ray
123 lines
3.6 KiB
Markdown
123 lines
3.6 KiB
Markdown
# Plex Library — Folder-Based Location Management via SQLite
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When Plex groups compilation/VA folders together as "Various Artists" or cross-contaminates album metadata, the fix is to add each subfolder as an **individual library location** instead of a single parent folder.
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## The Problem
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Plex treats a library's root folder as one namespace. If you have:
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```
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/Music/English/
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├── Best of HipHop (2000-2026)/ ← compilation
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├── Drake/ ← proper album
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├── Green Day/ ← proper album
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└── Today's Top Hits/ ← compilation
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```
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With `respectTags=false`, Plex uses folder names as album titles — compilation folders are fine but tagged albums get wrong metadata.
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With `respectTags=true`, Plex uses embedded tags — tagged albums are correct, but compilation folders (which often have tracks with different "Album" tags from different sources) get grouped as "Various Artists" and cross-contaminated.
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## The Fix: Individual Locations
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Add each subfolder as a separate library location. This makes Plex treat each folder as its own namespace — no cross-contamination.
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### Step 1: Check Current Locations
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```bash
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curl -s "http://192.168.50.98:32400/library/sections?X-Plex-Token=<TOKEN>" | grep -o '<Location[^>]*>'
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```
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Or via Python:
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```python
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import urllib.request, xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
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tree = ET.parse('/path/to/Preferences.xml')
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token = tree.getroot().get('PlexOnlineToken')
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url = f"http://localhost:32400/library/sections?X-Plex-Token={token}"
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with urllib.request.urlopen(url) as resp:
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print(resp.read().decode())
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```
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**Pitfall:** Bash mangles tokens with special characters. Use Python for all Plex API calls.
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### Step 2: List Subfolders
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```bash
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ls -1 /mnt/seagate8tb/Music/English/
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```
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### Step 3: Add Each Subfolder as Location
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Plex API for adding music library locations is unreliable (404s, auth issues). Use direct SQLite:
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```python
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import sqlite3
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db = "/home/ray/docker/plex/config/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Plug-in Support/Databases/com.plexapp.plugins.library.db"
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conn = sqlite3.connect(db)
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base = "/mnt/seagate8tb/Music/English"
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folders = ["Best of HipHop (2000-2026)", "Drake", "Green Day", ...]
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for folder in folders:
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path = f"{base}/{folder}"
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conn.execute(
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"INSERT INTO section_locations (library_section_id, root_path) VALUES (?, ?)",
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(1, path) # 1 = library section ID
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)
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conn.commit()
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conn.close()
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```
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### Step 4: Remove Parent Location
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```python
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conn.execute("DELETE FROM section_locations WHERE id=<parent_location_id>")
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conn.commit()
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```
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### Step 5: Restart and Scan
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```bash
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docker compose restart plex
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```
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Then trigger a scan (Python, not bash):
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```python
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url = f"http://localhost:32400/library/sections/1/refresh?X-Plex-Token={token}"
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urllib.request.urlopen(url)
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```
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### Step 6: Verify
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```bash
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# Check if scan is running
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grep -i "scan\|refresh" '/path/to/Plex Media Server.log' | tail -5
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# Check scanner processes
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ps aux | grep "Plex Media Scanner" | grep -v grep
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```
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## DB Schema Reference
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```sql
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-- section_locations table
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CREATE TABLE section_locations (
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id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
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library_section_id INTEGER,
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root_path VARCHAR(255),
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available BOOLEAN DEFAULT 't',
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scanned_at INTEGER,
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created_at INTEGER,
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updated_at INTEGER
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);
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```
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## Tags vs Folder Names Tradeoff
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- `respectTags=true` — proper albums show correctly; compilations need the individual-location fix
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- `respectTags=false` — compilations show correctly as folder names; tagged albums get wrong metadata
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With the individual-location fix, `respectTags=true` works for both cases.
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