Photograph each view
Capture the object, marks, and relevant details as ordered media rather than collapsing documentation into one cover image.
All use cases
Open Inventory for Collection
Keep images, provenance, and physical location connected.
Open Inventory provides an open inventory layer for private, research, or working collections. It can document objects and their locations, but it is not presented as a complete museum collection-management or digital-preservation system.
MIT licenseSelf-hostedNative iOS app
Capture path
Take a photo · review the draft · save the record
Operational problem
Less reconstruction, more traceable state.
A useful catalogue needs more than a title and one image. Views, identifiers, provenance notes, related objects, containers, and the current physical location have to remain connected without locking the material into an opaque platform.
- Keep ordered images, documents, and accessible alt text with each object
- Model containers, related works, components, and precise locations
- Expose selected records and reuse core data through CSV or the API
Real web app capture · demo data
A workflow at the point of use
From a physical object to a usable record.
Capture starts with a camera or an existing code. Structured fields and deeper workflows are added without hiding the transaction being made.
Apply a schema
Use inventory types and typed custom fields for identifiers, dates, material, provenance, or review state.
Connect the context
Link containers, parts, related objects, and spatial locations while retaining the object's own record.
Publish or export
Share selected read-only records or process core data through CSV and the documented REST API.
Relevant capabilities
The data model behind this use case.
These capabilities are part of the same MIT-licensed application. Open Inventory does not split them into closed industry editions.
Ordered media
Store several images, PDFs, and captions with explicit ordering and a separate cover selection.
Relationships and containers
Represent parts, sets, source objects, and nested storage without encoding every relation in free text.
Precise physical locations
Combine structured locations, maps, and optional room data where that level of spatial detail is useful.
Translated descriptive fields
Keep canonical content languages and review translated titles or descriptions field by field.
Readable public records
Publish a selected subset as a read-only catalogue without exposing the internal workspace.
Open data paths
Use CSV for supported core fields and OpenAPI for structured integrations; retain database and media backups for recovery.
Native iOS app
SwiftUI · included in the repository
Document the object while it is on the table.
The native app captures several views, scans identifiers, and writes to the same self-hosted API as the web interface. Suggestions and translations remain reviewable.
- Capture object, mark, label, and condition views in one job
- Resolve existing records by code or identifier
- Continue a persisted upload after an interruption
Camera and scanner operations run on a physical iPhone
Read the iOS implementation notesOpen source is part of the operating model
Keep the catalogue open to future research.
Open Inventory publishes its application code, schema migrations, API contract, and iOS app under MIT. It offers practical export and integration paths, while long-term preservation policy remains a responsibility of the collection operator.
MIT-licensed source
Docker setup with PostgreSQL
Checked-in OpenAPI 3.1 contract
Native iOS source included
Run it on your infrastructure
Start with one reviewed record.
Start the Docker stack, photograph one real object, and inspect the resulting fields and media before choosing a wider rollout.