# Scanner or Metadata Agent?

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/scanner-or-metadata-agent/227002>\
**Category:** Dev/API Corner\
**Tags:** scanner-agent-dev\
**Created:** [February 25, 2018, 10:43pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/scanner-or-metadata-agent/227002 "2018-02-25T22:43:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Travillion](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/travillion/32/89698_2.png) [@Travillion](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Travillion)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2018, 10:43pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/scanner-or-metadata-agent/227002/1 "2018-02-25T22:43:41Z")

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I would like Plex to read my music track ratings embedded in a metadata tag upon import and write the corresponding track rating to Plex’s music database. Would this be a custom scanner or Metadata Agent?

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**Author:** ![ZeroQI](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/zeroqi/32/6522_2.png) [@ZeroQI](https://forums.plex.tv/u/ZeroQI)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 8:57am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/scanner-or-metadata-agent/227002/2 "2018-02-26T08:57:37Z")

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scanner show the file but can read mp3 header for singer/group album, track number  
metadata agent will read mp3 header and other metadata sources to fill meta information

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**Author:** ![Travillion](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/travillion/32/89698_2.png) [@Travillion](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Travillion)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2018, 12:12am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/scanner-or-metadata-agent/227002/3 "2018-02-27T00:12:16Z")

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> @ZeroQI said:  
> scanner show the file but can read mp3 header for singer/group album, track number  
> metadata agent will read mp3 header and other metadata sources to fill meta information

From this I gather that the scanner can be programmed to read my custom tags (e.g., rating) and write that to Plex, and a metadata agent would be more appropriate if I were pulling in other metadata from outside sources (e.g., artist bios, pictures, etc.).

Correct?

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**Author:** ![ZeroQI](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/zeroqi/32/6522_2.png) [@ZeroQI](https://forums.plex.tv/u/ZeroQI)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2018, 7:38am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/scanner-or-metadata-agent/227002/4 "2018-02-27T07:38:26Z")

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The scanner add files to plex so they shows and support very limited fields, not the ratings  
The agent search a unique id for the album and fixes the metadata like ratings, cover, etc…

> **[ZeroQI/Hama.bundle](https://github.com/ZeroQI/Hama.bundle/wiki/Plex-Metadata-Fields-Available)**
>
> Plex HTTP Anidb Metadata Agent (HAMA). Contribute to ZeroQI/Hama.bundle development by creating an account on GitHub.

  
available fields are A (Album), G(Group), T (Track)

[https://github.com/hojel/NaverMusic.bundle/blob/master/Contents/Code/](https://github.com/hojel/NaverMusic.bundle/blob/master/Contents/Code/) **init**.py  
[https://github.com/plexinc-plugins/Scanners.bundle/blob/master/Contents/Resources/Music/Plex%20Music%20Scanner.py](https://github.com/plexinc-plugins/Scanners.bundle/blob/master/Contents/Resources/Music/Plex%20Music%20Scanner.py)

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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:** [January 8, 2020, 8:07pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/scanner-or-metadata-agent/227002/5 "2020-01-08T20:07:13Z")

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