[Feature] Share dynamic searches with access-controlled, live results

[Mathias-U1F596]

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

• Yes

The feature

Summary

Allow users to save advanced searches and share them with other people as live, read-only collections, without having to create or maintain albums.

Motivation

Immich has a powerful tagging system, including hierarchical tags. However, there is currently no way to share the results of a saved search with other people.

Albums are not an adequate solution because search results can change over time as photos are added, removed, or retagged.

I would like to share a search query itself, rather than a static collection of photos.

Proposed functionality

1. Advanced Boolean tag searches

Support combining tag conditions using AND, OR and NOT.

For example:

France AND Holidays AND NOT Private

2. Hierarchical tag matching

Selecting a parent tag should automatically include all descendant tags.

For example, selecting France should match:

• France
• France/Paris
• France/Marseille

Excluding Paris should also exclude all its descendant tags.

3. Saved searches

Allow users to save named searches with their complete filter criteria.

4. Share saved searches

Allow users to share saved searches with other people.

Sharing options:

• Invite specific people.
• Generate a password-protected public link.
• Optionally configure link expiration.
• Revoke access at any time.

Recipients should have read-only access.

5. Live, dynamic results

The shared search should always display the current matching photos.

For example:

• Newly uploaded matching photos appear automatically.
• Photos disappear when their tags no longer match.
• Newly applied exclusion tags remove photos from the results.
• Changes to the tag hierarchy are reflected automatically.

No album creation or synchronization process should be necessary.

6. Security and permissions

Access must be enforced server-side.

Recipients should only be able to access assets matching the shared query. They must not be able to use the API to retrieve unrelated photos or browse the owner's library.

The owner should be able to revoke access immediately.

Example use case

I want to share all family holiday photos from France, except private photos, with my family.

My saved search:

France AND Holidays AND NOT Private

I share a link with my family.

Whenever I upload new holiday photos or change their tags, the shared collection updates automatically.

My family always sees the current matching collection, without needing an Immich account or any manual album maintenance.

Why this should be built into Immich

This combines three natural capabilities:

• Immich's hierarchical tagging system.
• Advanced saved searches.
• Immich's existing sharing and permission infrastructure.

It would turn Immich into a much more powerful photo cataloguing and publishing platform.

Platform

• Server
• Web
• Mobile

[bo0tzz]

#8902