# Plexmatch Pattern not matching

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/plexmatch-pattern-not-matching/943878>\
**Category:** Metadata & Adding Files\
**Tags:** server-windows\
**Created:** [October 3, 2026, 8:39pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plexmatch-pattern-not-matching/943878 "2026-10-03T20:39:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![BrutuZ](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/brutuz/32/96472_2.png) [@BrutuZ](https://forums.plex.tv/u/BrutuZ)\
**Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 8:39pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plexmatch-pattern-not-matching/943878/1 "2026-10-03T20:39:37Z")

</div>

Server Version#: 1.43.4.10903  
Player Version#: N/A

I use [.plexmatch](https://support.plex.tv/articles/plexmatch/) files to properly remap anime to TMDB’s sometimes seasonal and sometimes absolute numbering.  
I do so with the offset part of the season and episode placeholders of the Pattern field since there is no dedicated offset fields that apply globally to episode numbers and the `season` field is superseded by the filename.

The issue is the pattern evaluation is lazy and the placeholder fields don’t seem to mean a digit match (`[0-9]`), so with filenames like:

```txt
Tokyo Revengers - Seiya Kessen-hen - S02E01 [1080p].mkv

```

even broad expressions like …

```yaml
title: Tokyo Revengers
season: 1
tmdbid: 105009
tvdbid: 393478
imdbid: tt13196080

# Episode numbering
# Anchor to separator and resolution suffix
Pattern: * - {ep,+24} [*
# Anchor to separator and file extension
Pattern: * - {ep,+24}.*
# Last Resort! Anchor to separator and hope for the best
Pattern: * - {ep,+24}*

# SXXEYY numbering
# Anchor to separator and resolution suffix
Pattern: * - S{se,-1}E{ep,1-24,+24} [*
# Anchor to separator and file extension
Pattern: * - S{se,-1}E{ep,1-24,+24}.*
# Last Resort! Anchor to separator and hope for the best
Pattern: * - S{se,-1}E{ep,1-24,+24}*

```

… fail, because the parser sees the first non-placeholder element (` - S`) on the Subtitle/Arc name and when it can’t match the season placeholder to apply the offset, it short-circuits, never making to the SXXEYY part