External Library assets remain in Trash after successful scan (174k unchanged), Restore restores 0 assets

[KimBingsi]

I have searched the existing issues, both open and closed, to make sure this is not a duplicate report.

• Yes

The bug

Version

Immich v3.0.3

Platform

• Raspberry Pi 5
• Docker
• PostgreSQL
• External Library

Description

I think I have found an issue with External Library recovery.

At some point my external storage became temporarily unavailable.
After that, almost all External Library assets were moved to Trash.

The storage is now fully available again.

I verified all of the following:

• Docker bind mount is correct.
• External Library path is correct.
• The files are accessible inside the container.
• Mobile app can still display the assets.
• Thumbnails are generated correctly.
• Scan completes successfully.

The scan result is:

174,576 unchanged
0 updated
0 offlined

However, all of those assets still appear in the Trash in the web UI.

Restore does not work

If I select assets in Trash and click Restore:

0 assets restored

No error is displayed.

If I click Restore All:

0 assets restored

Again, no error.

However, Permanently Delete works normally.

Database status

I checked the PostgreSQL database.

Almost every asset in Trash is an External Library asset.

deletedAt IS NOT NULL
isExternal = true
isOffline = true
status = active

The originalPath values are correct and point to the current External Library location.

What I've already tried

• Restart Immich
• Restart Raspberry Pi
• Verify Docker bind mount
• Verify External Library path
• Run Library Scan multiple times
• Scan finishes successfully every time
• Browser cache cleared
• Tested multiple browsers
• Same result for multiple user accounts

Expected behavior

After the storage becomes available again and Library Scan completes successfully,
I expect the External Library assets to automatically leave the Trash.

Actual behavior

• Scan reports all assets as unchanged.
• Assets remain in Trash.
• Restore restores 0 assets.
• Mobile app can still access the files.
• Web UI keeps showing them in Trash.

Is this a known issue in v3.0.3?

SELECT COUNT(*)
FROM asset
WHERE "deletedAt" IS NOT NULL
AND "isExternal" = true;
349119

SELECT COUNT(*)
FROM asset
WHERE "deletedAt" IS NOT NULL;
349132

If necessary, I can provide database queries, logs, or Docker configuration for further investigation.

The OS that Immich Server is running on

Rasobyrry PI OS

Version of Immich Server

v3.0.3

Version of Immich Mobile App

v3.0.3

Platform with the issue

• Server
• Web
• Mobile

Device make and model

iPhone 16 pro

Your docker-compose.yml content

version: "3.8"

services:
  immich_server:
    image: ghcr.io/immich-app/immich-server:v3.0.3
    container_name: immich_server
    volumes:
      - /nas/hdd/Immich/upload:/usr/src/app/upload
      - /nas/hdd:/external:ro
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
    env_file:
      - .env
    depends_on:
      - immich_postgres
      - redis
    restart: always

  immich_postgres:
    image: tensorchord/pgvecto-rs:pg16-v0.3.0
    container_name: immich_postgres
    volumes:
      - /nas/hdd/Immich/postgres:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: ********
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ********
      POSTGRES_DB: immich
    restart: always

  redis:
    image: redis:7
    container_name: immich_redis
    restart: always

Your .env content

UPLOAD_LOCATION=/nas/hdd/Immich/upload

DB_HOSTNAME=immich_postgres
DB_USERNAME=********
DB_PASSWORD=********
DB_DATABASE_NAME=immich

REDIS_HOSTNAME=redis

IMMICH_VERSION=v3.0.3

TZ=Asia/Seoul

Reproduction steps

...

Relevant log output

Additional information

No response

[mmomjian]

Logs are missing, and you have a circular loop in your libraries (internal library is nested within external)

[KimBingsi]

I collected some more information.

Inside the immich_server container, the paths definitely exist:

$ test -d "/external/TestExternal" && echo EXISTS
EXISTS

$ ls -ld /external/TestExternal
drwxrwxrwx ... /external/TestExternal

The same is true for my existing library:

$ test -d "/external/Immich/Photos/01 SH Backup" && echo EXISTS
EXISTS

However, when I try to add either:

/external/TestExternal
/external/Immich/Photos/01 SH Backup

Immich immediately returns:****

Invalid import path: Path does not exist (ENOENT)

So the paths clearly exist inside the immich_server container, but the validation API still reports ENOENT.

My upload location is:

UPLOAD_LOCATION=/nas/hdd/Immich/immich_data

and the external mount is:

/nas/hdd:/external:ro