feat: Add virtual boards that dynamically group images by date

docs/features/gallery.md

@@ -34,6 +34,26 @@ The settings button opens a list of options.
 Below these two buttons, you'll see the Search Boards text entry area. You use this to search for specific boards by the name of the board.
 Next to it is the Add Board (+) button which lets you add new boards. Boards can be renamed by clicking on the name of the board under its thumbnail and typing in the new name.
 
+### Virtual Boards by Date
+
+In addition to the regular user-created boards, the Gallery can show **virtual boards** that group your images automatically by their creation date. Virtual boards are not stored in the database — they are computed on the fly from existing image metadata, so enabling or disabling them never moves or modifies your images.
+
+#### Enabling Virtual Boards
+
+Open the boards settings popover (the gear icon next to the boards search field) and toggle **Show Virtual Boards**. A new collapsible **By Date** section then appears in the boards list, with one entry per day on which images were generated (e.g. `2026-03-18`).
+
+Each virtual board entry shows:
+
+- a cover thumbnail (the most recent image of that day)
+- the number of generated **images** on that date
+- the number of uploaded **assets** on that date
+
+Selecting a virtual board filters the gallery to show only the images from that day. Search, category filters (Images / Assets), starred-first sorting and sort direction all work the same way as on regular boards.
+
+!!! note "Read-only"
+
+    Virtual boards are a view over your existing images. You cannot rename, delete or auto-assign to them, and images cannot be "moved into" a virtual board — they appear there automatically based on their creation date. To organize images permanently, use regular boards.
+
 ### Board Thumbnail Menu
 
 Each board has a context menu (ctrl+click / right-click).

invokeai/app/api/routers/virtual_boards.py

@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+from fastapi import HTTPException, Path, Query
+from fastapi.routing import APIRouter
+
+from invokeai.app.api.auth_dependencies import CurrentUserOrDefault
+from invokeai.app.api.dependencies import ApiDependencies
+from invokeai.app.services.image_records.image_records_common import ImageCategory, ImageNamesResult
+from invokeai.app.services.shared.sqlite.sqlite_common import SQLiteDirection
+from invokeai.app.services.virtual_boards.virtual_boards_common import VirtualSubBoardDTO
+
+virtual_boards_router = APIRouter(prefix="/v1/virtual_boards", tags=["virtual_boards"])
+
+
+@virtual_boards_router.get(
+    "/by_date",
+    operation_id="list_virtual_boards_by_date",
+    response_model=list[VirtualSubBoardDTO],
+)
+async def list_virtual_boards_by_date(
+    current_user: CurrentUserOrDefault,
+) -> list[VirtualSubBoardDTO]:
+    """Gets a list of virtual sub-boards grouped by date."""
+    try:
+        return ApiDependencies.invoker.services.image_records.get_image_dates(
+            user_id=current_user.user_id,
+            is_admin=current_user.is_admin,
+        )
+    except Exception:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=500, detail="Failed to get virtual boards by date")
+
+
+@virtual_boards_router.get(
+    "/by_date/{date}/image_names",
+    operation_id="list_virtual_board_image_names_by_date",
+    response_model=ImageNamesResult,
+)
+async def list_virtual_board_image_names_by_date(
+    current_user: CurrentUserOrDefault,
+    date: str = Path(description="The ISO date string, e.g. '2026-03-18'"),
+    starred_first: bool = Query(default=True, description="Whether to sort starred images first"),
+    order_dir: SQLiteDirection = Query(default=SQLiteDirection.Descending, description="The sort direction"),
+    categories: list[ImageCategory] | None = Query(default=None, description="The categories of images to include"),
+    search_term: str | None = Query(default=None, description="Search term to filter images"),
+) -> ImageNamesResult:
+    """Gets ordered image names for a specific date."""
+    try:
+        return ApiDependencies.invoker.services.image_records.get_image_names_by_date(
+            date=date,
+            starred_first=starred_first,
+            order_dir=order_dir,
+            categories=categories,
+            search_term=search_term,
+            user_id=current_user.user_id,
+            is_admin=current_user.is_admin,
+        )
+    except Exception:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=500, detail="Failed to get image names for date")

invokeai/app/api_app.py

@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
     session_queue,
     style_presets,
     utilities,
+    virtual_boards,
     workflows,
 )
 from invokeai.app.api.sockets import SocketIO
@@ -177,6 +178,7 @@ async def dispatch(self, request: Request, call_next: RequestResponseEndpoint):
 app.include_router(images.images_router, prefix="/api")
 app.include_router(boards.boards_router, prefix="/api")
 app.include_router(board_images.board_images_router, prefix="/api")
+app.include_router(virtual_boards.virtual_boards_router, prefix="/api")
 app.include_router(model_relationships.model_relationships_router, prefix="/api")
 app.include_router(app_info.app_router, prefix="/api")
 app.include_router(session_queue.session_queue_router, prefix="/api")

invokeai/app/services/image_records/image_records_base.py

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 )
 from invokeai.app.services.shared.pagination import OffsetPaginatedResults
 from invokeai.app.services.shared.sqlite.sqlite_common import SQLiteDirection
+from invokeai.app.services.virtual_boards.virtual_boards_common import VirtualSubBoardDTO
 
 
 class ImageRecordStorageBase(ABC):
@@ -122,3 +123,26 @@ def get_image_names(
     ) -> ImageNamesResult:
         """Gets ordered list of image names with metadata for optimistic updates."""
         pass
+
+    @abstractmethod
+    def get_image_dates(
+        self,
+        user_id: Optional[str] = None,
+        is_admin: bool = False,
+    ) -> list[VirtualSubBoardDTO]:
+        """Gets a list of dates with image counts, grouped by DATE(created_at)."""
+        pass
+
+    @abstractmethod
+    def get_image_names_by_date(
+        self,
+        date: str,
+        starred_first: bool = True,
+        order_dir: SQLiteDirection = SQLiteDirection.Descending,
+        categories: Optional[list[ImageCategory]] = None,
+        search_term: Optional[str] = None,
+        user_id: Optional[str] = None,
+        is_admin: bool = False,
+    ) -> ImageNamesResult:
+        """Gets ordered list of image names for a specific date."""
+        pass

invokeai/app/services/image_records/image_records_sqlite.py

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 from invokeai.app.services.shared.pagination import OffsetPaginatedResults
 from invokeai.app.services.shared.sqlite.sqlite_common import SQLiteDirection
 from invokeai.app.services.shared.sqlite.sqlite_database import SqliteDatabase
+from invokeai.app.services.virtual_boards.virtual_boards_common import VirtualSubBoardDTO
 
 
 class SqliteImageRecordStorage(ImageRecordStorageBase):
@@ -503,3 +504,141 @@ def get_image_names(
         image_names = [row[0] for row in result]
 
         return ImageNamesResult(image_names=image_names, starred_count=starred_count, total_count=len(image_names))
+
+    def get_image_dates(
+        self,
+        user_id: Optional[str] = None,
+        is_admin: bool = False,
+    ) -> list[VirtualSubBoardDTO]:
+        with self._db.transaction() as cursor:
+            query_conditions = ""
+            query_params: list[Union[int, str, bool]] = []
+
+            # Only non-intermediate images
+            query_conditions += """--sql
+            AND images.is_intermediate = 0
+            """
+
+            # User isolation for non-admin users
+            if user_id is not None and not is_admin:
+                query_conditions += """--sql
+                AND images.user_id = ?
+                """
+                query_params.append(user_id)
+
+            query = f"""--sql
+            SELECT
+                DATE(images.created_at) as date,
+                SUM(CASE WHEN images.image_category = 'general' THEN 1 ELSE 0 END) as image_count,
+                SUM(CASE WHEN images.image_category != 'general' THEN 1 ELSE 0 END) as asset_count,
+                (
+                    SELECT i2.image_name FROM images i2
+                    WHERE DATE(i2.created_at) = DATE(images.created_at)
+                    AND i2.is_intermediate = 0
+                    ORDER BY i2.created_at DESC LIMIT 1
+                ) as cover_image_name
+            FROM images
+            WHERE 1=1
+            {query_conditions}
+            GROUP BY DATE(images.created_at)
+            ORDER BY date DESC;
+            """
+
+            cursor.execute(query, query_params)
+            result = cast(list[sqlite3.Row], cursor.fetchall())
+
+        return [
+            VirtualSubBoardDTO(
+                virtual_board_id=f"by_date:{dict(row)['date']}",
+                board_name=dict(row)["date"],
+                date=dict(row)["date"],
+                image_count=dict(row)["image_count"],
+                asset_count=dict(row)["asset_count"],
+                cover_image_name=dict(row)["cover_image_name"],
+            )
+            for row in result
+        ]
+
+    def get_image_names_by_date(
+        self,
+        date: str,
+        starred_first: bool = True,
+        order_dir: SQLiteDirection = SQLiteDirection.Descending,
+        categories: Optional[list[ImageCategory]] = None,
+        search_term: Optional[str] = None,
+        user_id: Optional[str] = None,
+        is_admin: bool = False,
+    ) -> ImageNamesResult:
+        with self._db.transaction() as cursor:
+            query_conditions = ""
+            query_params: list[Union[int, str, bool]] = []
+
+            # Filter by date
+            query_conditions += """--sql
+            AND DATE(images.created_at) = ?
+            """
+            query_params.append(date)
+
+            # Only non-intermediate images
+            query_conditions += """--sql
+            AND images.is_intermediate = 0
+            """
+
+            if categories is not None:
+                category_strings = [c.value for c in set(categories)]
+                placeholders = ",".join("?" * len(category_strings))
+                query_conditions += f"""--sql
+                AND images.image_category IN ( {placeholders} )
+                """
+                for c in category_strings:
+                    query_params.append(c)
+
+            # User isolation for non-admin users
+            if user_id is not None and not is_admin:
+                query_conditions += """--sql
+                AND images.user_id = ?
+                """
+                query_params.append(user_id)
+
+            if search_term:
+                query_conditions += """--sql
+                AND (
+                    images.metadata LIKE ?
+                    OR images.created_at LIKE ?
+                )
+                """
+                query_params.append(f"%{search_term.lower()}%")
+                query_params.append(f"%{search_term.lower()}%")
+
+            # Get starred count if starred_first is enabled
+            starred_count = 0
+            if starred_first:
+                starred_count_query = f"""--sql
+                SELECT COUNT(*)
+                FROM images
+                WHERE images.starred = TRUE AND (1=1{query_conditions})
+                """
+                cursor.execute(starred_count_query, query_params)
+                starred_count = cast(int, cursor.fetchone()[0])
+
+            # Get all image names with proper ordering
+            if starred_first:
+                names_query = f"""--sql
+                SELECT images.image_name
+                FROM images
+                WHERE 1=1{query_conditions}
+                ORDER BY images.starred DESC, images.created_at {order_dir.value}
+                """
+            else:
+                names_query = f"""--sql
+                SELECT images.image_name
+                FROM images
+                WHERE 1=1{query_conditions}
+                ORDER BY images.created_at {order_dir.value}
+                """
+
+            cursor.execute(names_query, query_params)
+            result = cast(list[sqlite3.Row], cursor.fetchall())
+        image_names = [row[0] for row in result]
+
+        return ImageNamesResult(image_names=image_names, starred_count=starred_count, total_count=len(image_names))

invokeai/app/services/virtual_boards/virtual_boards_common.py

@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+from typing import Optional
+
+from pydantic import BaseModel, Field
+
+
+class VirtualSubBoardDTO(BaseModel):
+    """A virtual sub-board computed from image metadata, not stored in the database."""
+
+    virtual_board_id: str = Field(description="The virtual board ID, e.g. 'by_date:2026-03-18'.")
+    board_name: str = Field(description="The display name of the virtual sub-board, e.g. '2026-03-18'.")
+    date: str = Field(description="The ISO date string, e.g. '2026-03-18'.")
+    image_count: int = Field(description="The number of general images for this date.")
+    asset_count: int = Field(description="The number of asset images for this date.")
+    cover_image_name: Optional[str] = Field(default=None, description="The most recent image name for this date.")

invokeai/frontend/web/src/features/gallery/components/Boards/BoardsList/BoardsList.tsx

@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import { useListAllBoardsQuery } from 'services/api/endpoints/boards';
 import AddBoardButton from './AddBoardButton';
 import GalleryBoard from './GalleryBoard';
 import NoBoardBoard from './NoBoardBoard';
+import { VirtualBoardSection } from './VirtualBoardSection';
 
 export const BoardsList = memo(() => {
   const { t } = useTranslation();
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@ export const BoardsList = memo(() => {
 
     if (!boardSearchText.length) {
       elements.push(<NoBoardBoard key="none" isSelected={selectedBoardId === 'none'} />);
+      elements.push(<VirtualBoardSection key="virtual-boards" />);
     }
 
     filteredBoards.forEach((board) => {