Libraries

A library is a folder on your server where Arrflix stores and organizes imported media. Each library has a type, either movie or series, which determines how content is structured inside it.

Setting Up a Library

Each library needs:

• Name. A label for your reference (e.g., "Movies", "4K Movies", "TV Shows").
• Type. Either movie or series.
• Root Path. The absolute path on your server where files will be stored (e.g., /data/movies).

You can create multiple libraries of the same type. For example, you might have separate libraries for standard and 4K content.

Default Libraries

Each media type (movie and series) can have one library marked as the default. When no policy specifies a library, the default is used.

How Files Are Organized

When Arrflix imports a file, it creates a folder structure inside the library root based on your name template. For example:

/data/movies/                          ← Library root
  └── The Matrix (1999)/               ← Movie directory (from template)
      └── The Matrix (1999) [1080p].mkv  ← File (from template)

/data/series/                          ← Library root
  └── Breaking Bad (2008)/             ← Show directory
      └── Season 01/                   ← Season directory
          └── Breaking Bad - S01E01 - Pilot [1080p].mkv

The exact naming is controlled by your name template. See Name Templates for details.

Scanning Existing Media

If you already have media files on disk, Arrflix can scan a library to discover and catalog them. This is useful when you're migrating from another tool or adding files that were organized outside of Arrflix.

How Scanning Works

A scan runs in four phases:

1. Collect - Walks the library directory and finds all video files (.mkv, .mp4, .avi, etc.). Skips sample files, featurettes, trailers, and other extras.

2. Embedded ID lookup - Checks for metadata embedded in the files or companion .nfo files. If a TMDB, TVDB, or IMDb ID is found, the file is matched immediately.

3. Filename parsing - For files without embedded IDs, Arrflix parses the filename to extract title, year, season, and episode information. It then searches TMDB to find a match. If exactly one result matches, it's auto-linked. Otherwise, the file is marked as unmatched with up to 5 suggestions for you to resolve manually.

4. Record - Matched files are added to the database with their metadata, and the library view updates to reflect the new content.

Tips

• Only one scan runs per library at a time.
• Progress is shown in real-time in the UI.
• Unmatched files aren't lost. They appear in the UI for you to manually match when you're ready.
• Scanning doesn't move or rename any files. It only reads and catalogs what's already on disk.