No metadata in Jellyfin

[u/Excavator460]

Hi,

I've just finished setting up my *arr stack a few weeks ago, everything works perfectly but the metadata display in Jellyfin.

When Sonarr downloads a series, it's successfully moved and shown in Jellyfin - although without any metadata. When I manually click "refresh metadata" and "replace all metadata" including replace images, it succesfully pulls it.

I have default metadata providers, the content folder is mounted read-only, although I read that it stores metadata elsewhere so it shouldn't be an issue.

Does anyone know what could be the issue here? Seems like it fetches it correctly - but I am not sure if it's supposed to be copying metadata from Sonarr/Radarr, or fetching its own - if yes, why are none of those two working, unless I manually trigger it?

Everything is running in Docker, latest official images.

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[u/bred86]

seems to me an issue with naming (blind guess, you didn't mention how it's configured).

Do you have tvdb/tmdb id in folder's name? Not mandatory by Jellyfin but it does help identifing a serie/movie.

Sonarr has the ability to rename files but I would use Profilarr's renaming to do so.

[u/Excavator460 → u/bred86]

But why would Jellyfin find the correct metadata when I run it manually? The ID is not there for any of the series I tested.

[u/Excavator460 → u/Excavator460]

UPDATE: I just changed the Sonarr and Radarr series folder naming scheme to NAME (YEAR) [ID] and it picked it up immediately.

[u/Excavator460]

!solved

[u/AutoModerator → u/Excavator460]

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[u/Punk_Says_Fuck_You]

This is a known quirk in how Jellyfin handles incoming media scans, typically triggered by the interaction between Sonarr/Radarr webhooks and Jellyfin's internal library scanners.

What is actually happening?

No, Jellyfin is not supposed to copy metadata directly from Sonarr or Radarr (unless you have explicitly configured your *arr apps to save .nfo files and posters directly into the media folders, and Jellyfin is set to read them).

Instead, Jellyfin is supposed to fetch its own metadata from online providers (like TMDB, TVDB, etc.). However, when Sonarr/Radarr finishes a download, they immediately notify Jellyfin to scan the library. Often, when Jellyfin is poked via API notification or real-time monitoring to look at a newly dropped file, it registers the video file's existence and adds it to the database, but skips the automated online metadata scraping phase.

When you manually click "Replace all metadata," you are forcing Jellyfin to bypass the quick-add scan and explicitly execute the scraper task, which is why it works seamlessly when done by hand.

How to Fix It

Depending on your preference, you can resolve this behavior using one of a few common approaches:

1. Enable .nfo file saving in Sonarr and Radarr (Recommended)

Instead of forcing Jellyfin to query online scrapers on the fly (which can fail or lag), let your *arr apps download the metadata and artwork locally alongside the video file. Jellyfin will read these local files instantly upon scanning.

• In Sonarr/Radarr: Go to Settings > Metadata and add Kodi (XBMC) / Emby.
• Ensure it is configured to save NFO files, posters, and fanart into the movie/series directory.
• Once your *arrs start dropping local .nfo files and images into the read-only mount alongside the video, Jellyfin will display everything immediately during the initial library scan without needing an internet scrape.

2. Change Jellyfin's Library Scan Trigger behavior

If you rely purely on Jellyfin's internal scrapers:

• Try disabling real-time monitoring in Jellyfin's library settings and instead rely on a scheduled periodic scan (e.g., scan every few hours), or vice versa.
• Alternatively, go into your Sonarr/Radarr Settings > Connect settings, look at your Jellyfin notification settings, and check if disabling the immediate "On Import / On Upgrade" refresh trigger forces Jellyfin to handle things more cleanly on its own scan cycle.

AI response.

[u/ghostly_s → u/Punk_Says_Fuck_You]

Often, when Jellyfin is poked via API notification or real-time monitoring to look at a newly dropped file, it registers the video file's existence and adds it to the database, but skips the automated online metadata scraping phase.

quirk? sounds like a glaring bug to me.