Quick Start Guide

Want to get Tenrankai running quickly? This guide will have you up and running in just a few minutes.

Prerequisites

Rust installed (the project will handle the version)
Git

5-Minute Setup

1. Clone and Build

git clone https://github.com/theatrus/tenrankai.git
cd tenrankai
cargo build --release

2. Create Basic Configuration

Create a config.toml file:

[server]
host = "127.0.0.1"
port = 3000

[app]
name = "My Photo Gallery"
cookie_secret = "change-me-in-production"
base_url = "http://localhost:3000"

[[galleries]]
name = "main"
url_prefix = "/gallery"
source_directory = "photos"
cache_directory = "cache"
images_per_page = 50
copyright_holder = "Your Name"

3. Set Up Directories

# Create directories
mkdir -p photos cache static

# Add the required font
wget https://github.com/dejavu-fonts/dejavu-fonts/releases/download/version_2_37/dejavu-fonts-ttf-2.37.tar.bz2
tar -xjf dejavu-fonts-ttf-2.37.tar.bz2
cp dejavu-fonts-ttf-2.37/ttf/DejaVuSans.ttf static/
rm -rf dejavu-fonts-ttf-2.37*

# Add some test photos
cp ~/Pictures/*.jpg photos/  # Or copy from your photo collection

4. Run Tenrankai

./target/release/tenrankai

5. View Your Gallery

Open your browser to: http://localhost:3000

That’s it! You now have a working photo gallery.

What’s Next?

Add More Photos

Simply copy photos to the photos directory. Tenrankai will automatically:

Generate thumbnails
Extract metadata
Create a responsive gallery

Pro tip: Use SyncThing to sync your photos folder between your devices and server. Edit on your phone or laptop, and your gallery updates automatically!

Organize Your Photos

Create subdirectories for organization:

photos/
├── vacation-2024/
│   ├── beach-photos/
│   └── city-tour/
└── family-events/
    ├── birthday/
    └── holidays/

Add Descriptions

Create _folder.md in any directory:

# Summer Vacation 2024

Photos from our amazing trip to the coast. Perfect weather and great memories!

Enable Blog

Create a blog post in posts/blog/:

+++
title = "Welcome to My Gallery"
summary = "Introduction to my photo collection"
date = "2024-01-01"
+++

# Welcome!

This gallery showcases my photography journey...

Common Tasks

Change Port

Edit config.toml:

[server]
port = 8080

Enable Authentication

Add user database and configure email:

[app]
user_database = "users.toml"

[email]
from_address = "noreply@yourdomain.com"
provider = "null"  # Logs emails for development

Then add users:

./target/release/tenrankai user add admin@example.com --display-name "Admin"

Enable Debug Logging

./target/release/tenrankai --log-level debug

Refresh Gallery

The gallery automatically refreshes every 60 minutes, or trigger manually:

curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/api/gallery/main/refresh

Troubleshooting

“Font file not found”

Ensure DejaVuSans.ttf is in the static directory

“No images in gallery”

Check that your photos directory contains supported formats (JPEG, PNG)
Verify the source_directory path in config.toml

“Port already in use”

Change the port in config.toml or kill the process using the port