A Plex anime agent that combines metadata from AniDB, TheTVDB, AniList and more.
AMSA gives your anime library the standard Plex experience, with richer data than Plex’s own agents can provide. It gathers metadata from several sites and combines the best of each: titles in your language, proper season names and summaries, ratings that make sense, full cast lists, and artwork for every show and season.
AMSA comes with its own scanner, the AMSA Series Scanner, which recognises anime file naming and sorts specials, openings and endings into their own places.
Changelog:
2026-11-11 | v2.1.0
Changes since AMSA 2.0.0. AMSA can now look at the artwork it collects: it spots duplicates, blank images, text and logos, and season poster sets. The image settings are also simpler and clearer.
The image options are slow the first time.
Each image is looked at once through Plex’s own image resizer, about a third of a second each. That’s a few seconds to a minute per show, and possibly hours for a large library. In the default refresh mode this happens in the background: shows update straight away and are refreshed again when it’s done. Later updates reuse the results. All image options are off by default.
Will affect an existing library
- Locked images now follow your settings. If you’ve picked a poster, background, banner or season poster in Plex, AMSA used to leave the rest of that list untouched, so old and duplicate images built up. Now the list follows your current settings on the next refresh, and out-of-date and duplicate images from AMSA are removed. Your pick is kept, and selected again if Plex switches away from it; if it has identical copies and Remove duplicates is on, only one copy stays.
- Seasons now keep at most 10 posters each (new setting Images: Most posters per season). Before, they followed the show’s limit, 20 by default, so seasons with more lose the extra ones on their next refresh. Raise the setting if you want them back.
- Prefer library language, then textless is replaced by Language and text. Your choice is converted automatically, with the same behaviour.
- Debug bundles are now off by default, and saved ones are deleted. AMSA used to save each show’s bundle after every update; now it does only with the new setting Maintenance: Generate debug bundles. To keep the ones you have, copy the
Cache/Bundlesfolder elsewhere before upgrading. - Fixed: in each show’s bundle, a season’s
AnilistIdheld the AniDB id.
New
- Images: Duplicate artwork: Keep all (default) or Remove duplicates. Removes copies of the same picture from different sites (keeping the largest) and blank placeholder images. A poster with and without its logo, and posters from one designed set, are not treated as duplicates.
- Images: Language and text: choose library language first, textless first, or site order, with “only” options that leave out other languages. Textless only gives far fewer posters. A show or season is never left without an image.
- Season poster sets are now also recognised by their layout across AniDB, AniList and TheTVDB.
- Images: Most posters per season is a new setting, separate from the limit on the show’s posters, backgrounds and banners.
- Unlock a show’s images: Plex Web can’t unlock a poster. In Fix Match, add
unlock-imagesto the search (e.g.Show Name unlock-images) and pick the match: the show’s and its seasons’ images follow your settings again.clear-cachenow also works anywhere in the search. - Maintenance: Unlock ALL images on save (WARNING: Irreversible): does the same for your whole library. Images you picked or uploaded are replaced on each show’s next refresh, and this can’t be undone.
- Maintenance: Generate debug bundles: saves each show’s bundle (its ids, episode mapping and each site’s values) after every update, to help with mapping problems. Bundles now also list every site’s id for the show, with its cache folder.
Also changed
- Image setting labels say whether they apply to the show, its seasons, or both.
- The log explains each image list: what was left out or reordered, and why. AMSA can’t remove images from other agents or uploads; the log names them.
- Image fingerprints are kept for good by the cache cleaner, like AniDB data, since they’re slow to work out again.
- If Plex stops answering (busy or restarting), image checks wait and try again, and the refreshes AMSA asked for are asked again once Plex is back.
Upgrading
- Replace the
Contentsfolder inPlug-ins/Amsa.bundle(the scanner hasn’t changed) and restart Plex. - Your settings are kept.
- To try the image options, turn one on, refresh a few shows and check the log.
If a show still has duplicates or old images after its first refresh:
- Images from other agents or older matches: in Plex, choose Unmatch on the show, then Settings → Troubleshooting → Clean Bundles, then Fix Match it again. AMSA can’t remove these copies itself; the log names them (“Plex also holds images AMSA can’t remove”).
- Posters you picked or locked long ago: add
unlock-imagesto a Fix Match search to unlock one show, or use Maintenance: Unlock ALL images on save for every show. This replaces every pick with AMSA’s choice and is irreversible.
2026-09-11 | v2.0.0
New AMSA Series Scanner
- Replaces the old Absolute Series Scanner with one built for AMSA.
- Recognises episodes correctly in many more file-naming styles, including long-running shows, double episodes and Japanese-style numbering.
- Sorts specials, openings, endings and trailers into their own places automatically.
- Copes with season folders, arc sub-folders and Plex’s extras folders.
- Lets you force a match from the folder name, such as
[anidb-1234]. - Scans about three times faster and works entirely offline.
More sources, fuller metadata
- AniList, MyAnimeList, Kitsu and AnimeThemes join AniDB and TheTVDB.
- Episode titles, summaries and air dates the main sources are missing can be filled in from MyAnimeList and Kitsu, in the order you choose.
- Opening and ending specials are named after their songs.
Seasons that look right
- Seasons get proper names, such as “Season 2: Name of Season”, and their own summaries.
- Seasons released in several parts are named after their first part, and the parts’ summaries are combined in order.
- Optionally, each season’s summary can start with its name.
- Each season gets its own poster, optionally from one matching set.
Titles and cast your way
- Titles appear in your preferred language, whichever source has them.
- Cast lists can show Japanese voice actors, English voice actors or both, with actor or character photos.
Ratings that make sense
- Content ratings can follow your country’s system: UK, US, Germany, France, Japan, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Spain or Italy.
- Show ratings can combine AniDB and AniList, weighted by how many people voted on each.
Your choices are kept
- Posters, backgrounds and season titles you pick or edit in Plex are never overwritten.
Faster refreshes
- Refresh Metadata shows results straight away and updates in the background.
- Airing shows are refreshed automatically every day.
Typical time per show, from start to the metadata appearing in Plex (rough estimates; they vary with show size and connection):
| Scenario | Before | Now | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Updating a show already cached | 5–15 s | 1–3 s | about 5× faster |
| Refresh Metadata on a show | 15–60 s, waiting for every download | 1–3 s, fresh data follows in the background | 10–20× faster to appear |
| Adding a new show | 30–90 s | 10–30 s | 2–3× faster |
| Long-running show (1,000+ episodes) | 5+ minutes | under 30 s | over 10× faster |
| Full library refresh | hours, and a risk of an AniDB ban | shows update quickly, AniDB catches up over time | no bans |
Collections
- Optional English Dubbed and English Subbed collections, built from your files.
Safer with AniDB
- Built-in limits keep AniDB from banning your server, even during a full library refresh.
Easier settings
- A tidier settings page, grouped by topic, with short options such as “AniDB > AniList > TVDB” and a guide (
SETTINGS.md) explaining every one. - Choose exactly which sites are used: any source can be left out, and sites that aren’t needed are never contacted.
- Settings saved by older versions of AMSA are converted to their new options automatically.
- Changes apply as soon as you save.
A clearer log
- Each update names the show and its AniDB, TheTVDB and AniList ids.
- The log lists which sites will be contacted, in what order, and which are left out.
- Installation problems, such as a folder Plex can’t write to on a NAS, are reported with what to fix.
Also improved
- Better matching of folders to shows, including shows numbered absolutely and shows new to the mapping list.
- Many long-standing bugs fixed, including content ratings that were always PG-13 and missing opening and ending credits.
- A daily health report in the log lists shows that didn’t match and episodes without data.
- AMSA keeps its own cache tidy automatically.
- The package is smaller.
Upgrading
- Replace the whole
Contentsfolder inPlug-ins/Amsa.bundle. - Copy
AMSA Series Scanner.pyinto Plex’sScanners/Seriesfolder. - Restart Plex Media Server.
- In your anime library’s advanced settings, choose AMSA Series Scanner as the scanner.
- Open AMSA’s settings and check them. Choices saved by an older AMSA are converted automatically about a minute after Plex starts.
A full library refresh is safe. AniDB updates are spread out over time, and your existing data stays visible in the meantime.
