# Plex Agents

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-agents/849402>\
**Category:** Plex Media Server\
**Tags:** metadata\
**Created:** [August 4, 2023, 2:57am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-agents/849402 "2023-08-04T02:57:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 19\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dandydon414](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@dandydon414](https://forums.plex.tv/u/dandydon414)\
**Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 2:57am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-agents/849402/1 "2023-08-04T02:57:40Z")

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The plex scanner agents are terrible compared to The Movie Database and TheTVDB agents. the latter picks up almost everything with the correct artwork where as the plex agent picks the wrong movie, inserts weird titles but has the right artwork. If you don’t look at the year, you’d think it picked up the right movie. If you do a manual search using the plex agent, more than half the time the correct movie doesn’t even show up in the list.

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**Author:** ![BeattifulCadaver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d26b3c/32.png) [@BeattifulCadaver](https://forums.plex.tv/u/BeattifulCadaver)\
**Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 3:20am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-agents/849402/2 "2023-08-04T03:20:25Z")

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Since you did not specify exactly what is wrong or give any examples or include any logs I guess you just came here to rant.

My experience is that Plex is nearly perfect at naming IF your files are named correctly and if you put local media assets at the bottom of the agent’s configuration.

Plex will accept naming and additional info but mostly only if it appears in the file name in square brackets.

The naming I use that works every time is:  
MovieName (year).ext and I have yet to see even one mismatch.

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**Author:** ![Divideby0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/74df32/32.png) [@Divideby0](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Divideby0)\
**Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 3:39am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-agents/849402/3 "2023-08-04T03:39:20Z")

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Same, I have a large collection and the default agent finds my media correct all the time. Sometimes (with foreign films recently dubbed/released in the states) I put a movie with incorrect year, and Plex still picks it up. I then correct my filename to match Plex.

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**Author:** ![FordGuy61](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/22d042/32.png) [@FordGuy61](https://forums.plex.tv/u/FordGuy61)\
**Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 6:41am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-agents/849402/4 "2023-08-04T06:41:19Z")

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[Plex Documentation](https://support.plex.tv/articles/) → [Your Media](https://support.plex.tv/articles/categories/your-media/)  
→ [Naming & Organizing TV Show Files](https://support.plex.tv/articles/naming-and-organizing-your-tv-show-files/)  
→ [Naming & Organizing Movie Files](https://support.plex.tv/articles/naming-and-organizing-your-movie-media-files/)

Care to share additional information?

Such situations usually come down to file permissions or naming & organization issues. That written, there is always the occasional movie or TV show that Plex has trouble matching.

Please show specific examples of how you have the media named and organized - a directory listing, screenshot, etc.

Include the full path to the file name and include the extension (mkv/mp4/etc).

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**Author:** ![dandydon414](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@dandydon414](https://forums.plex.tv/u/dandydon414)\
**Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 6:55pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-agents/849402/5 "2023-08-04T18:55:08Z")

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![ghost1](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/9/b/a/9ba9e0920b167f6f5ee616baffa21fd027a7bb8b.png)  
standard naming convention that is accepted by Kodi and for the most part, Plex as well. the movie “Ghost” was recognized as “Ghosted” by the plex agent where as the TMDB recognized it fine. that happened with a few other as well that I can’t remember of the top of my head. If it weren’t for the fact that the plex agent also picks up the cast, TMDB, unfortunately does not, I’d stick with the TMDB agent. No issues with file permissions. Maybe I need to check something else in the advanced section

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**Author:** ![BeattifulCadaver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d26b3c/32.png) [@BeattifulCadaver](https://forums.plex.tv/u/BeattifulCadaver)\
**Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 7:12pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-agents/849402/6 "2023-08-04T19:12:02Z")

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Those movies are named incorrectly. To work well Plex needs the date released in parentheses.

**MovieName (DATE).ext**

Plex, and most other media managers, use the date to refine there choices.  
Also the movies you showed are mp4s and mp4s often have embedded metadata that, for some reason, is often VERY wrong. That is why I have moved “Local Media Assets” to the bottom in all Plex agents.

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**Author:** ![FordGuy61](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/22d042/32.png) [@FordGuy61](https://forums.plex.tv/u/FordGuy61)\
**Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 7:16pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-agents/849402/7 "2023-08-04T19:16:04Z")

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Add the year to the movie name (ex: Ghost (1990).mp4), then [Plex Dance](https://forums.plex.tv/t/the-plex-dance/197064) the movie (to remove incorrect matching info from the database).

Also, what is the path to the file and which folder is added to the library? It should be the folder holding the movies.

For example:  
`/movies/Ghost (1990).mp4` ← add `movies` to the library  
`/movies/G/Ghost (1990).mp4` ← add `G` to the library

> [@dandydon414](#):
>
> Maybe I need to check something else in the advanced section

Plex will read and prefer embedded metadata from MP4 files if configured to do so. This can sometimes result in bad matching (if the embedded metadata is incorrect).

When using Plex Movie agent/scanner, is it configured to look for embedded metadata?

Edit the Library → Advanced → Prefer local metadata

The Plex Movie and Plex TV Series settings are configured on a per-Library basis. The configuration in Settings → Agents does not apply when using those agents.

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**Author:** ![dandydon414](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@dandydon414](https://forums.plex.tv/u/dandydon414)\
**Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 7:35pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-agents/849402/8 "2023-08-04T19:35:06Z")

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Okay I made some changes (no local assets) because it was showing the right artwork but for the wrong movie. for example, Bad Boys with Sean Penn and Bad Boys with Will Smith, the actual movie is with Sean and the artwork was from the 1983 non will smith version. but it recognized the Will Smith version from 1995. Now it shows the correct artwork based on what year it thinks the movie is from. now it’s easier to spot match errors. Having said that, here’s another example of it changing the title. This is actually the movie Crash from 2005, but the title is way off  
 ![crash](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/a/d/4/ad4acadd618dee474b9c5c2012ac4a592e6c1ba9.png). How did it pick up that title based on the file “Crash.mp4”? 😄

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**Author:** ![BeattifulCadaver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d26b3c/32.png) [@BeattifulCadaver](https://forums.plex.tv/u/BeattifulCadaver)\
**Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 7:39pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-agents/849402/9 "2023-08-04T19:39:25Z")

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Name that movie “Crash (2005).mp4” and, probably, the problem will disappear…

Just because the artwork is correct does NOT mean there is no local assets.  
I have actually used various utilities to remove all “metadata” from all my files but I actually have the “Local Assets” parts of all agents disabled. I find zero value in using internal data for anything. It does nothing that I want done at all.

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**Author:** ![dandydon414](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@dandydon414](https://forums.plex.tv/u/dandydon414)\
**Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 7:48pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-agents/849402/10 "2023-08-04T19:48:27Z")

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I would have to rename over 1000 files, which includes subtitle files in 2 languages 😟. I’m better of not using local artwork because that way I’ll know it picked up the wrong movie

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**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 7:49pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-agents/849402/11 "2023-08-04T19:49:18Z")

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> [@dandydon414](#):
>
> I would have to rename over 1000 files

So what?

[Filebot](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-naming-schemes-for-filebot/121538/1 "Filebot")

And it is sufficient to start with only these items which are not recognized correctly.  
(and those which are involved in mixups with other, similarly titled items)

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**Author:** ![BeattifulCadaver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d26b3c/32.png) [@BeattifulCadaver](https://forums.plex.tv/u/BeattifulCadaver)\
**Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 7:55pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-agents/849402/12 "2023-08-04T19:55:00Z")

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Use FileBot and most renaming problems go away.

I needed to rename over 20,000 files (TV and movie) and it took me total, start to finish, about 20 minutes but most of that time was FileBot getting the show info and me, about 30 or so times, selecting the exact match when FileBot could not be sure.

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**Author:** ![dandydon414](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@dandydon414](https://forums.plex.tv/u/dandydon414)\
**Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 7:57pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-agents/849402/13 "2023-08-04T19:57:30Z")

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Yes, great program. I’ve used in Windows, and I see there’s a version for linux. I’m off to the races pal

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**Author:** ![dandydon414](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@dandydon414](https://forums.plex.tv/u/dandydon414)\
**Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 7:57pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-agents/849402/14 "2023-08-04T19:57:50Z")

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Great Idea!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dandydon414](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@dandydon414](https://forums.plex.tv/u/dandydon414)\
**Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 8:02pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-agents/849402/15 "2023-08-04T20:02:12Z")

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I have my work cut out for me, but things are looking up 🙂

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/8/8/3/8834276a91156a0ce1288a191b975141d6ae8217.png)

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**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 8:03pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-agents/849402/16 "2023-08-04T20:03:51Z")

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You can do several titles at once with Filebot.

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**Author:** ![JaysPlex](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/jaysplex/32/281767_2.png) [@JaysPlex](https://forums.plex.tv/u/JaysPlex)\
**Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 8:06pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-agents/849402/17 "2023-08-04T20:06:42Z")

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I’ve tried filebot and use it for TV shows, but I prefer TinyMediaManager for movies. This version is free if you want to try it

[https://archive.tinymediamanager.org/v3.1.17/](https://archive.tinymediamanager.org/v3.1.17/)

It will rename your movie with the year in parenthesis, add the imdb number and put it in a folder with a movie poster

This is the naming format I use

```auto
TV show format
Show Name: ${showTitle} (${showYear}) {tvdb-${showTvdb}}
Season: Season ${seasonNr2}
Episode Name: ${showTitle} (${showYear}) s${seasonNr2}e${episodeNr2} ${episode.title}

Movie format
Folder format: ${title} (${year})
File format ${title} (${year}) {imdb-${imdb}}

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dandydon414](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@dandydon414](https://forums.plex.tv/u/dandydon414)\
**Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 8:59pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-agents/849402/18 "2023-08-04T20:59:01Z")

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thanks guys for all the help. much appreciated. Things are definitely looking better. Eventually I will rename everything but for now I’ll take Otto’s advice and just rename the problem files 🙂

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 8:59pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-agents/849402/19 "2023-11-02T20:59:12Z")

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