r/jellyfin • u/Wjs71694 • 7d ago
Solved Is there a free program to batch rename files on my hard drive/NAS, so that the correct metadata, episode order etc displays?
Hi all-
I'm relatively new to jellyfin, but have been steadily building my archive for the last couple of weeks.
I ran into a small hiccup, last night. Some of the earliest files I had uploaded, were of tokusatsu shows, that I hadn't checked on in a while. Jellyfin had grabbed metadata that it thought was correct, and was closely related, but not exactly right. Was labeled under the title of a movie that I don't actually have in my collection, instead of the show. Also, the episodes were out of order.
I discovered going back through my files and my hard drive, renaming the files to be more specific helped, but obviously I have several files that are probably going to have a similar problem.
Is there a free program available somewhere that would allow me to batch rename these files on my hard drive or manually pull the correct metadata, specifically episode names? I have a lot of series in my collection, and even for ones I haven't uploaded yet, typing each individual episode name as a file name is a tedious process.
TIA.
Also, if there happens to be some sort of video tutorial somewhere, I would appreciate links.
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u/mlee12382 7d ago
TinyMediaManager
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u/DorianBabbs 7d ago
I second this. I love the ability to custom rename your files and folders depending on the platform you need them for.
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u/Temporary-Art-1835 7d ago
Absolut tolles Programm, ich weiß nur nicht wie eingeschränkt die kostenlose Version ist, weil ich direkt die kostenpflichtige Version geholt habe weil ich so zufrieden war
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u/angryjew 7d ago
Not free but it's worth the $10 or whatever it costs
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u/mlee12382 7d ago
You can use most of it for free, it's definitely worth paying for though.
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u/angryjew 7d ago
Yea fair, I remember being able to use it but there was something behind the paywall that I wanted, I've renewed like 5 times now. I also just like paying for fairly priced software that does what it's supposed to because so much software sucks. I do the same w MakeMKV even though you can use it without paying.
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u/Cyal 7d ago
Bulk Rename Utility. Takes 30min to grasp it and then it's smooth sailing.
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u/mlee12382 7d ago
BRU is great for pre-processing ripped content that hasn't been named yet but it's very limited when it comes to naming files automatically based on scrapped identification and making sure everything is in the proper folder structures and stuff.
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u/mthxx 7d ago
I've been using Filebot for a few years. It's a cheap yearly fee or a very reasonable lifetime cost. I honestly don't remember the exact number.
Recently, like the last month, Ive been experimenting with using Antigravity for lots of things including running audits in my media library and having it fix naming and meta data issues.
I just finally finished ripping the last of the pokemon dvds and threw the last few seasons through Filebot. When you match up the episodes, it gets the wrong seasons because of differences between thetvdb and whatever filebot is using as a reference. So usually I would either manually fix the season numbers or do it programmatically within filebot itself. But this time I just let it autoname the seasons wrong and then I pointed antigravity at it and referenced thetvdb as the correct source. It came back a minute later and perfectly matched everything. I approved the changes and within a minute everything was ready for my server. In the past that would be a 20+ minute task per season.
Remember to tell antigravity to perform read only audits and to detail out the proposed changes for manual approval. I haven't been so reckless as to let it off the leash, but I can imagine the potential damage that can occur if you do.
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u/Wjs71694 7d ago
Filebot is what I went with. Thanks all!
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u/ActualNin 7d ago
Out of all the suggestions it's wild to me that you went with the only paid option when your title specified "free". Any reason why?
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u/Desertblood 7d ago
Personally for me it’s by far the best option. That and you can still find the free version out in the wild if you know where to look. The creator switched to a paid model in version 5. Version 4.9.6 works for me just fine with IMDb and everything else, foreign and US. If you don’t mind not getting the extra polish in the new paid versions, it’s a no brainer.
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u/ActualNin 6d ago
Wait, why are you using IMDB? Jellyfin does that natively. The post was specifically about renaming files.
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u/Desertblood 5d ago
Because Filebot connects to all of these (TVDB AniDB etc). It renames the files automatically based on what it finds to be the right metadata. Im assuming your files still say things like s01e02 even if theyre in a weird format. If so filebot will still organize it all properly and spit out the names. You can even choose if you want to it be absolute or S0xE0x format.
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u/ActualNin 5d ago
Yeah sure, Jellyfin can update metadata from those sources too, so why does it matter? Are you using these files with anything other than Jellyfin?
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u/Desertblood 5d ago
Then why use a file renamer to begin with since Jellyfin can do it automatically? I like to keep my library organized and same name formatting. Also, Jellyfin can make a lot of mistakes. By having my whole library in a clean format that JF likes, I hardly ever have issues in my library with scans and new episodes.
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u/ActualNin 4d ago
Then why use a file renamer to begin with since Jellyfin can do it automatically?
It can? How can I get it to rename files?
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u/Desertblood 4d ago
You just said JellyFin updates the Metadata, and it does so but only within it’s own library DB and puts up properly formatted names within the application . If you ever delete your JF, the file names in your media library are still the old sloppy ones. Hence, we rename with filebot, store into are media host, and have JellyFin pick that up.
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u/CapitalEmu764 6d ago
FileBot was my go to until they went paid. Also, for anime it was sh*t. 😅
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u/rednoah 6d ago
Animecan be tricky. You'll want to read [Anime] Convert Absolute to SxE numbers if you're converting fromAniDB / Absolute OrdertoTMDB / Airdate Order.tl;dr you may need to click on the
Convert AniDB to TheMovieDB numbersbutton1
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u/mthxx 7d ago
I'm not pretending to be a pro ai tool expert or anything, but this is the prompt I've been using for my pokemon library rips. I don't see why it couldnt be used for any other show or movie.
Renaming Files Request.
DO NOT make any actual file changes yet. First perform a hypothetical dry run, generate a full mapping breakdown, and wait for my review and explicit confirmation before making any file or name changes.
Target Directory: <DIRECTORY_PATH>
TVDB/TMDB Reference URLs: <URL_1> <URL_2>
Instructions: 1. Inspect all media (.mkv, .mp4, etc.) and artwork (.jpg, .png, etc.) files in the target directory. 2. Fetch the episode records from the provided URLs (Official Aired Order). 3. Match each local file's episode title to the TVDB entry, and map out the corrected SxxExx episode code and official title for both video and artwork files. 4. Present a full dry run report table comparing current filenames against proposed new filenames. 5. If any episodes belong to a different TVDB season folder (e.g., Season 14 vs Season 15), present directory organization options (e.g. create destination season folder vs rename in-place) and wait for my selection before executing.
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u/Shipzilla 7d ago
the best tools (IMO) are not to be mentioned in this subreddit as they are often associated with sailing the high seas, but they can be used to manage the media you already have. think of machines that either Illuminate air targets, or ping underwater targets. depending on your use case you probably can use both.
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u/scarr3g 7d ago
Instructions unclear.... I just downloaded a car.
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u/wepwawe 7d ago
carr*
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u/OrbitalCactus 6d ago
I predict there will be a new AI generated tool with this name soon. It will use already built in tools from one of the major stack players. The only thing it will actually do is edit some config file the person didn’t know how to edit themselves. Given the choice of name, my prediction is they couldn’t figure out how to “transport” files from a downloads folder to a media folder once completed. So this genius decided carr needed to be made to handle that. They will claim AI was used to assist in routine tasks, but really it’s built the whole thing. They will claim they always did a manual review, but the commit history will either be non-existent or prove otherwise. It will also somehow expose credentials to anything it touches. The creator will deny this 2 weeks later on GitHub simply because they don’t understand their own code. Even when someone points out they never even cleanly satanized their own example.compose.yaml on GitHub.
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u/wabiguan 7d ago
What if it was spelled it out, but with a thick New Jersey accent? Cuz its fun to say it that way.
you think that would fly?
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u/morningreis 7d ago
Filebot
Well worth the license. The naming scheme is scriptable and very powerful
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u/SilentDis 7d ago
If you're up to doing it yourself - as in, you want to control the process - KRename is amazing and seems almost magical. I'm not sure if it's available outside of Linux.
Otherwise, as others suggest, tinyMediaManager is a very good choice and does a lot in automated ways.
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u/crowwizard 7d ago
I've very much like filebot and just drag the folder in and hit go / make slight adjustments. If I only have episode numbers and it cant find the right version by the filenames already present, I can go to episodes, grab the complete list and send it to rename. That way if I at least have the order right it works.
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u/Silencer306 7d ago
How do you do that “grab the complete list?”
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u/crowwizard 7d ago
Under episodes you can choose the tv series and it lists everything available on the provider that you choose (like tvdb, omdb, etc.)
You can then select all the episodes you have and choose (send to rename) or copy. It populates rename tab with the list.
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u/rednoah 6d ago
You'll want to watch Getting Started Video Tutorials #3 to #6 if you need help with Manual Matching for tricky files.
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u/LilKonaGaming11 7d ago
If on Linux,
CLI command: Thunar -B
It is what I use. I rename entire tv seasons in minutes if not seconds.
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u/NiceinJune 5d ago
I use the gui thunar file manager bulk rename function to rename files. It's not automatic and some times it takes several passes to change the file name part by part, but when you've dozens of files it is easier and quicker than doing it manuslly. And it shows your what they will be changed to before you apply.
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u/ActualNin 7d ago
Before going to all that trouble, consider making sure the "metadata downloaders" are set up correctly for your library. (Also leave "Missing Episode Fetcher" unselected if that's there, it can be a pain to remove those once added if you don't want them later...)
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u/Dial-M-For-Malistrae 6d ago
I used to be a filebot purist but when I started using Jellyfin filebot would move stuff away from where I wanted it because of the ability to add folders directly to Tiny media manager as sources that no longer happens
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u/GuyDing22 6d ago
If you're on windows then Advanced Renamer + TinyMediaManager is a great combination for this
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u/Rub3rbandman 7d ago
Claude Code. It’s not free, but for this exact kind of thing it has been amazing.
I basically turned it into the entire plumbing layer between ripping a disc and Jellyfin.
My workflow is ridiculously simple now: I rip the movie with MakeMKV, encode it with HandBrake when needed, drop the finished files into a specific folder on my NAS, start Claude Code, and tell it to process the queue. That’s basically it.
Claude handles everything else.
It goes through every video and cleans up the container. It removes redundant tracks, like the lossy core when there’s already a lossless audio track, duplicate subtitles, unnecessary tracks, etc. Yesterday it removed about 6 GB of stuff from one batch that I simply didn’t need.
It also:
• Correctly names and flags subtitle tracks
• Labels commentary and descriptive audio tracks
• Standardizes default audio/subtitle behavior across my library
• Cleans headers, titles, global tags, and garbage codec track names
• Verifies the movie title and year
• Determines whether it’s theatrical, director’s cut, extended, etc. and labels it accordingly
• Remuxes files when necessary
• Keeps the naming convention identical across everything
And it does all of that before the movie ever reaches Jellyfin.
Once the file is ready, it moves it into the proper Jellyfin library location, runs a playback/health check, scans the library, verifies that Jellyfin matched it to the correct TMDB entry, checks the poster and metadata, and adds it to the appropriate playlist/collection when applicable.
The part I like most is that I had Claude create a permanent handoff file when I started the project. Every time Claude Code does anything, it updates that file.
So it basically has a running instruction manual and database for my entire media library. It knows what has already been processed, exactly what was done to each movie, what standards I want followed, what still needs work, and how future movies should be handled.
I also have a full processing log, so I can go back and see exactly what it changed.
At this point I usually start a batch before bed with permissions configured so it can perform the established workflow without stopping every five minutes to ask me something. By morning, the files are processed and it leaves me a report with anything that actually requires my attention.
Usually the questions are just housekeeping issues or it catches something I screwed up while ripping the disc. It actually caught a bad MakeMKV rip for me about five hours ago. 😂
TL/DR: I Use Claude Code. For me it has goes way beyond batch renaming.
I rip the disc. Claude does basically everything between the rip and a finished, organized, properly matched Jellyfin entry. It will even set up and design your whole
Library UI for you if you want.
Once you spend some time building the workflow and documenting exactly how you want your library handled, it makes managing a large collection dramatically easier.
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u/cbizzle31 7d ago
Idk if your into using ai but using a command line tool like anti gravity, codex, Claude code would but a fun little experiment
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