Google Photos — Printing Press CLI

Prerequisites: Install the CLI

This skill drives the

google-photos-pp-cli

binary. You must verify the CLI is installed before invoking any command from this skill. If it is missing, install it first:

Install via the Printing Press installer:

bash

npx -y @mvanhorn/printing-press install google-photos --cli-only

Verify:
```
google-photos-pp-cli --version
```
Ensure
```
$GOPATH/bin
```
(or
```
$HOME/go/bin
```
) is on
```
$PATH
```
.

If the

npx

install fails (no Node, offline, etc.), fall back to a direct Go install (requires Go 1.23+):

bash

go install github.com/mvanhorn/printing-press-library/library/media-and-entertainment/google-photos/cmd/google-photos-pp-cli@latest

--version

reports "command not found" after install, the install step did not put the binary on

$PATH

. Do not proceed with skill commands until verification succeeds.

Command Reference

albums — Manage app-created Google Photos albums.

```
google-photos-pp-cli albums add-enrichment
```
— Add text, location, or map enrichment to an app-created album.
```
google-photos-pp-cli albums batch-add-media-items
```
— Add app-created media items to an app-created album.
```
google-photos-pp-cli albums batch-remove-media-items
```
— Remove app-created media items from an app-created album.
```
google-photos-pp-cli albums create
```
— Create an album in the user's Google Photos library.
```
google-photos-pp-cli albums get
```
— Get an app-created album by ID.
```
google-photos-pp-cli albums list
```
— List albums created by this app.
```
google-photos-pp-cli albums patch
```
— Update title or cover photo on an app-created album.

media-items — Manage app-created Google Photos media items.

google-photos-pp-cli media-items batch-create

— Create media items from upload tokens.

```
google-photos-pp-cli media-items batch-get
```
— Get multiple app-created media items by ID.
```
google-photos-pp-cli media-items get
```
— Get an app-created media item by ID.
```
google-photos-pp-cli media-items list
```
— List media items created by this app.
```
google-photos-pp-cli media-items patch
```
— Update the description on an app-created media item.
```
google-photos-pp-cli media-items search
```
— Search app-created media items by album or filters.

picker — Create, poll, clean up, and read Google Photos Picker sessions.

```
google-photos-pp-cli picker create-session
```
— Create a Picker session and return the picker URI.
```
google-photos-pp-cli picker delete-session
```
— Delete a Picker session after selected media bytes have been retrieved.
```
google-photos-pp-cli picker get-session
```
— Get Picker session status.
```
google-photos-pp-cli picker list-media-items
```
— List media items picked by the user during a Picker session.

Hand-written commands

```
google-photos-pp-cli upload file <path>
```
— Upload raw photo or video bytes and print the upload token for media-items batch-create.
```
google-photos-pp-cli picker wait <session-id>
```
— Poll a Picker session until selected media items are ready.
```
google-photos-pp-cli schema --pretty
```
— Emit machine-readable command, flag, auth, and safety-policy metadata.
```
google-photos-pp-cli auth list
```
— List stored OAuth accounts.

google-photos-pp-cli auth use <account-email>

— Set the default OAuth account.

google-photos-pp-cli auth remove <account-email>

— Remove a stored OAuth account.

Google Photos Scope Limits

Google Photos Library API read and edit scopes are limited to app-created albums and media. Use Library API commands here for app-created content, uploads, and album/media management. Use Picker commands when a user needs to select media from their broader Google Photos library.

Finding the right command

When you know what you want to do but not which command does it, ask the CLI directly:

bash

google-photos-pp-cli which "<capability in your own words>"

which

resolves a natural-language capability query to the best matching command from this CLI's curated feature index. Exit code

means at least one match; exit code

means no confident match — fall back to

--help

or use a narrower query.

Auth Setup

Authenticate via the browser:

bash

google-photos-pp-cli auth login --client-id "$GOOGLE_PHOTOS_CLIENT_ID"

Tokens are stored locally and refreshed automatically.

For multiple Google accounts, store tokens under account emails and select the account explicitly:

bash

google-photos-pp-cli auth login you@example.com --client-id "$GOOGLE_PHOTOS_CLIENT_ID"
google-photos-pp-cli auth list --json
google-photos-pp-cli auth use you@example.com
google-photos-pp-cli --account you@example.com albums list --agent

Account selection order:

--account

GOOGLE_PHOTOS_ACCOUNT

auth use

default, then legacy single-token config.

Run

google-photos-pp-cli doctor

to verify setup.

Agent Mode

Add

--agent

to any command. Expands to:

--json --compact --no-input --no-color --yes

Pipeable — JSON on stdout, errors on stderr
Filterable —
```
--select
```
keeps a subset of fields. Dotted paths descend into nested structures; arrays traverse element-wise. Critical for keeping context small on verbose APIs:
bash
```
google-photos-pp-cli albums list --agent --select id,name,status
```
Previewable —
```
--dry-run
```
shows the request without sending
Offline-friendly — sync/search commands can use the local SQLite store when available
Non-interactive — never prompts, every input is a flag

Guarded — use

--enable-commands

--disable-commands

with dotted command paths:

bash

google-photos-pp-cli --enable-commands albums.list albums list --agent
google-photos-pp-cli --disable-commands picker.delete-session picker delete-session SESSION_ID --agent

Introspectable — use
```
schema --pretty
```
or
```
agent-context --pretty
```
for the full JSON command contract.

Baked Safety Profiles

Build stronger local guardrails when exposing this CLI or MCP server to autonomous agents:

bash

make build-readonly
make build-agent-safe
make build-mcp-readonly
make build-mcp-agent-safe

safety_readonly

permits read/list/search/export/schema-style commands and blocks Google Photos mutations.

safety_agent_safe

permits reads and local archive/search workflows while blocking auth writes, uploads, creates, patches, deletes, and album/media mutations.

Response envelope

Commands that read from the local store or the API wrap output in a provenance envelope:

json

{
  "meta": {"source": "live" | "local", "synced_at": "...", "reason": "..."},
  "results": <data>
}

Parse

.results

for data and

.meta.source

to know whether it's live or local. A human-readable

N results (live)

summary is printed to stderr only when stdout is a terminal — piped/agent consumers get pure JSON on stdout.

Agent Feedback

When you (or the agent) notice something off about this CLI, record it:

google-photos-pp-cli feedback "the --since flag is inclusive but docs say exclusive"
google-photos-pp-cli feedback --stdin < notes.txt
google-photos-pp-cli feedback list --json --limit 10

Entries are stored locally at

~/.google-photos-pp-cli/feedback.jsonl

. They are never POSTed unless

GOOGLE_PHOTOS_FEEDBACK_ENDPOINT

is set AND either

--send

is passed or

GOOGLE_PHOTOS_FEEDBACK_AUTO_SEND=true

. Default behavior is local-only.

Write what surprised you, not a bug report. Short, specific, one line: that is the part that compounds.

Output Delivery

Every command accepts

--deliver <sink>

. The output goes to the named sink in addition to (or instead of) stdout, so agents can route command results without hand-piping. Three sinks are supported:

Sink	Effect
`stdout`	Default; write to stdout only
`file:<path>`	Atomically write output to `<path>` (tmp + rename)
`webhook:<url>`	POST the output body to the URL ( `application/json` or `application/x-ndjson` when `--compact` )

Unknown schemes are refused with a structured error naming the supported set. Webhook failures return non-zero and log the URL + HTTP status on stderr.

Named Profiles

A profile is a saved set of flag values, reused across invocations. Use it when a scheduled agent calls the same command every run with the same configuration - HeyGen's "Beacon" pattern.

google-photos-pp-cli profile save briefing --json
google-photos-pp-cli --profile briefing albums list
google-photos-pp-cli profile list --json
google-photos-pp-cli profile show briefing
google-photos-pp-cli profile delete briefing --yes

Explicit flags always win over profile values; profile values win over defaults.

agent-context

lists all available profiles under

available_profiles

so introspecting agents discover them at runtime.

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success
2	Usage error (wrong arguments)
3	Resource not found
4	Authentication required
5	API error (upstream issue)
7	Rate limited (wait and retry)
10	Config error

Argument Parsing

Parse

$ARGUMENTS

Empty,
help
, or
--help
→ show
```
google-photos-pp-cli --help
```
output
Starts with
install
→ ends with
```
mcp
```
→ MCP installation; otherwise → see Prerequisites above
Anything else → Direct Use (execute as CLI command with
```
--agent
```
)

MCP Server Installation

Install the MCP server:

bash

go install github.com/mvanhorn/printing-press-library/library/media-and-entertainment/google-photos/cmd/google-photos-pp-mcp@latest

bash

claude mcp add google-photos-pp-mcp -- google-photos-pp-mcp

Verify:
```
claude mcp list
```

Direct Use

Check if installed:
```
which google-photos-pp-cli
```
If not found, offer to install (see Prerequisites at the top of this skill).
Match the user query to the best command from the Unique Capabilities and Command Reference above.

Execute with the

--agent

flag:

bash

google-photos-pp-cli <command> [subcommand] [args] --agent

If ambiguous, drill into subcommand help:
```
google-photos-pp-cli <command> --help
```
.

pp-google-photos

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Google Photos — Printing Press CLI

Prerequisites: Install the CLI

Command Reference

Google Photos Scope Limits

Finding the right command

Auth Setup

Agent Mode

Baked Safety Profiles

Response envelope

Agent Feedback

Output Delivery

Named Profiles

Exit Codes

Argument Parsing

MCP Server Installation

Direct Use