[Feature] Auto-trash internal library assets duplicating assets in an external library exactly

[andreiled]

I have searched the existing feature requests, both open and closed, to make sure this is not a duplicate request.

• Yes

The feature

This is inspired by #15009 in Q&A.

I want Immich to automatically trash internal library assets that are exact duplicates (based in the raw file content) of assets in any of external libraries owned by the same Immich user.

User story

As a person who shoots on a camera a lot, my workflow revolves around curating my library manually. When I do take photos on my phone, I then usually move those that matter into my main library.
I want to keep doing that while using Immich mostly for its frontend and its auto-upload feature.

Current behavior

1. Storage Template feature allows me to browse uploaded photos directly on the file system like any other photo I already have (e.g. by sharing the Immich library directory via SMB).
2. But if I copy some of the photos to my main library (which I manage manually), then Immich shows the same photo twice.

Proposed behavior

Given a photo in the internal library, after a user copies the original file to an external library, when Immich detects the duplicate (between the original asset in the internal library and the copy in the external library), then Immich automatically trashes the asset in the internal library.

Platform

• Server
• Web
• Mobile

[github-actions[bot]]

This discussion has automatically been closed as it is likely a duplicate. We get a lot of duplicate threads each day, which is why we ask you in the template to confirm that you searched for duplicates before opening one. If you're sure this is not a duplicate, please leave a comment and we will reopen the thread if necessary.

[andreiled]

My search show only one other similar issue (#4763) but it seems different from my request here.

[andreiled]

Based on a conversation in Discord (link):

1. There is currently a feature freeze on everything library related since we plan on rethinking both external and the internal libraries.
2. Plus yes, possibly this specific case may even be covered by (a later iteration of) workloads workflows