DocsOverview
shoots — documentation
Scriptable batch automation for professional photography workflows.
shoots is an orchestration layer, not an editor and not a DAM. It sits before
or after Lightroom / Capture One / your culling tool of choice and automates the
tedious parts around them.
Start here
| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Getting started | Install, setup, doctor, your first import |
| Core concepts | Non-destructive rules, exit codes, JSON output, file discovery |
| Command reference | Every command, every flag, with examples |
| Interactive shell | The fullscreen shoots shell, / palette, @ mentions |
Guides
| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Filename templates | The {date}_{camera}_{seq:4}.{ext} token language |
| Rating profiles | Built-in profiles, how stars are decided, learned profiles |
| Preference learning | embeddings → match duels → your own profile |
| Develop predictor | The local "Lightroom AI": learn your edit style, predict XMP |
| Pipelines | Declarative YAML pipelines (status: authorable, not yet executable) |
| Scripting & automation | JSON, exit codes, cron, CI, watch folders |
| Recipes | Complete end-to-end workflows for real shoots |
Reference
| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Configuration | ~/.shoots layout, every environment variable |
| Migration notes | What each release asks of you — printed by shoots release-notes |
| Troubleshooting | Common failures and their fixes |
| Development | Monorepo layout, build, release process |
The 60-second tour
# 1. Install external tools (exiftool, LibRaw, the CLIP model) into ~/.shoots
shoots setup
# 2. Offload a card into a dated catalog, checksum-verified
shoots import E:/DCIM/100CANON --dest D:/Shoots/2026/smith-wedding
# 3. Stamp studio metadata onto everything
shoots exif D:/Shoots/2026/smith-wedding \
--set-artist "Jane Doe Photography" \
--set-copyright "© 2026 Jane Doe" \
--set-keywords wedding,smith
# 4. Move the out-of-focus frames out of the way (keepers stay put)
shoots cull D:/Shoots/2026/smith-wedding --dest D:/Shoots/2026/smith-wedding/rejects
# 5. Star-rate what is left, as XMP sidecars Lightroom will read
shoots rate D:/Shoots/2026/smith-wedding --profile wedding --write-xmpEvery mutating command accepts --dry-run. Every command accepts --json.
Nothing is ever deleted.
Command map
shoots
├── import card → catalog, renamed and SHA-256 verified
├── rename in-place batch rename with the same template engine
├── exif batch read/write EXIF·IPTC·XMP via exiftool
├── cull focus-aware blur detection; relocate or review rejects
├── rate 0–5 star ratings + keywords via the ONNX CLIP model
├── embeddings profile-neutral CLIP export for preference learning
├── match learn your eye from duels → a personal rating profile
│ ├── import an embeddings bundle → the duel database
│ ├── serve the duel UI at 127.0.0.1:4576
│ └── train Bradley-Terry + ridge → ~/.shoots/profiles/<name>.json
├── develop personal develop-setting predictor
│ ├── export build a training dataset from an edited catalog
│ ├── train fit a per-catalog develop profile
│ ├── predict apply a profile → predicted crs vector / XMP sidecar
│ └── diagnose style-clustering diagnostic
├── setup provision exiftool + LibRaw + the inference model
├── doctor environment health check
├── update self-update the standalone binary
├── release-notes the migration steps this release needs, checked against ~/.shoots
└── shell the interactive shell (default with no arguments)License
Source-available, not open source — PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0. Free to read, use, modify and share for noncommercial purposes only. For a commercial license, contact stefanopascazi@gmail.com.