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Tag System Architecture

This document outlines the implementation of the tag system in Lychee, focusing on the data models, relationships, custom queries, and operations like renaming and merging.

1. Data Model and Relationships

1.1 The Tag Model

The Tag model (app/Models/Tag.php) represents a simple tagging entity with minimal properties:

class Tag extends Model
{
    // No timestamps
    public $timestamps = false;
    
    // Properties
    protected $fillable = [
        'name',          // The tag text
        'description',   // Optional description
    ];
    
    // Relationships
    public function photos(): BelongsToMany
    {
        return $this->belongsToMany(
            Photo::class,
            'photos_tags',  // pivot table
            'tag_id',       // foreign key in pivot
            'photo_id'      // related key in pivot
        );
    }
}

The model includes a helper method Tag::from(array $tags) that:

  1. Sanitizes tag names (trims whitespace, removes empty values)
  2. Finds existing tags in the database
  3. Creates any missing tags in bulk
  4. Returns a collection of all tag objects

This method is critical for maintaining tag consistency across the application.

1.2 Photo-Tag Relationship

Photos maintain a many-to-many relationship with tags through the photos_tags pivot table:

// In Photo model
public function tags(): BelongsToMany
{
    return $this->belongsToMany(
        Tag::class,
        'photos_tags',   // pivot table
        'photo_id',      // this model key
        'tag_id',        // related model key
    );
}

1.3 Tag Albums

Tag Albums (app/Models/TagAlbum.php) are virtual collections of photos sharing specific tags. A TagAlbum:

  • Extends BaseAlbum
  • Contains a BelongsToMany relationship to Tag via tag_albums_tags pivot table
  • Implements a custom photos() relation that fetches photos containing all assigned tags

2. Custom Tag Album Photo Query

The HasManyPhotosByTag relation implements a sophisticated filtering mechanism to return only photos that contain all tags specified in a tag album:

$tag_count = count($tags_ids);
$query->whereExists(fn (BaseBuilder $q) => $q->select(['photo_id', DB::raw('COUNT(tag_id) AS num')])
    ->from('photos_tags')
    ->whereIn('photos_tags.tag_id', $tags_ids)
    ->whereColumn('photos_tags.photo_id', 'photos.id')
    ->groupBy('photos_tags.photo_id')
    ->havingRaw('COUNT(DISTINCT photos_tags.tag_id) = ?', [$tag_count])
);

This query:

  1. Counts how many tags are assigned to the album ($tag_count)
  2. Creates a subquery that selects photos from the pivot table
  3. Groups these by photo ID and counts matched tags
  4. Uses HAVING to ensure the photo has exactly the number of required tags
  5. The outer whereExists connects this to the main photos query

This approach implements a logical AND between tags rather than OR, meaning photos must have all specified tags to appear in the album.

3. Tag Operations and User Isolation

Tag operations are handled by action classes:

  • ListTags: Returns all tags accessible to the current user
  • GetTagWithPhotos: Retrieves a tag with its associated photos
  • EditTag: Handles tag renaming using a merge strategy
  • DeleteTag: Removes tag associations and cleans up orphaned tags
  • MergeTag: Combines two tags while preserving user contexts

Renaming strategy

Renaming a tag might seem as simple as updating the name column on the existing record, but since tags are shared across all users and contexts, a direct rename would unintentionally change the tag for everyone. Instead, Lychee performs a merge-based rename scoped to the current user:

  1. Create or find a new tag with the target name (so as not to overwrite the original).
  2. Transfer only your own photo and tag-album associations from the old tag to the new one.
  3. Remove the old associations and, if the old tag has no more links, delete it via TagCleanupTrait.

This approach ensures:

  • Multi-user safety: Each user's tag context is preserved
  • Collision avoidance: avoids merging meanings when different users use the same tag name for different contexts.
  • Database efficiency: Unused tags are automatically pruned.

4. Tag Cleanup

The TagCleanupTrait provides automatic cleanup of unused tags:

// Simplified from TagCleanupTrait
public function cleanupUnusedTags(): int
{
    return Tag::whereNotExists(fn ($q) => $q->select(DB::raw(1))
        ->from('photos_tags')
        ->whereColumn('photos_tags.tag_id', 'tags.id'))
    ->whereNotExists(fn ($q) => $q->select(DB::raw(1))
        ->from('tag_albums_tags')
        ->whereColumn('tag_albums_tags.tag_id', 'tags.id'))
    ->delete();
}

This trait is used by operations like merge and delete to maintain database efficiency.

Last updated: December 22, 2025