Tools/fake-media/README.md

Fake Media Generator

Creates a large fake image collection for testing without downloading real files.

What it does

• Generates a small set of unique placeholder PNGs in several dimensions.
• Reuses those generated variants to create many files.
• Spreads the files across as many subfolders as you want.
• Uses only Python's standard library.

TUI usage

python3 tools/fake-media/generate_fake_media.py

The script opens a terminal UI where you can edit:

• output directory
• image sizes
• variants per size
• folder count
• images per folder
• folder and file prefixes
• seed
• clear-output toggle

Controls:

• Up and Down: move between fields
• Enter: edit the selected field
• Space: toggle Clear Output
• G: generate files
• Q: quit

Optional non-interactive mode

python3 tools/fake-media/generate_fake_media.py \
  /tmp/fake-media \
  --no-tui \
  --sizes 320x240,640x480,1280x720,2048x1536 \
  --variants-per-size 4 \
  --folder-count 20 \
  --images-per-folder 500 \
  --folder-prefix album \
  --file-prefix asset \
  --clear-output

That example creates:

• 16 unique placeholder images.
• 20 subfolders named album-001 through album-020.
• 10,000 total PNG files.

Useful flags

• --sizes: comma-separated dimensions.
• --variants-per-size: unique image patterns per size.
• --folder-count: number of subfolders.
• --images-per-folder: files per subfolder.
• --clear-output: removes the target directory first.
• --seed: makes output repeatable.
• --no-tui: bypasses the terminal UI.