IP survivable behind NAT --
ten guests on one venue wifi all typing the correct gallery password consume
nothing -- and means a legitimate admin cannot be locked out by their own
success. And the limiter keeps its own rateLimit() instance, hence its own
store and its own per-IP bucket, with the general gate's auth exemption left
in place: sharing a counter is exactly the lockout described above.
Patterns are case-insensitive because Express's case-sensitive routing is off
by default, so POST /api/auth/admin/LOGIN reaches the login handler and a
case-sensitive pattern would have been a free bypass.
max is now read per request, so the Settings UI's rate_limit_auth_max_requests
applies without a restart, matching the general limiter.
Tests prove both directions: each credential endpoint 429s on attempt 6 with
the response shape the four login pages already branch on, each benign
endpoint still returns 200 after 40 calls, the two buckets are independent in
both directions, and 30 consecutive successful logins consume no budget.
Refs testplan REPORT.md, rate-limiter gap.
📸 PicPeak
Open-source, self-hosted photo sharing for events.
PicPeak is a powerful, self-hosted open-source alternative to commercial photo-sharing platforms like PicDrop.com and Scrapbook.de. Built for photographers and event organizers, it makes it simple to share beautiful, time-limited photo galleries with clients while keeping full control over your data and branding.
Important
PicPeak has moved to its own GitHub organization. Docker images are now at
ghcr.io/picpeak/picpeak/{backend,frontend,aio,ml}(and on Docker Hub aspicpeak/{backend,frontend,aio,ml}) and active development is onmain. The oldghcr.io/the-luap/...path still responds but its tags are frozen at 2026-05-27 — if updates never arrive, check your image path first. Seedocs/migration-to-org.mdfor the one-linedocker-compose.ymledit.
Contents
- Live Demo
- Quick Start
- Why PicPeak?
- Features
- Documentation
- Comparison
- Tech Stack
- Contributing & Support
- License
🎮 Live Demo
Try PicPeak without installing anything — demo.picpeak.app · admin panel
| Password | |
|---|---|
demo@picpeak.app |
Demo2026! |
The demo resets periodically. Uploaded content may be removed without notice.
🚀 Quick Start
Get PicPeak running in under 5 minutes:
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/PicPeak/picpeak.git
cd picpeak
# Copy the environment template — the defaults work out of the box.
# Machine secrets (JWT, DB, Redis) are auto-generated on first run, and the
# admin account is created in the browser. Edit .env only to customise
# (domain, SMTP, storage paths, …) — nothing is required.
cp .env.example .env
# Start with Docker Compose
docker compose up -d
# Access at http://localhost:3000
On first start, open http://localhost:3000/admin and follow the in-browser setup to create your admin account. Full details — the one-time setup token, Docker file permissions, and ARM64 notes — are in First-run setup.
Updating / release channels: set
PICPEAK_CHANNEL(stabledefault, orbeta) in.env, thendocker compose pull && docker compose up -d. See RELEASING.md for the promotion cadence.
Or: one container, no compose file
For a home server, a NAS, or a single small studio, the all-in-one image runs the whole app as one process with SQLite — no compose file, no separate database, no reverse proxy to wire up:
docker run -d --name picpeak -p 3000:3000 \
-v picpeak:/data \
ghcr.io/picpeak/picpeak/aio:main
No environment variables to set — the JWT secret is generated on first start and kept on the volume.
Then open http://localhost:3000/admin and read the setup token with docker exec picpeak cat /data/db/SETUP_TOKEN, or open db/SETUP_TOKEN on the volume with any file manager if the host has no shell.
:main is the active-development tag, and today it is the only one the all-in-one image has — Dockerfile.aio landed after the current stable release, so :stable and :latest first appear for this image once the aio build reaches the stable branch. Switch to :stable then, or pin a published version tag if you would rather not track main.
The compose stack above is still the right choice for anything busier — SQLite takes one writer at a time, and Postgres is what scales. You can move to it later without reinstalling: take a .picpeak backup and restore it into the full stack. See Single-container install for the volume layout, the external-Postgres variant, TLS, and the limits.
Docker images
| GHCR | Docker Hub | |
|---|---|---|
| Backend | ghcr.io/picpeak/picpeak/backend |
picpeak/backend |
| Frontend | ghcr.io/picpeak/picpeak/frontend |
picpeak/frontend |
| All-in-one | ghcr.io/picpeak/picpeak/aio |
picpeak/aio |
| ML sidecar (optional) | ghcr.io/picpeak/picpeak/ml |
picpeak/ml |
Both registries get the same digests and the same tags — stable/latest, a pinned x.y.z, and beta/main for the active development channel — for linux/amd64 and linux/arm64. Keep every image in one install on the same tag.
🌟 Why PicPeak?
Unlike expensive SaaS solutions, PicPeak gives you:
- 💰 No Monthly Fees — one-time setup, unlimited galleries
- 🔒 Complete Data Control — your photos stay on your server
- 🎨 White-Label Ready — full branding customization
- 📱 Mobile-First Design — beautiful on all devices
- 🌍 Multi-Language — built-in i18n (EN, DE)
✨ Features
For photographers — drag & drop upload, auto-expiring & password-protected galleries, automated emails, an analytics dashboard, custom themes, a public landing page, and a Live Slideshow projector view that auto-picks-up new uploads during live events.
For clients — clean mobile-optimized galleries, one-click bulk downloads, smart search, People in this gallery face grouping (opt-in per gallery, needs the optional ML sidecar), optional guest uploads, and download protection (watermarking + right-click prevention).
Technical — Docker-ready, automatic thumbnail generation, external media reference mode, smart archiving of expired galleries, S3-compatible storage backends, webhooks, and security-first defaults (JWT, rate limiting, CORS).
🧾 For studios — CRM & Accounting (Beta, off by default)
- 📝 Quotes → Contracts → Invoices — one deal lineage; cancel-and-reissue (Storno) keeps issued invoices immutable
- ⏱️ Hours Logging & Calendar — per-customer time tracking; admin calendar of events, logged hours, and pending quotes/contracts
- 🧾 Inbound Supplier Invoices & Expenses — capture received invoices (upload/camera, rasterised server-side), categorise, and re-bill costs to clients
- 📊 Tax Report & Accountant Export — period-scoped income/cost report with VAT breakdown; PDF/CSV plus a Treuhänder/Banana (Swiss/LI) journal export
- 🌍 VAT & Multi-currency — single VAT-code registry snapshotted onto each document
Warning
CRM & Accounting — examples only, verify locally. Feature-flagged off by default. Seeded contract blocks are written by the maintainer, not a lawyer; QR-bills/SEPA payloads and every tax, VAT and Treuhänder/Banana figure are computed from your input and defaults and are jurisdiction-specific guidance only. Have your lawyer review contracts, scan a test QR with your bank's app, and verify all numbers with your accountant / Treuhänder / tax authority before customer-facing use. Read the CRM disclaimers first.
📖 Documentation
Full documentation lives at docs.picpeak.app — deployment, admin settings, API, branding, and more.
| Topic | Link |
|---|---|
| 🚀 Deployment (Docker, env, reverse proxy, SSL) | docs.picpeak.app/deployment |
📦 Single-container install (one docker run, SQLite) |
docs.picpeak.app/deployment/single-container |
| ⚙️ Admin settings reference | docs.picpeak.app/guides/admin-settings |
| 🎯 Creating events | docs.picpeak.app/guides/creating-events |
| 📽️ Live Slideshow | docs.picpeak.app/features/live-slideshow |
| 🙂 People in galleries (face grouping) | docs.picpeak.app/features/face-recognition |
| 💾 Backup & Restore | docs.picpeak.app/guides/backup-restore |
| 🔌 API reference | docs.picpeak.app/api |
| 🪝 Webhooks | docs.picpeak.app/features/webhooks |
| 💾 Storage backends (local / S3) | docs.picpeak.app/features/storage-backends |
| 💻 System requirements & tuning | docs.picpeak.app/deployment/system-requirements |
| 🧾 CRM & Accounting | docs.picpeak.app/features/crm · disclaimers |
| 🗺️ Roadmap | GitHub Issues |
Project meta: Contributing · License · Security · Code of Conduct
📊 Comparison with Alternatives
| Feature | PicPeak | PicDrop | Scrapbook.de | Pixieset |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-Hosted | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Custom Branding | ✅ Full | Limited | Limited | ✅ (paid) |
| Monthly Cost | $0* | $29-199 | €19-99 | ~$60 |
| Storage Limit | Unlimited** | 50-500GB | 100-1000GB | 3GB–Unlimited*** |
| Client Uploads | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | Limited |
| API Access | ✅ | Paid | ❌ | ❌ |
| Open Source | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Customer Accounts | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Quotes / Contracts / Invoices | 🧪 Beta | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Incoming Invoices & Accounting | 🧪 Beta | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
*You bring your own server and, optionally, a domain. **Limited only by your server storage. ***Pixieset's "unlimited" is photos only; video is capped by plan. 🧪 Beta = built but feature-flagged off by default.
🏗️ Tech Stack
- Backend: Node.js, Express, SQLite/PostgreSQL
- Frontend: React, Tailwind CSS, Framer Motion
- Storage: Local filesystem (default) or S3-compatible object store (AWS S3, MinIO, R2, B2, Wasabi, Spaces) — see Storage Backends
- Email: SMTP with customizable templates
- Analytics: Privacy-focused with Umami integration
- External media: point PicPeak at
EXTERNAL_MEDIA_ROOTto reference existing originals read-only, index quickly, and generate thumbnails on demand
📸 Screenshots
Click to see the admin dashboard, analytics, and event management
🎛️ Admin Dashboard
📊 Analytics & Insights
📁 Event Management
🤝 Contributing
We love contributions! PicPeak is built by photographers, for photographers — whether you're fixing bugs, adding features, or improving docs. See the Contributing Guide to get started.
Found a security issue? Please open a security issue. See SECURITY.md for the policy.
☕ Support the Project
PicPeak is free, open source, and self-hostable forever. If it saves you time or replaces a paid subscription, consider buying me a coffee — it directly funds new features, bug fixes, and keeping the demo + docs running. You can also ⭐ star the repo, share it, file good bug reports, or open a PR.
🙏 Acknowledgments
PicPeak is inspired by the best features of commercial platforms while remaining completely open source. It's developed with AI assistance, but human-tested end-to-end, security-audited, and human-reviewed for quality.
👥 Contributors
A huge thank you to the people whose code, reports, and feedback have shaped PicPeak:
@the-luap — creator and lead maintainer
- Gallery foundation (events, uploads, sharing, download protection, templates)
- Backup & restore, analytics, branding/theming
- The architecture every later feature builds on
- Native Apple Silicon multi-arch images
- CRM & accounting suite (quotes/contracts/invoices)
- Hours logging & Treuhänder/Banana tax export
- Gallery header/banner decoupling
@Rekoo-PS — bug reports & product feedback
- Login-loop fix, mobile-lightbox overhaul, bulk-delete workflow
- Also a BuyMeACoffee supporter
If you've contributed and aren't listed here, please open a PR — this list is meant to grow.
📄 License
PicPeak is released under the MIT License. Use it freely for personal or commercial projects.
Made with ❤️ by photographers, for photographers
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