# Quick Start Guide

**AutoIngest — Get running in under 5 minutes.**

---

## 1. Install Prerequisites

### On the build machine (your PC or VM):

1. Install [Visual Studio 2022 Community](https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/vs/community/) (free).
2. In the Visual Studio Installer, ensure the **.NET desktop development** workload is checked.
3. If you already have VS2022, open it and go to Tools → Get Tools and Features to verify.

### On the target machine:

No prerequisites if you build the **self-contained** version. Zero install.

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## 2. Build

### Option A: Visual Studio (recommended)

1. Open `AutoIngest.sln`
2. Build → Build Solution
3. Run it locally to verify

### Option B: Command line

```bat
cd AutoIngest
dotnet restore
dotnet build -c Release
```

---

## 3. Publish

### For Windows 11 (framework-dependent, ~15 MB):

```bat
publish.bat
```

Output: `publish/AutoIngest.exe`

### For any Windows 10/11 PC (self-contained, ~60-80 MB):

```bat
publish-standalone.bat
```

Output: `publish-standalone/AutoIngest.exe`

---

## 4. Deploy

Copy `AutoIngest.exe` to the target PC. Done.

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## 5. Use

1. Double-click `AutoIngest.exe` to start. It runs in the system tray (green circle icon) — no window opens.
2. Insert an SD card or USB card reader with photos.
3. A small toast pops into the bottom-right corner while photos are **moved** to `Pictures\YYYY-MM-DD\` (JPGs moved as-is; other formats converted to JPG and the originals removed).
4. The toast auto-hides a few seconds after the import finishes.
5. Left-click the tray icon any time to peek at status. Right-click for the menu (open import folder, reset drive memory, exit).
6. Open `Pictures\YYYY-MM-DD\` in Explorer and attach photos to your eBay listing.

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## Troubleshooting

| Problem | Solution |
|---------|----------|
| `dotnet` not found | Install .NET 8 SDK from [dotnet.microsoft.com](https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download/dotnet/8.0) |
| Magick.NET restore fails | Check internet connection. NuGet.org must be accessible. |
| Target PC says "missing runtime" | Use the self-contained build (`publish-standalone.bat`) instead. |
| Drive not detected | Verify the SD card mounts as a drive letter. Right-click the tray icon → Show status to view the log. |
| Photos not in expected folder | The destination is `%USERPROFILE%\Pictures\YYYY-MM-DD\`. Check that folder. |

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**Author:** Jeremy Anderson — [dcos.net](https://dcos.net) — info@dcos.net
