# Plex TV Series Agent issues matching

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-tv-series-agent-issues-matching/839825>\
**Category:** Metadata & Adding Files\
**Tags:** server-linux, metadata\
**Created:** [May 2, 2023, 12:06am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-tv-series-agent-issues-matching/839825 "2023-05-02T00:06:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 15\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![chriscaprio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@chriscaprio](https://forums.plex.tv/u/chriscaprio)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2023, 12:06am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-tv-series-agent-issues-matching/839825/1 "2023-05-02T00:06:07Z")

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Server Version#: 1.32.0.6198  
Player Version#: N/A

TV Shows are not having meta data properly grabbed. Using the new Plex TV Agent.

American Dad is an example. First season got metadata. The rest nothing. I have deleted it and re-added, optimized databases. The episodes are all named the same.

Funny … switched agent to the “Movie Database” it worked fine. All episodes have metadata. So it’s not a naming, database or user issue… it’s a Plex issue.  
It even matched the Show “Absolutely Fabulous” again. Where your better agent failed every time.

Are these known issues?

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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:** [May 2, 2023, 12:19am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-tv-series-agent-issues-matching/839825/2 "2023-05-02T00:19:15Z")

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The new scanner is a little more strict when it comes to naming  
You will have to revise how things are named according to this support article

[https://support.plex.tv/articles/naming-and-organizing-your-tv-show-files/](https://support.plex.tv/articles/naming-and-organizing-your-tv-show-files/)

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**Author:** ![chriscaprio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@chriscaprio](https://forums.plex.tv/u/chriscaprio)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2023, 12:23am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-tv-series-agent-issues-matching/839825/3 "2023-05-02T00:23:31Z")

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That doesn’t make sense that, that is the issue. As I stated they are all named exactly the same.

American.Dad.S##E##

Season 1 had meta data. Every other did not

I also went to “Fix Match” and select American Dad specifically. Which was the first choice

But thanks for the help

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**Author:** ![beta1234](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@beta1234](https://forums.plex.tv/u/beta1234)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2023, 12:37am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-tv-series-agent-issues-matching/839825/4 "2023-05-02T00:37:08Z")

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he had said naming is all the same which got 1st season working before, yet you suggested him to rename properly

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**Author:** ![ChuckPa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chuckpa/32/79710_2.png) [@ChuckPa](https://forums.plex.tv/u/ChuckPa)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2023, 12:37am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-tv-series-agent-issues-matching/839825/5 "2023-05-02T00:37:59Z")

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Be careful of the naming.

`American.Dad.SxxExx.title.ext` is not `American Dad.SxxExx.title.ext`

When it’s a multi-word series name, use the spaces.

Official naming format is: “Series Name - SxxExx - Optional Title Here.ext”

 ![Screenshot from 2023-05-01 20-37-30](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/a/2/1/a21e303811ebc0152e5b77703d37aeb76f50794f.jpeg)

It’s “American Dad”, not “American”.  
The punctuation in the name can be omitted.

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**Author:** ![pshanew](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/pshanew/32/160555_2.png) [@pshanew](https://forums.plex.tv/u/pshanew)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2023, 12:44am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-tv-series-agent-issues-matching/839825/6 "2023-05-02T00:44:40Z")

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On my own system, this:

```auto
test_tv/. <--- The library points here (name not important)
└── American Dad! (2005)
    └── Season 02
        ├── American Dad! (2005) - S02E01.mkv
        ├── American Dad! (2005) - S02E02.mkv
        └── American Dad! (2005) - S02E03.mkv

```

Yields this:

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/1/3/5/1355341a6a7fa95e4844599ed8150e805d351587.jpeg)

With the new scanner, there are several things you need to look out for:

1. Make sure your naming and directory organization follow the [official naming guidelines](https://support.plex.tv/articles/naming-and-organizing-your-tv-show-files/) as closely as possible.
2. Make sure your library points to the correct level in your directory hierarchy. In the example above, it should point to “test\_tv”, not higher or lower. In particular, it should not point to the individual “show” directories.
3. Permissions should be set such that user “plex” (if not using a custom user) has permissions to access the directories/files in question. Likely not an issue in your case since the other agent/scanner can see them.
4. Ensure that the episodes aren’t being seen as duplicates of some other season or series; for this, use the “Duplicates” filter in the Library view, when viewing by episodes.
5. After making any significant changes to your naming/directory structure, perform the [Plex Dance](https://forums.plex.tv/t/the-plex-dance/197064) for any problematic series/seasons which remain.

I’m not suggesting that naming or folder organization is definitely your problem. However, the metadata is present on Plex’s servers and can be retrieved. If it’s not working for you, there is likely some environment, configuration, or system-specific issue causing it.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**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:** [May 2, 2023, 12:48am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-tv-series-agent-issues-matching/839825/7 "2023-05-02T00:48:01Z")

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Just because one seasons works doesn’t mean the show is named properly.

Very often an incorrect naming format will work some of the time but not others

I’m not saying this is 100% the issue. There’s not really enough details to say, but usually naming is the first thing to look at

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**Author:** ![chriscaprio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@chriscaprio](https://forums.plex.tv/u/chriscaprio)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2023, 2:22am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-tv-series-agent-issues-matching/839825/8 "2023-05-02T02:22:16Z")

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That’s interesting because I have other multi named shows using . And not spaces.

They are fine. I suspect it’s an issue with the Agent not naming.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![chriscaprio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@chriscaprio](https://forums.plex.tv/u/chriscaprio)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2023, 2:22am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-tv-series-agent-issues-matching/839825/9 "2023-05-02T02:22:38Z")

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Then it’s a bug in the agent.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![chriscaprio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@chriscaprio](https://forums.plex.tv/u/chriscaprio)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2023, 2:24am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-tv-series-agent-issues-matching/839825/10 "2023-05-02T02:24:26Z")

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Some ppl don’t read. Lol.

But it’s all good.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**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:** [May 2, 2023, 3:11am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-tv-series-agent-issues-matching/839825/11 "2023-05-02T03:11:43Z")

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I have seen libraries get broken from switching the agent back and forth

You can create another test library using the new agent. Just point American Dad at it and see if populates correctly

A refresh of my metadata for the show pulls all the correct info. A bug in the agent seems unlikely

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![chriscaprio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@chriscaprio](https://forums.plex.tv/u/chriscaprio)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 12:09am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-tv-series-agent-issues-matching/839825/12 "2023-05-03T00:09:52Z")

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Not really. I renamed following the standards and still the same thing. Season 1 pulled… and nothing else

American Dad! - S01E02 - Threat Levels.avi

American Dad! - S02E01 - Bullocks to Stan.avi

It’s ok… Plex can have bugs

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ChuckPa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chuckpa/32/79710_2.png) [@ChuckPa](https://forums.plex.tv/u/ChuckPa)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 12:26am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-tv-series-agent-issues-matching/839825/13 "2023-05-03T00:26:05Z")

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Full data here.

Dance the entire series. (Move, scan, empty trash, clean bundles, move back, scan)

 ![Screenshot from 2023-05-02 20-27-15](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/e/a/9/ea99b15e6c6aff87388acca3b48073324bdce97c.jpeg)

![Screenshot from 2023-05-02 20-23-51](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/6/f/9/6f907bc5415e516c1182c99ccc8de4010f0bba8e.png)

 ![Screenshot from 2023-05-02 20-24-54](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/2/5/f/25fed2b8c1659ddd7af4a3cabe40b2ee61327fe2.jpeg)

 ![Screenshot from 2023-05-02 20-25-06](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/5/c/9/5c9db00ca7e0281fed9f347d56c2adb1061b78d6.png)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**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:** [May 3, 2023, 12:33am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-tv-series-agent-issues-matching/839825/14 "2023-05-03T00:33:11Z")

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Often times after making changes you have to [Plex Dance](https://forums.plex.tv/t/the-plex-dance/197064) the files for everything to show up correctly.

If you would have tried what I suggest by creating a test library it would have eliminated the need for that step so I didn’t mention it

> [@chriscaprio](#):
>
> Some ppl don’t read. Lol.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\
**Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 12:33am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-tv-series-agent-issues-matching/839825/15 "2023-08-01T00:33:33Z")

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