Getting Started

Getting Started

This page is the shortest path from a source checkout to a running local Culvia session.

Requirements

• Python 3.11 or newer
• A local folder of photos
• Optional: an OpenAI-compatible vision model endpoint if you want large-model image review

Run From Source

git clone https://github.com/yangzhg/culvia.git
cd culvia
make init
make server

Then open the local URL printed by the terminal. In most development runs this is:

http://127.0.0.1:8501/

To start only the web server:

make web PORT=8501

Use An Existing Virtual Environment

If you already have a virtual environment, point the Makefile at it:

CULVIA_VENV=/path/to/venv make web PORT=8501

First Workflow

1. Open Culvia in the browser.
2. Add one or more photo folders.
3. Wait for source preview and thumbnails.
4. Choose the scoring dimensions you want.
5. Start scoring.
6. Review images in the viewer or photo wall.
7. Mark photos as pick, hold, or reject.
8. Export selected images or a CSV table.

Notes

• Local scoring may download model files into local cache locations.
• Large-model review is optional and only runs when configured and started.
• Culvia is not a hosted photo service; it is designed around local folders and local runtime state.