Import a library with the consume folder

The consume folder is a folder on your server that Thingport watches. Copy files, folder trees or ZIPs into it and Thingport imports them on its own, then empties the folder. Nothing runs in a browser, so it suits big libraries, libraries already on a NAS, and anything you want to add on a schedule, for example from a sync tool.

1. Mount the folder (once, by whoever runs the server)

Add a volume to the backend service in your docker-compose.yml, pointing a folder on the host at /app/consume. The install files ship with this line commented out, so you can just uncomment it and set the path:

services:
  backend:
    environment:
      - PUID=${PUID:-1000}
      - PGID=${PGID:-1000}
    volumes:
      - thingport_storage:/app/storage
      - /path/to/consume:/app/consume

Then apply it:

docker compose up -d

Thingport moves files out of this folder as it imports them, so the user set by PUID/PGID needs write access to it. Use the same IDs that own the folder on the host. On Unraid that's usually 99/100. Elsewhere, id -u and id -g on the host tell you yours.

2. Choose where models go and how

Open Administration → Storage → Consume Folder. If the volume is mounted, it says it's watching /app/consume.

Import into the library of chooses whose library the models go to. It starts as the first admin account. On a shared server, switch it to the person whose library you're importing, then switch it back.
Import mode works like the choice you get when uploading a folder:
- Each file is a model (the default): every STL, 3MF, STEP or OBJ becomes a model, and images become models too.
- Each folder is a model: a folder of model files becomes one model named after the folder, with its images as photos and its other files attached.

Click Save consume settings. You only need to do this again when you want to change something.

3. Copy your library in

Copy files, folders or ZIPs into the consume folder, from the server itself, over a network share, or with whatever sync tool you use. Within a few seconds of the copy finishing, Thingport picks them up:

Folders become folders in Thingport, however deep.
A ZIP is unpacked as if it were a folder named after it. If everything in it already sits inside one top folder (Benchy.zip holding Benchy/...), that folder is used rather than nesting it twice. ZIPs can sit anywhere in the tree, and unpack where they are.
Hidden files and system clutter (.DS_Store, Thumbs.db, desktop.ini, __MACOSX inside ZIPs) are ignored.
Imported files are moved into Thingport's storage, and folders left empty are removed, so the consume folder empties itself.

Thingport only takes a batch once the files have stopped changing, so a large copy that's still in progress isn't picked up half-written.

When a batch is done, the owner gets a notification, such as Imported 42 models from the consume folder, with how many files went in. Click it to jump to the new model, or to Models when there are several.

Copy, don't move. The consume folder removes what it imports, so keep your original library until you've checked the result.

What couldn't be imported

Anything Thingport can't import is moved into a Not imported folder inside the consume folder, keeping its path, and the notification says how many files ended up there. That covers:

files that can't be a model on their own, like a loose notes.txt (in "each folder is one model" mode, such files inside a model's folder are attached instead)
ZIPs that are damaged or not really ZIPs
files over the size limit, 512 MB per file by default (IMPORT_MAX_MB)

Thingport never looks inside Not imported again, so nothing is retried forever. If a file with the same name is already there, the new one gets " (2)". To try again, fix the file and move it back into the consume folder.

Tips for large libraries

Do a small batch first. Copy one folder, check the result in Thingport, then copy the rest.
Copy in chunks of a few thousand files if you want to keep an eye on progress. Each batch sends its own notification.
Don't drop the same files twice. Folders are reused, but the models are imported again, with " (2)" after their names.

Back to the overview of ways to bring in your library.

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