install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install gphotos-uploader-cli

local Homebrew formula metadata

overview

Package summary

Command-line tool to mass upload media folders to Google Photos

Project links

Commands and aliases

gphotos-uploader-cli

history

Project history and usage

Google Photos uploader CLI is a Go command-line tool for uploading local media folders to Google Photos accounts, with configuration-driven jobs, OAuth credentials, secret backends, album rules, filters, and resumable upload behavior.

Project history

The GitHub README explains the original motivation: Google's own uploader covered macOS and Windows, while this project brought a command-line uploader to Linux and other systems that can compile a Go program.

The changelog records early public packaging work in 2018, concurrent upload support in June 2019, secret backend support, a repository transfer into the GPhotos Uploaders organization, and later major releases adapting to Google Photos API scope and authentication changes.

Adoption history

The project is packaged in Homebrew and documented for macOS and Linux users who want unattended or repeated uploads rather than a desktop sync tool. Its GitHub metadata shows a medium-sized user base for a niche Google Photos automation client, with hundreds of stars and forks.

Adoption is constrained by Google Photos API behavior and OAuth setup. The configuration documentation asks users to create a Google Cloud project, enable the Google Photos Library API, configure OAuth consent, create desktop app credentials, and place client credentials in the HJSON configuration.

How it is used

Users configure `~/.gphotos-uploader-cli/config.hjson` with API app credentials, account email, secret backend choice, and one or more jobs. Jobs identify source folders, album behavior, delete-after-upload behavior, and include or exclude patterns.

The changelog shows the CLI growing around real upload concerns: token refresh, resumable uploads, duplicate album handling, file tracking, album listing, media-item listing, redirect URL configuration, and Google Photos API scope changes.

Why package nerds care

The package is interesting because it turns a cloud-photo workflow into a Unix-style batch command. That makes it useful for NAS boxes, photo ingest scripts, headless machines, and users who want a package-managed tool instead of a GUI uploader.

It also demonstrates the maintenance cost of cloud CLIs: OAuth flows, API scopes, quota avoidance, token storage, and upstream API client changes all show up in package history even when the command's user-facing purpose stays simple.

Timeline

2018-09-20: 0.1.11 added GoReleaser-based binary publishing after releases.
2019-06-18: 0.2.0 added support for five concurrent uploads and introduced the changelog.
2019: 0.3.0 added multiple secret backends through keyring support.
2019: 0.6.0 recorded the repository transfer to the GPhotos Uploaders organization.
2023: 4.0.0 added client cache behavior, album and media-item listing commands, and progress bars.
2025-06-05: 5.1.0 adjusted OAuth redirect URL handling for the auth command.

Related projects

Related projects include the gphotosuploader Google Photos API client for Go, Google Photos Library API tooling, keyring-backed secret storage libraries, GoReleaser, and other backup or upload CLIs.

Sources

security posture

Risk level: blue

broad file, network, media, or database tool signal.

Risk classifier

blue risk · medium confidence · tool

Why

broad file, network, media, or database tool signal

Signals

text:upload,media

Install behavior

No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
Build metadata lists 1 build dependencies.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

local files

Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.

Configuration files

Config paths the tool may read or write during local use.

Unix: ~/.gphotos-uploader-cli/config.hjson

Credential files

Credential-bearing paths to review before unattended agent runs.

Unix: ~/.gphotos-uploader-cli/config.hjson

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`gphotos-uploader-cli`	cli	global executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-07-08

manager version5.1.0

manager updated

local dataok

upstreamcurrent

latest detectedv5.1.0

https://github.com/gphotosuploader/gphotos-uploader-cli

infoNo package-manager update timestamp was available.low confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:gphotos-uploader-cli
Version	5.1.0
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/gphotos-uploader-cli
Homepage	https://gphotosuploader.github.io/gphotos-uploader-cli/
Repository	https://github.com/gphotosuploader/gphotos-uploader-cli
Upstream docs	https://github.com/gphotosuploader/gphotos-uploader-cli#readme
License	MIT
Source archive	https://github.com/gphotosuploader/gphotos-uploader-cli/archive/refs/tags/v5.1.0.tar.gz
Build dependencies	go
Bottle	available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-install	not defined
Service	none declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	gphotos-uploader-cli
Version Scheme	0
Revision	0
Bottle Stable Root URL	https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecated	no
Disabled	no
Keg Only	no
URL Keys	stable

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

source trail

Generated from repository data

This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.

Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub.

combined/gphotos-uploader-cli.yml

Used sources

Geiger risk classifier
Nucleus package database
av.db category and tag curation
cross-ecosystem install command graph
curated configuration and credential file locations
curated package history
package relationship graph
package version freshness
package-page enrichment

Install gphotos-uploader-cli with Homebrew