Context

While building CM Rentals, I kept running into an annoying workflow for managing property images:

1. Save image from some source (Facebook listing, provided file, wherever)
2. Upload to Supabase Storage through their web UI
3. Generate a signed URL (with some expiration date)
4. Copy that URL back to the database record

Repeat this dozens of times.

And if I skipped steps two and three by using URLs from external sources like Facebook? Those expire after some time, forcing you to do it all over again.

Tedious enough that I decided to build a tool to handle it.

Solution

A web application that streamlines the entire image management workflow. It shows all records, flags which ones have broken images, and lets me fix them quickly.

What It Does

• Dashboard view - all records with their current image status (working/broken), so your user won’t be the first to notice a broken image link
• Parallel URL checking - validates all image URLs on load, fast enough to be usable
• One-click updates - upload a new image (file or URL), it gets optimized, uploaded to Supabase, signed URL generated, database updated. Done. (Okay, maybe three clicks - but still far less than doing it manually.)
• Automatic optimization - images get resized and compressed (50-80% size reduction typical)

The Configuration-Driven Part

This started as a solution for my specific pain point, but I realized I can’t be alone in this. So I built it to be universal - it works with any Supabase table.

All table names, column mappings, and settings live in a single config file. Different use case? Just change the config, no code modifications needed.

Future plans: UI-based configuration, so you won’t need to touch config files at all - just fire up the app and work from there.

Privacy Considerations

This app runs locally - it’s not a third-party service you access through a browser. Your Supabase credentials stay on your machine, never shared with anyone.

Why Panel Instead of Streamlit?

I’m primarily a Streamlit user, but I chose Panel for this project to expand my toolkit. Panel gives more control over layout and styling, handles complex UI states better, and has a proper reactive programming model. Good to have another tool in the belt.

Real-world Application

This is essentially image asset management - a common need:

• E-commerce products need photos
• User profiles need avatars
• Content management systems need media
• Property listings need images

The patterns are the same: validation, upload, optimization, URL management. The configuration-driven architecture means this tool can adapt to any of these use cases.

It’s also a CRUD app at the same time - uploading files to Storage, retrieving data from the database, and running Updates.

Professional Takeaways

• Configuration-driven design - making tools reusable without code changes
• Parallel processing - using ThreadPoolExecutor for concurrent URL validation makes a real difference in UX
• Image optimization - finding the right balance between quality and file size
• Service layer architecture - clean separation between UI and business logic makes the code much more maintainable