Awesome

Plex Auto Collections

Version 2.9.0

Plex Auto Collections is a Python 3 script that works off a configuration file to create/update Plex collections. Collection management with this tool can be automated in a varying degree of customizability. Supports IMDB, TMDb, and Trakt lists as well as built in Plex Searches using actors, genres, year, studio and more.

Table of Contents

1. Usage
   • Local Installation
   • Docker
2. Configuration
   • Collections
     • List Type
       • Plex Search (List Type)
       • Plex Collection (List Type)
       • TMDb Collection (List Type)
       • TMDb People (List Type)
       • TMDb Company (List Type)
       • TMDb Network (List Type)
       • TMDb Popular (List Type)
       • TMDb Trending (List Type)
       • TMDb Top Rated (List Type)
       • TMDb Now Playing (List Type)
       • TMDb Discover (List Type)
       • TMDb List (List Type)
       • TMDb Movie (List Type)
       • TMDb Show (List Type)
       • TVDb Show (List Type)
       • IMDb List or Search (List Type)
       • Trakt List (List Type)
       • Trakt Trending List (List Type)
       • Trakt Watchlist (List Type)
       • Tautulli List (List Type)
     • Collection Filters (Collection Attribute)
     • Sync Mode (Collection Attribute)
     • Sort Title (Collection Attribute)
     • Content Rating (Collection Attribute)
     • Summary (Collection Attribute)
     • Collection Mode (Collection Attribute)
     • Collection Order (Collection Attribute)
     • Poster (Collection Attribute)
     • Background (Collection Attribute)
     • Name Mapping (Collection Attribute)
   • Plex
   • Image Server
     • Poster and/or Background Directory
     • Image Directory
   • TMDb
   • Tautulli
   • Trakt
   • Radarr
3. Acknowledgements

Usage

This script can be used as an interactive Python shell script as well as a headless, configuration-driven script.

The interactive shell script has some limited abilities including the ability to add new collections based off searches, delete collections, search for collections and manage existing collections. The bulk of the feature-set is focused on configuration-driven updates.

Local Installation

Some limited testing has been done only on Python 3.7 and 3.8 on Linux and Windows. Dependencies must be installed by running:

pip install -r requirements.txt

If there are issues installing dependencies try:

pip install -r requirements.txt --ignore-installed

To run the script in an interactive terminal run:

python plex_auto_collections.py

A config.yml file is required to run the script. The script checks for a config.yml file alongside plex_auto_collections.py as well as in config/config.yml. If desired, a different configuration file can be specified with -c <path_to_config> or --config-path <path_to_config>. This could be useful for creating collections against different libraries, such as a Movie and TV library (in this case, be sure to update the library_type in the configuration file).

python plex_auto_collections.py --config-path <path_to_config>

If you would like to run the script without any user interaction (e.g. to schedule the script to run on a schedule) the script can be launched with -u or --update:

python plex_auto_collections.py --update

If you would like the -u or --update option to update without updating metadata you can add -nm or --no_meta along with -u or --update:

python plex_auto_collections.py --update --no_meta

If you would like the -u or --update option to update without updating images you can add -ni or --no_images along with -u or --update:

python plex_auto_collections.py --update --no_images

Example command if you only want the collection to update without constantly updating metadata and images that don't change much

python plex_auto_collections.py --update --no_meta --no_images

Docker

A simple Dockerfile is available in this repo if you'd like to build it yourself. The official build is also available from dockerhub here: https://hub.docker.com/r/mza921/plex-auto-collections

The docker implementation today is limited but will improve over time. To use, try the following:

docker run --rm -v '/mnt/user/plex-auto-collections/':'/config':'rw' 'mza921/plex-auto-collections' -u

The -v '/mnt/user/plex-auto-collections/':'/config' mounts a persistent volume to store your config file. Today, the docker image defaults to running the config named config.yml in your persistent volume (eventually, the docker will support an environment variable to change the config path).

Lastly, you may need to run the docker with -it and without -u in order to interact with the script. For example, if you'd like to use Trakt lists, you need to go through the OAuth flow and interact with the script at first-run. After that, you should be able to run it without the -it flag.

Configuration

The script allows utilizes a YAML config file to create collections in Plex. This is great for a few reasons:

• Setting metadata manually in Plex is cumbersome. Having a config file allows template to be reused, backed-up, transferred, etc.
• Plex often loses manually set metadata. Having a config file fixes metadata creep.
• Collections change often. Having a config file pointing to dynamic data keeps collections fresh.

There are currently six YAML mappings that can be set:

• collections (required)
• plex (required)
• image_server (optional)
• tmdb (optional, but recommended)
• tautulli (optional)
• trakt (optional)
• radarr (optional)

You can find a template config file in config/config.yml.template

Collections

Each collection is defined by the mapping name which becomes the name of the Plex collection. Additionally, there are many different attributes you can set for each collection:

• List Type (required)
• Collection Filters (optional)
• Sync Mode (optional)
• Sort Title (optional)
• Content Rating (optional)
• Summary (optional)
• Collection Mode (optional)
• Collection Order (optional)
• Poster (optional)
• Background (optional)
• Name Mapping (optional)

List Type (Collection Attribute)

The only required attribute for each collection is the list type. There are many different list types to choose from:

• Plex Search
• Plex Collection
• TMDb Collection
• TMDb People
• TMDb Company
• TMDb Network
• TMDb Popular
• TMDb Trending
• TMDb Top Rated
• TMDb Now Playing
• TMDb Discover
• TMDb List
• TMDb Movie
• TMDb Show
• TVDb Show
• IMDb List or Search
• Trakt List
• Trakt Trending List
• Trakt Watchlist
• Tautulli List

Note that most list types supports multiple lists, with the following exceptions:

• TMDb Popular
• TMDb Trending
• TMDb Top Rated
• TMDb Now Playing
• TMDb Discover
• Trakt Trending Lists
• Trakt Watchlist
• Tautulli Lists

Plex Search (List Type)

Works with Movie and TV Show Libraries

You can create a collection based on the Plex search feature using the plex_search attribute. The search will return any movie/show that matches at least one term from each search option. You can run multiple searches. The search options are listed below.

Here's some high-level ideas:

collections:
  Documentaries:
    plex_search:
      genre: Documentary

collections:
  Dave Chappelle Comedy:
    plex_search:
      actor: Dave Chappelle
      genre: Comedy

collections:
  Pixar:
    plex_search:
      studio: Pixar

collections:
  90s Movies:
    plex_search:
      year:
        - 1990
        - 1991
        - 1992
        - 1993
        - 1994
        - 1995
        - 1996
        - 1997
        - 1998
        - 1999

collections:
  90s Movies:
    plex_search:
      year: 1990-1999

collections:
  2010+ Movies:
    plex_search:
      year: 2010-NOW

collections:
  90s Movies:
    plex_search:
      decade: 1990

Note if you only want to search using a single attribute you can do so without plex_search.

collections:
  90s Movies:
    year: 1990-1999

Notes:

• You can only use each search option once per plex_search but you can give the search multiple values.
• If you want to restrict the search by multiples of the same attribute (i.e. You want every movie that is a Romance and Comedy) try using filters.

Plex Collection (List Type)

Works with Movie and TV Show Libraries

You can create Collections based on collections already in Plex

collections:
  Dinosaurs:
    plex_collection: Jurassic Park

Note if you want to add multiple collections you have to use a list. Comma separated values will not work.

collections:
  Dinosaurs:
    plex_collection:
      - Jurassic Park
      - The Land Before Time

TMDb Collection (List Type)

Works with Movie Libraries

The Movie Database (TMDb) strives to group movies into logical collections. This script can easily leverage that data. You can use the full url or just type in the TMDb ID for the collection:

collections:
  Jurassic Park:
    tmdb_collection: https://www.themoviedb.org/collection/328

collections:
  Jurassic Park:
    tmdb_collection: 328

collections:
  Alien (Past & Present):
    tmdb_collection:
      - https://www.themoviedb.org/collection/8091
      - 135416

Alternatively you can specify which tmdb_collection, tmdb_summary, tmdb_poster, and tmdb_background all at once by using tmdb_id and setting it to the collections page ID or URL:

collections:
  Jurassic Park:
    tmdb_id: 328

collections:
  Alien (Past & Present):
    tmdb_id: 8091, 135416
  Anaconda:
    tmdb_id: 105995, 336560

Notes:

• The tmdb_id can be either from a collection or an individual movie
• You can specify more than one tmdb_id but it will pull the summary, poster, and background from only the first one.
• Local posters/backgrounds are loaded over tmdb_poster/tmdb_background if they exist unless tmdb_poster/tmdb_background is also specified
• tmdb_summary will load unless summary,tmdb_summary, or tmdb_biography is also specified

TMDb People (List Type)

Similarly to tmdb_id, tmdb_actor, tmdb_director, tmdb_writer can specify tmdb_biography and tmdb_profile of the person's TMDb page ID or URL as well as search Plex using their respective Plex Search all with one attribute.

TMDb Actor (List Type)

Works with Movie and TV Show Libraries

collections:
  Robin Williams:
    tmdb_actor: 2157

collections:
  Robin Williams:
    tmdb_actor: https://www.themoviedb.org/person/2157-robin-williams

TMDb Director (List Type)

Works with Movie Libraries

collections:
  Steven Spielberg:
    tmdb_director: 488

collections:
  Steven Spielberg:
    tmdb_director: https://www.themoviedb.org/person/488-steven-spielberg

TMDb Writer (List Type)

Works with Movie Libraries

collections:
  Quentin Tarantino:
    tmdb_writer: 138

collections:
  Quentin Tarantino:
    tmdb_writer: https://www.themoviedb.org/person/138-quentin-tarantino

Notes:

• You can specify more than one tmdb_actor, tmdb_director, or tmdb_writer but it will pull the summary and poster from only the first one.
• Local posters are loaded over tmdb_profile if they exist unless tmdb_profile is also specified
• tmdb_biography will load unless summary,tmdb_summary, or tmdb_biography is also specified

TMDb Company (List Type)

Works with Movie and TV Show Libraries

You can use a TMDb Company to build a collection based on all it's movies/shows by using tmdb_company. You can use the full url or just type in the TMDb ID for the collection:

collections:
  Studio Ghibli:
    tmdb_company: 10342

collections:
  Studio Ghibli:
    tmdb_company: https://www.themoviedb.org/company/10342

TMDb Network (List Type)

Works with Show Libraries

Similarly to using a TMDb Company, you can also use a TMDb Network to build a collection based on all it's shows by using tmdb_network. You can use the full url or just type in the TMDb ID for the collection:

collections:
  CBS:
    tmdb_network: 16

collections:
  CBS:
    tmdb_network: https://www.themoviedb.org/network/16

TMDb Popular (List Type)

Works with Movie and TV Show Libraries

You can build a collection using TMDb's most popular movies/shows by using tmdb_popular. The tmdb_popular attribute only supports a single integer value. The sync_mode: sync option is recommended since the list is continuously updated.

collections:
  TMDb Popular:
    tmdb_popular: 30
    sync_mode: sync

TMDb Trending (List Type)

Works with Movie and TV Show Libraries

You can build a collection using TMDb's daily or weekly trending movies/shows by using tmdb_trending_daily or tmdb_trending_weekly. Both attributes only support a single integer value. The sync_mode: sync option is recommended since the lists are continuously updated.

collections:
  TMDb Daily Trending:
    tmdb_trending_daily: 30
    sync_mode: sync

collections:
  TMDb Weekly Trending:
    tmdb_trending_weekly: 30
    sync_mode: sync

TMDb Top Rated (List Type)

Works with Movie and TV Show Libraries

You can build a collection using TMDb's top rated movies/shows by using tmdb_top_rated. The tmdb_top_rated attribute only supports a single integer value. The sync_mode: sync option is recommended since the list is continuously updated.

collections:
  TMDb Top Rated:
    tmdb_top_rated: 30
    sync_mode: sync

TMDb Now Playing (List Type)

Works with Movie Libraries

You can build a collection using TMDb's release_type to get movies that are now in theaters by using tmdb_now_playing. The tmdb_now_playing attribute only supports a single integer value. The sync_mode: sync option is recommended since the list is continuously updated.

collections:
  TMDb Now Playing:
    tmdb_now_playing: 30
    sync_mode: sync

TMDb Discover (List Type)

Works with Movie and TV Show Libraries

You can use TMDb's discover engine to create a collection based on the search for movies/shows using all different sorts of parameters shown below. The parameters are directly from TMDb Movie Discover and TMDb TV Discover

Discover Movies

Discover Shows

Sort Options

collections:
  Movies Released in October 2020:
    tmdb_discover:
      primary_release_date.gte: 10/01/2020
      primary_release_date.lte: 10/31/2020

collections:
  Popular Movies:
    tmdb_discover:
      sort_by: popularity.desc

collections:
  Highest Rated R Movies:
    tmdb_discover:
      certification_country: US
      certification: R
      sort_by: vote_average.desc

collections:
  Most Popular Kids Movies:
    tmdb_discover:
      certification_country: US
      certification.lte: G
      sort_by: popularity.desc

collections:
  Highest Rated Movies From 2010:
    tmdb_discover:
      primary_release_year: 2010
      sort_by: vote_average.desc

collections:
  Best Dramas From 2014:
    tmdb_discover:
      with_genres: 18
      primary_release_year: 2014
      sort_by: vote_average.desc

collections:
  Highest Rated Science Fiction Movies with Tom Cruise:
    tmdb_discover:
      with_genres: 878
      with_cast: 500
      sort_by: vote_average.desc

collections:
  Highest Grossing Comedy Movies with Will Ferrell:
    tmdb_discover:
      with_genres: 35
      with_cast: 23659
      sort_by: revenue.desc

collections:
  Top Rated Movies with Brad Pitt and Edward Norton:
    tmdb_discover:
      with_people: 287,819
      sort_by: vote_average.desc

collections:
  Popular Movies with David Fincher and Rooney Mara:
    tmdb_discover:
      with_people: 108916,7467
      sort_by: popularity.desc

collections:
  Top Rated Dramas:
    tmdb_discover:
      with_genres: 18
      sort_by: vote_average.desc
      vote_count.gte: 10

collections:
  Highest Grossing R Movies with Liam Neeson:
    tmdb_discover:
      certification_country: US
      certification: R
      sort_by: revenue.desc
      with_cast: 3896

TMDb List (List Type)

Works with Movie and TV Show Libraries

In addition to TMDb collections you can also build collections based off of TMDb Lists using tmdb_list.

collections:
  Top 50 Grossing Films of All Time (Worldwide):
    tmdb_list: https://www.themoviedb.org/list/10

collections:
  Top 50 Grossing Films of All Time (Worldwide):
    tmdb_list: 10

TMDb Movie (List Type)

Works with Movie Libraries

You can also add individual movies to a collection using tmdb_movie.

collections:
  Anaconda:
    tmdb_collection: https://www.themoviedb.org/collection/105995
    tmdb_movie: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/336560

collections:
  Anaconda:
    tmdb_collection: 105995
    tmdb_movie: 336560

TMDb Show (List Type)

Works with TV Show Libraries

You can also add individual shows to a collection using tmdb_show.

collections:
  Star Wars (Animated Shows):
    tmdb_show:
      - https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/4194-star-wars-the-clone-wars
      - https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/60554-star-wars-rebels

collections:
  Star Wars (Animated Shows):
    tmdb_show:
      - 4194
      - 60554

TVDb Show (List Type)

Works with TV Show Libraries

You can also add individual shows to a collection using tvdb_show and the show's TVDb ID.

collections:
  Star Wars (Animated Shows):
    tvdb_show:
      - 83268
      - 283468

IMDb List or Search (List Type)

Works with Movie Libraries

This script can also scrape IMDb lists as well as searches (particularly useful for dynamic data):

collections:
  James Bonds:
    imdb_list: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls006405458

collections:
  IMDb Top 250:
    imdb_list: https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?groups=top_250&count=250

Note that searches can be useful to show / sort / filter IMDb large IMDb lists:

collections:
  Marvel Cinematic Universe:
    imdb_list: https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?title_type=movie&lists=ls031310794&count=250

Trakt List (List Type)

Works with Movie and TV Show Libraries

Similarly, this script can also pull public or private Trakt lists via the Trakt API:

collections:
  Christmas:
    trakt_list:
      - https://trakt.tv/users/movistapp/lists/christmas-movies
      - https://trakt.tv/users/2borno2b/lists/christmas-movies-extravanganza

collections:
  Reddit Top 250:
    trakt_list: https://trakt.tv/users/jay-greene/lists/reddit-top-250-2019-edition

Trakt Trending List (List Type)

Works with Movie and TV Show Libraries

This script can pull a number of items from the Trakt Trending List for Movies or Shows. The trakt_trending attribute only supports a single integer value. The sync_mode: sync option is recommended since the list is continuously updated.

collections:
  Trakt Trending:
    trakt_trending: 30
    sync_mode: sync

Trakt Watchlist (List Type)

Works with Movie and TV Show Libraries

This script can pull items from a Trakt user's Watchlist for Movies or Shows. Set the trakt_watchlist attribute to me to pull your own Watchlist. To pull other users' Watchlists, add their Trakt username to the attribute. The sync_mode: sync option is recommended.

collections:
  Trakt Watchlist:
    trakt_watchlist:
      - me
      - friendontrakt
    sync_mode: sync

Tautulli List (List Type)

Works with Movie and TV Show Libraries

Tautulli has watch analytics that can show the most watched or most popular Movies/Shows in your Library. This script can easily leverage that data into making and sync collection based on those lists using the tautulli attribute. Unlike other lists this one has subattribute options:

collections:
  Most Popular Movies (30 Days):
    sync_mode: sync
    collection_mode: show_items
    tautulli:
      list_type: popular
      list_days: 30
      list_size: 10

collections:
  Most Watched Movies (30 Days):
    sync_mode: sync
    collection_mode: show_items
    tautulli:
      list_type: watched
      list_days: 30
      list_size: 10
      list_buffer: 10

Note that if you have multiple movie Libraries or multiple show Libraries Tautulli combines those in the popular/watched lists so there might not be 10 movies/shows from the library to make your list_size. In order to get around that we added a list_buffer attribute that defaults to 10. This will get that many more movies from Tautulli but only add to the collection until the number in list_size. So if your collection doesn't have as many movies/shows as your list_size attribute increase the number in the list_buffer attribute.

Collection Filters (Collection Attribute)

Works with Movie and TV Show Libraries

The next optional attribute for any collection is the filters attribute. Collection filters allows for you to filter every movie/show added to the collection from every List Type. All collection filter options are listed below. In addition you can also use the .not at the end of any standard collection filter to do an inverse search matching everything that doesn't have the value specified. You can use all: true to start your filter from your entire library.

Note only standard filters can take multiple values

collections:
  1080p Documentaries:
    genre: Documentary
    summary: A collection of 1080p Documentaries
    filters:
      video_resolution: 1080

collections:
  Daniel Craig only James Bonds:
    imdb_list: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls006405458/
    filters:
      actor: Daniel Craig

collections:
  French Romance:
    genre: Romance
    filters:
      audio_language: Français

collections:
  Romantic Comedies:
    genre: Romance
    filters:
      genre: Comedy

collections:
  9.0 Movies:
    all: true
    filters:
      rating.gte: 9

collections:
  Summer 2020 Movies:
    all: true
    filters:
      originally_available.gte: 5/1/2020
      originally_available.lte: 8/31/2020

collections:
  Movies Released in the Last 180 Days:
    all: true
    filters:
      max_age: 180

collections:
  Good Adam Sandler Romantic Comedies:
    plex_search:
      genre: Romance
      actor: Adam Sandler
    filters:
      genre: Comedy
      rating.gte: 7

Note that multiple collection filters are supported but a movie must match at least one value from each collection filter to be added to a collection. The values for each must match what Plex has including special characters in order to match.

Sync Mode (Collection Attribute)

You can specify how collections sync using sync_mode. Set it to append to only add movies/shows to the collection or set it to sync to add movies/shows to the collection and remove movies/shows from a collection.

collections:
  IMDb Top 250:
    imdb_list: https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?groups=top_250&count=25
    sync_mode: sync

Sort Title (Collection Attribute)

Setting the sort title is possible for each collection. This can be helpful to rearrange the collections in alphabetical sort. One example of this might be to "promote" certain collections to the top of a library by creating a sort title starting with an asterisk. If you do use an asterisk or other special characters including : You have to surround the whole name with quotes.

collections:
  IMDb Top 250:
    imdb_list: https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?groups=top_250&count=25
    sort_title: "*100"
  Reddit Top 250:
    trakt_list: https://trakt.tv/users/jay-greene/lists/reddit-top-250-2019-edition
    sort_title: "*101"

Content Rating (Collection Attribute)

Adding a content rating to each collection is possible:

collections:
  Pixar:
    studio: Pixar
    content_rating: PG

Summary (Collection Attribute)

Adding a summary to the collection is possible by either pulling the overview from TMDb or by using a custom entry.

To use a TMDb entry a TMDb api-key as well as language is required, the default language is set to en. Match the following in the configuration file, input only the TMDb collection/movie/show page ID or URL. To use the actor's biography use tmdb_biography with their page ID or URL on TMDb if you wish to use their biography as the summary.

collections:
  Jurassic Park:
    tmdb_collection: https://www.themoviedb.org/collection/328
    tmdb_summary: 328

collections:
  Dave Chappelle:
    actor: Dave Chappelle
    tmdb_biography: 4169

If you want to use a custom summary:

collections:
  Pixar:
    studio: Pixar
    summary: A collection of Pixar movies

collections:
  Alien (Past & Present):
    tmdb_collection:
      - https://www.themoviedb.org/collection/8091
      - https://www.themoviedb.org/collection/135416
    summary: >-
        The Alien franchise is a science fiction horror franchise, consisting
        primarily of a series of films focusing on the species Xenomorph XX121,
        commonly referred to simply as "the Alien", a voracious endoparasitoid
        extraterrestrial species. Unlike the Predator franchise, which mostly
        consists of stand-alone movies, the Alien films generally form continuing
        story arcs, the principal of which follows Lieutenant Ellen Ripley
        as she battles the Aliens in a future time setting. Newer films preceding
        Ripley's exploits center around the android David, exploring the possible
        origins of the Aliens and their connection to an ancient, advanced
        civilization known as the Engineers.

Collection Mode (Collection Attribute)

Plex allows for four different types of collection modes: library default, hide items in this collection, show this collection and its items, and hide collection (more details can be found in Plex's Collection support article). These options can be set with default, hide_items, show_items, and hide.

collections:
  Jurassic Park:
    tmdb_collection: https://www.themoviedb.org/collection/328
    tmdb_summary: 328
    poster: https://i.imgur.com/QMjbyCX.png
    background: https://i.imgur.com/2xE0R9I.png
    collection_mode: hide_items

Collection Order (Collection Attribute)

Lastly, Plex allows collections to be sorted by the media's release dates or alphabetically by title. These options can be set with release or alpha. Plex defaults all collections to release, but alpha can be helpful for rearranging collections. For example, with collections where the chronology does not follow the release dates, you could create custom sort titles for each media item and then sort the collection alphabetically.

collections:
  Alien (Past & Present):
    tmdb_collection:
      - https://www.themoviedb.org/collection/8091
      - https://www.themoviedb.org/collection/135416
    collection_order: alpha

Poster (Collection Attribute)

There are four ways to set a poster image for a collection: local image, public URL, TMDb collection, or TMDb actor.

Local assets are supported by running the script with posters in the poster_directory or image_directory. See the Image Server section below for more details or to specify a specific place in your file system for a poster use file_poster.

If multiple posters are found the script will ask which one you want to use or just take the first one in the list if update mode is on.

Note if you want to use an actor's profile image from TMDb use tmdb_profile instead of tmdb_poster.

If you want to use an image publicly available on the internet:

collections:
  Jurassic Park:
    tmdb_collection: https://www.themoviedb.org/collection/328
    tmdb_summary: 328
    poster: https://i.imgur.com/QMjbyCX.png

If you want to use the default collection image on TMDb:

collections:
  Alien (Past & Present):
    tmdb_collection:
      - https://www.themoviedb.org/collection/8091
      - https://www.themoviedb.org/collection/135416
    tmdb_poster: 8091

If you want to use the default actor image on TMDb:

collections:
  Dave Chappelle:
    actor: Dave Chappelle
    tmdb_biography: 4169
    tmdb_profile: 4169

If you want to use an image in your file system:

collections:
  Jurassic Park:
    tmdb_collection: https://www.themoviedb.org/collection/328
    tmdb_summary: 328
    file_poster: C:/Users/username/Desktop/2xE0R9I.png
    file_background: /config/backgrounds/Jurassic Park.png

Background (Collection Attribute)

There are three ways to set a background image for a collection: local image, public URL, or TMDb collection.

Local assets are supported by running the script with backgrounds in the background_directory or image_directory. See the Image Server section below for more details or to specify a specific place in your file system for a background use file_background.

If multiple backgrounds are found the script will ask which one you want to use or just take the first one in the list if update mode is on.

If you want to use an image publicly available on the internet:

collections:
  Jurassic Park:
    tmdb_collection: https://www.themoviedb.org/collection/328
    tmdb_summary: 328
    poster: https://i.imgur.com/QMjbyCX.png
    background: https://i.imgur.com/2xE0R9I.png

If you want to use the default collection image on TMDb:

collections:
  Alien (Past & Present):
    tmdb_collection:
      - https://www.themoviedb.org/collection/8091
      - https://www.themoviedb.org/collection/135416
    tmdb_background: 8091

If you want to use an image in your file system:

collections:
  Jurassic Park:
    tmdb_collection: https://www.themoviedb.org/collection/328
    tmdb_summary: 328
    file_poster: C:/Users/username/Desktop/2xE0R9I.png
    file_background: /config/backgrounds/Jurassic Park.png

Name Mapping (Collection Attribute)

If you are using the image server and your collection name contains characters that are not allowed in filepaths (i.e. for windows <, >, :, ", /, \, |, ?, * cannot be in the file path) but you want them in your collection name you can use the name_mapping attribute to specific this collection's name in the file system.

collections:
  28 Days/Weeks Later:
    tmdb_id: 1565
    name_mapping: 28 Days-Weeks Later

Plex

A plex mapping in the config is required. Here's the full set of configurations:

plex:                                         # Req
  library: Movies                             # Req - Name of Plex library
  library_type: movie                         # Req - Type of Plex library (movie or show)
  token: #####                                # Req - User's Plex authentication token
  url: http://192.168.1.1:32400               # Req - URL to access Plex
  sync_mode: append                           # Opt - Global Sync Mode

Note that Plex does not allow a show to be added to a movie library or vice versa.

For movie libraries that use the new Plex Movie agent, a temporary copy of the Plex database is downloaded to facilitate the identification of movies. This occurs only during an initial run of the script, per config file. Depending on the size of the library, this can result in a large download.

This script can be run on a remote Plex server, but be sure that the url provided is publicly addressable and it's recommended to use HTTPS.

You can set the global default Sync Mode here by using sync_mode. Set it to append to only add movies/shows to the collection or set it to sync to add movies/shows to the collection and remove movies/shows from a collection.

Lastly, if you need help finding your Plex authentication token, please see Plex's support article.

Image Server

An image_server mapping in the config is optional. There are two ways to store your posters and background. Using poster_directory and/or background_directory or by using image_directory.

Note that attempting to upload larger images files (~10MB+) can sometimes throw errors like [Errno 32] Broken pipe in certain environments. Resize your images accordingly if you run into any issues.

Poster and/or Background Directory

By placing images in the poster_directory or background_directory, the script will attempt to match image names to collection names. For example, if there is a collection named Jurassic Park and the images ../config/posters/Jurassic Park.png and ../config/backgrounds/Jurassic Park.png, the script will upload those images to Plex.

image_server:                                 # Opt
  poster_directory: /config/posters           # Opt - Desired dir of posters
  background_directory: /config/backgrounds   # Opt - Desired dir of backgrounds

Image Directory

By placing images in folders in the image_directory folder, the script will attempt to match folder names to collection names. For example, if there is a collection named Jurassic Park and the images ../config/images/Jurassic Park/poster.png and ../config/images/Jurassic Park/background.png, the script will upload those images to Plex.

image_server:                                 # Opt
  image_directory: /config/images             # Opt - Desired dir of images

Note: these can be used together if you want, the script will just ask you which one you want if there are multiple matching images.

TMDb

If using TMDb lists, be sure to include your TMDb API key. If you do not have an API key please refer to this guide. Here's the full set of configurations:

tmdb:                                         # Opt
  apikey: #####                               # Req - User's TMDb API key
  language: en                                # Opt - User's language

Tautulli

If using Tautulli lists, be sure to include your Tautulli URL and API key.

tautulli:                                     # Opt
    url: http://192.168.1.1:8181              # Req - URL to access Tautulli
    apikey: #####                             # Req - User's Tautulli API key

The apikey can be found by going to Tautulli > Settings > Web Interface > API > API Key

Trakt

If using Trakt lists, be sure to include your Trakt application credentials. To create a Trakt application and get your client id and client secret, please do the following:

1. Create a Trakt API application.
2. Enter a Name for the application.
3. Enter urn:ietf:wg:oauth:2.0:oob for Redirect uri.
4. Click the SAVE APP button.
5. Record the Client ID and Client Secret.

Here's the full set of configurations:

trakt:                                        # Opt
  client_id: #####                            # Req - Trakt application client ID
  client_secret: #####                        # Req - Trakt application client secret
  auto_refresh_token: true                    # Req
  authorization:                              # Req
    access_token:                             # LEAVE BLANK
    token_type:                               # LEAVE BLANK
    expires_in:                               # LEAVE BLANK
    refresh_token:                            # LEAVE BLANK
    scope:                                    # LEAVE BLANK
    created_at:                               # LEAVE BLANK

On the first run, the script will walk the user through the OAuth flow by producing a Trakt URL for the user to follow. Once authenticated at the Trakt URL, the user needs to return the code to the script. If the code is correct, the script will populate the authorization subattributes to use in subsequent runs.

For docker users, please note that the docker container runs with the --update option and is designed for no user interaction. To authenticate Trakt the first time, you need run the container with the -it flags and run plex_auto_collections.py without the --update option and walk through the OAuth flow mentioned above. Once you have the Trakt authentication data saved into the YAML, you'll be able to run the container normally.

NOTE: When using multiple configuration files which share the same Trakt access_token, you must set the auto_refresh_token parameter to false. Since the refresh_token can only be used once, an access_token refresh in one file will invalidate the access_token in the all other files. The simplest workaround is to use different authorization values for each configuration file.

Radarr

When parsing TMDb, IMDb, or Trakt lists, the script will finds movies that are on the list but missing from Plex. If a TMDb and Radarr config are supplied, then you can add those missing movies to Radarr.

Here's the full set of configurations:

radarr:                                       # Opt
  url: http://192.168.1.1:7878                # Req - URL to access Radarr
  version: v2                                 # Opt - 'v2' for <0.2, 'v3' for >3.0
  token: #####                                # Req - User's Radarr API key
  quality_profile_id: 4                       # Req - See below
  root_folder_path: /mnt/movies               # Req - See below
  add_to_radarr: false                        # Opt - Add missing movies to Radarr
  search_movie: false                         # Opt - Search while adding missing movies

The token can be found by going to Radarr > Settings > General > Security > API Key

The quality_profile_id is the number of the desired profile. It can be found by going to Radarr > Settings > Profiles. Unfortunately, there's not an explicit place to find the id, but you can infer it from the Profiles page. Each profile is numbered, starting at 1 and incrementing by one, left-to-right, top-to-bottom. For example, the default Radarr installation comes with four profiles:

     1          2          3          4
    Any         SD      HD-720p    HD-1080p

If you were to add two more profiles, the id would be as follows:

     1          2          3          4
    Any         SD      HD-720p    HD-1080p

     5          6
 Ultra-HD HD-720p/1080p

In this example, to set any added movies to the Ultra-HD profile, set quality_profile_id to 5. To set any added movies to HD-1080p, set quality_profile_id to 4.

The add_to_radarr key allows missing to movies to be added to Radarr. If this key is missing, the script will prompt the user to add missing movies or not. If you'd like to add movies but not had Radarr search, then set search_movie to false. If you want to override this attribute per collection you can add the add_to_radarr attribute under a collection and set it to true or false to override any global choice.

Acknowledgements

• vladimir-tutin for writing substantially all of the code in this fork
• deva5610 for writing IMDBList2PlexCollection which prompted the idea for a configuration based collection manager
• JonnyWong16 for writing the a IMDb Top 250 collection script which served as inspiration (and for Tautulli!)
• pkkid and all other contributors for python-plexapi
• AnthonyBloomer and all other contributors for tmdbv3api
• fuzeman and all other contributors for trakt.py (and for Plex-Trakt-Scrobbler!)
• bearlikelion for writing popularplex which prompted Tautulli support
• blacktwin for writing playlist_manager.py