forensic-evidence 3.2.6

Evidence management

Evidence - Audiovisual Forensics Suite

Evidence is a comprehensive audiovisual forensics suite for analyzing and processing multimedia files. It extends Dlist with file scanning, metadata extraction, duplicate detection, and integrity verification.

Contents

• Quick start
  • Installation
  • Dependencies
• Modes
• CLI commands
  • evidence-setup
  • evidence-build-database — Database builder
  • evidence-show — Database viewer
  • idf — ID to filename
  • fid — Filename to ID
  • fname — Universal filename resolver
  • evidence-queue — Task queue
  • evidence-obsidian — Obsidian vault generator
• Queue system
• Evidence methods
• Quick reference
• Project structure
• License

Quick start

from evidence import Evidence, Mode

ev = Evidence(mode=Mode.SCAN)    # scan all files, extract metadata
ev = Evidence(mode=Mode.LOAD)    # load previous scan
ev = Evidence(mode=Mode.RESCAN)  # add new files to existing database
ev = Evidence(mode=Mode.ZERO)    # empty instance

item = ev.idf('e42')             # look up by ID
print(item['file']['pathName'])

Evidence inherits from Dlist, so all Dlist operations work directly:

ev.filter(file__mime__type='image')     # all images
ev.filter(type='E')                     # evidence items only
ev.partition('cat__disk')               # group by disk/directory
ev.tree()                               # visual structure overview

Installation

uv tool install forensic-evidence

To verify:

evidence-setup --version

To upgrade:

uv tool upgrade forensic-evidence

For development (from source):

git clone https://gitlab.com/obsidian_utils/evidence.git
cd evidence
uv tool install -e .

---

Modes

Mode	Description
DEFAULT	Resolves to LOAD
SCAN	Full scan: reads all files, assigns IDs, extracts EXIF and media info, saves
LOAD	Loads previously saved database (DuckDB pivot join)
RESCAN	Detects new files on disk, runs full descriptors on them, appends to database
ZERO	Initializes empty database (backs up existing data)

ZERO is a safe reset: it zips the current database into backup/, wipes all JSON files, and leaves an empty Evidence instance. Use it before a fresh SCAN when you want to start over, or to clean up corrupted data without losing the backup.

---

CLI commands

evidence-setup

Configuration manager for Evidence profiles (TOML-based). Add, edit, remove, select and list profiles.

Config file location:

• Linux/macOS: ~/.config/evidence/profiles.toml
• Windows: %APPDATA%\evidence\profiles.toml

evidence-setup select              # interactive profile selection
evidence-setup add MyCase "D:\evidence" "D:\data" -d "Description"
evidence-setup list                # show all profiles
evidence-setup show                # show current profile
evidence-setup edit                # edit a profile interactively
evidence-setup remove              # remove a profile
evidence-setup datapath            # print data path (shortcut: dpath)
evidence-setup evidencepath        # print evidence path (shortcut: epath)

Multiple evidence paths use ; as separator: "path1;path2"

Navigate to paths

datapath and evidencepath print the path for the current profile, so you can use them with cd:

cd $(evidence-setup datapath)      # go to data directory
cd $(evidence-setup epath)         # go to evidence directory (shortcut)

Windows (PowerShell):

cd (evidence-setup datapath)
cd (evidence-setup epath)

evidence-build-database — Database builder

Build or rebuild the Evidence database from the command line.

evidence-build-database            # auto: scan if no DB, otherwise load
evidence-build-database scan       # full scan from disk (backs up first)
evidence-build-database rescan     # add only new files (non-destructive)
evidence-build-database load       # load and verify existing DB (read-only)

Subcommand	Destructive?	Description
(none)	Safe if DB exists	Auto-detects: LOAD if DB exists, SCAN if not
scan	Yes (backs up first)	Full scan: wipes DB, walks all files, assigns IDs, saves
rescan	Appends only	Finds new files on disk, adds them to existing DB
load	No (read-only)	Loads DB and reports item count

After scan or rescan, run evidence-queue launch to process background tasks (EXIF, media info, hashes).

evidence-show — Database viewer

Display database contents.

evidence-show                      # default: file listing
evidence-show files                # list all files
evidence-show files --dirs         # list directories only
evidence-show files --dir photos   # list files in one directory
evidence-show struct               # data structure tree
evidence-show struct --depth 2     # tree with depth limit

idf — ID to filename

Given an Evidence ID, returns the full pathname. Uses DuckDB to query JSON files directly — no Evidence class loaded.

idf e10    # → /full/path/to/SegCam Trelew.mp4
idf 42     # → /full/path/to/file.mp4
idf a3     # → /full/path/to/archive_file.mp4

fname — Universal filename resolver

Resolves any input into a full pathname: IDs, partial filenames, relative paths, or absolute paths.

Input	Resolution
Absolute path (/full/path/file.mp4)	Returned as-is
Evidence ID (e10, 42, a3)	DuckDB lookup in files.json
Relative path with / (tacho/vtests/test_5.mp4)	Prepend EVIDENCE root
Bare name (test_5)	Fuzzy search in files.json
No match	Input returned unchanged

fname e10        # → /full/path/to/SegCam Trelew.mp4
fname test_5     # → /full/path/to/tacho/vtests/test_5.mp4
fname 33         # → /full/path/to/tacho/vtests/test_5.mp4

Bash functions

Add to ~/.bashrc for convenient media playback:

mpvf() { mpv "$(fname "$1")"; }
vlcf() { vlc "$(fname "$1")"; }

Then:

mpvf e10        # play by ID
mpvf test_5     # play by partial filename
mpvf 33         # play by number

fid — Filename to ID

Given a filename or path, returns the Evidence ID. The reverse of idf.

fid "SegCam Trelew.mp4"           # → E0010
fid /full/path/to/file.mp4         # → E0042

evidence-queue — Task queue

Manage the parallel task queue for long-running file processing.

evidence-queue launch              # start processing pending jobs
evidence-queue launch --workers 4  # with 4 parallel workers
evidence-queue status              # show running + pending commands
evidence-queue log                 # show full history
evidence-queue cancel              # stop after current jobs finish

evidence-obsidian — Obsidian vault generator

Generate an Obsidian vault from the Evidence database with thumbnails and rich metadata notes.

evidence-obsidian                  # build vault in data_path/obsidian/
evidence-obsidian -o /path/to/vault  # custom output directory

Generates:

• .obsidian/ config with plugins (gotime-video, dataview, etc.)
• Evidence/ directory with Markdown notes (YAML frontmatter, categories, EXIF)
• Evidence/thumbs/ with JPEG thumbnails
• Clickable gotime:// links to original files

Requires ffmpeg and Pillow for thumbnail generation (run evidence-queue launch first).

---

Queue system

Queue long-running tasks from Python, run them in parallel via CLI, and merge results back on completion. Resumable after shutdown.

ev = Evidence(mode=Mode.LOAD)
ev.queue('exif',     inputL=['file__pathName'], outputL=['exif'],   query={'type': 'E'})
ev.queue('img_info', inputL=['file__pathName'], outputL=['format'], query={'file__mime__type': 'image'})

evidence-queue launch

Built-in tasks: exif, snd_info, img_info, vid_info, hash. Custom tasks can be added with the @task decorator.

See docs/queue.md for detailed documentation: dependency inference, custom task setup, standalone testing, file layout, and recovery.

---

Evidence methods

Methods added by Evidence beyond what Dlist provides:

Method	Description
Modes
ev.scan()	Full scan from disk: assigns IDs, type, cat, EXIF, media info
ev.load(files=[], duplicates=None)	Load saved database via DuckDB pivot join
ev.rescan()	Add new files with full descriptor pipeline
ev.zero()	Reset to empty (with backup)
Lookup
ev.idf('e42')	Look up record by ID string (E42, A3, 42, etc.)
Queue
ev.queue('task', inputL, outputL, query)	Add task to execution queue → returns queue ID
I/O
ev.save(wipe=False)	Save to JSON files (one per top-level key)
ev.backup(wipe=False)	Zip backup of database directory
ev.readFromDisk()	Walk evidence directory, return raw file list
ev.load_xtras()	Load extra data from DATAPATH
Utilities
ev.fileAttr(ls)	Build file attribute dicts (mime, hash, size, etc.)
ev.mkid('E', 42)	Format an ID string (E0042)
Properties
ev.evidence_path	Path to evidence files root
ev.data_path	Path to data/database directory

---

Quick reference

Command	Description
CLI
evidence-setup	Manage profiles (add, edit, remove, select, list, datapath, evidencepath)
evidence-build-database	Build/rebuild database (scan, rescan, load)
evidence-show	View database contents (files, structure)
idf e10	Resolve Evidence ID → full pathname
fid file.mp4	Resolve filename → Evidence ID
fname test_5	Resolve any input → full pathname
Python
Evidence(mode=Mode.SCAN)	Full scan with metadata extraction
Evidence(mode=Mode.LOAD)	Load existing database
Evidence(mode=Mode.RESCAN)	Add new files to database
Evidence(mode=Mode.ZERO)	Empty database (with backup)
ev.idf('e42')	Look up by ID
ev.filter(type='E')	Filter evidence items (inherited from Dlist)
ev.save()	Save database to JSON files
Queue
ev.queue('exif', ...)	Queue a task for background processing
evidence-queue launch	Run pending queue jobs (parallel)
evidence-queue status	Show running + pending commands
evidence-queue log	Show full queue history
evidence-queue cancel	Stop after current jobs
evidence-obsidian	Generate Obsidian vault with thumbnails and notes

---

Project structure

evidence/
├── src/evidence/
│   ├── __init__.py        # Package exports (lazy imports)
│   ├── build.py           # evidence-build-database CLI
│   ├── config.py          # TOML config + Rich/Typer CLI
│   ├── main.py            # Evidence class (Dlist-based)
│   ├── descriptors.py     # File metadata extraction
│   ├── fid.py             # Filename → ID resolver (DuckDB)
│   ├── filename.py        # Filename abstraction
│   ├── fname.py           # Universal filename resolver (DuckDB)
│   ├── formatting.py      # Display formatting
│   ├── idf.py             # ID resolver (DuckDB)
│   ├── obsidian.py        # Obsidian vault generator
│   ├── show.py            # evidence-show CLI
│   ├── tasks.py           # Task registry (@task decorator)
│   ├── thumbs.py          # Thumbnail generators (image, video, PDF, text, DOCX)
│   ├── queue.py           # Queue engine (jobs, runner, merge)
│   ├── queue_cli.py       # evidence-queue CLI
│   └── vault_template/    # Obsidian vault template (.obsidian config)
├── docs/
│   ├── queue.md           # Queue system documentation
│   └── windows-setup.md   # Windows installation guide
├── tests/
│   ├── test_evidence.py   # Core test suite
│   └── test_queue.py      # Queue system tests
└── pyproject.toml

License

MIT