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No. Media Forge uses the TVDB for metadata matching and no API key is required — it works out of the box.

Always select your top-level unorganised media folder, not a TV Shows or show folder inside it. Media Forge organises everything into TV Shows and Movies subfolders automatically. Use a separate folder for new media files and keep your live library separate.

Media Forge works from a separate media folder rather than directly in your live library. This protects your existing collection - nothing gets overwritten, and your media server stays stable while files are being processed. Once renamed and enriched, just move the folder across to your library as normal.

If Media Forge worked directly inside your live library it could overwrite correctly named files, disrupt artwork that is already there, or cause your media server to lose track of items mid-rename. The separation is a safety net, not an extra burden.

That said, you can point Media Forge at your live library at any time to download missing artwork, generate NFO files or fetch subtitles for existing content - without touching your filenames at all. Files must already follow the correct naming convention for TVDB matching to work. If they do, it's a great way to enrich a library you've already built up.

Files already named in Media Forge format such as Show Name - S01E01.mkv are skipped during scanning as they are considered already organised. Check you have selected the right top-level folder and that your files have recognisable names. Hidden files starting with a dot are filtered out automatically.

Naming Templates let you control exactly how your files and folders are named when Media Forge organises them. Set separate templates for Movies, TV Shows, and Sports/date-based content using tokens. A live preview updates as you type so you can see the output before renaming anything.

The available tokens are {n} (title), {y} (year), {s00} (season number), {e00} (episode number), and {date} (air date, for Sports and date-based content). Tokens are combined with plain text to build the folder and filename structure you want.

Yes. Sports and date-based content has its own template slot in Settings, separate from TV Shows and Movies. Use {date} to include the broadcast date in the filename — for example {n} ({y}) - {date} produces WrestleMania 40 (2024) - 2024-04-06.

Media Forge falls back to sensible defaults that your media server already understands — the same format used before Naming Templates was introduced.

Media Forge downloads the following artwork files into each show or movie folder: poster.jpg, fanart.jpg, logo.png, clearart.png, banner.jpg, and disc.png. Poster and fanart come from the TVDB. The remaining files — logo, clearart, banner and disc — come from Fanart.tv and require a Fanart.tv API key set in Settings.

Go to fanart.tv/get-an-api-key and create a free account. Once registered, your personal API key is shown in your account dashboard — paste it into Media Forge Settings under Fanart.tv.

Without a key, Fanart.tv images are served from a shared cache that can be up to 7 days behind new additions. Using your own personal key reduces this delay significantly and gives you access to the latest artwork as soon as it is approved.

Click Refresh Library in Media Forge after Download Artwork completes. Jellyfin picks up logo.png, clearart.png and banner.jpg automatically by filename — no additional configuration is needed. Without a library refresh, Jellyfin will not see the new files until its next scheduled scan.

Generate NFOs creates XML metadata files for every TV show, season, episode and movie in your folder. Each NFO includes plot, ratings, air dates, genres, studios and full cast information pulled from the TVDB. You can run it on an existing library at any time to fill in missing metadata or refresh entries with the latest TVDB data.

This setting is off by default. When off, Generate NFOs only creates files that do not already exist — existing NFOs are left untouched. Enable it when you want to refresh your entire library with the latest TVDB data, overwriting any NFOs that are already there.

No. Media Forge always preserves the fields Jellyfin uses to track playback state. The userrating, playcount, watched, resume and lastplayed values in any existing NFO are never overwritten, even when Update existing NFOs is enabled.

Subdl requires a free API key — sign up at subdl.com. Once you have your key, add it in Media Forge Settings under Subdl and enable the toggle.

When the subtitle checklist appears, uncheck the show you want to skip and click Cancel. Media Forge remembers shows you have skipped by show name. They will be pre-unchecked next time and will not be prompted automatically.

Subtitles are saved as filename.en.srt alongside the video file. Make sure your media server is configured to look for external subtitle files. In Jellyfin, go to Dashboard then Libraries and enable externally stored subtitles, properly named external subtitles will usually be chosen automatically by Emby. To make Plex read these files, go to Settings > Server > Agents, select your library type (e.g., Movies), and ensure Local Media Assets is checked and moved to the top. After downloading subtitles, use the Refresh Library button to trigger a rescan.

In Jellyfin, go to Dashboard then API Keys and create a new key for Media Forge. Copy the key and your server URL such as http://192.168.1.100:8096 into Media Forge Settings under Jellyfin. Enable the toggle and click Save. The Refresh Library button will now trigger a full rescan.

Make sure you are pointing Media Forge at the same folder your Jellyfin library scans. After renaming, click Refresh Library to trigger a rescan. Jellyfin looks for poster.jpg, fanart.jpg, logo.png, clearart.png and banner.jpg in each show folder — all are downloaded automatically by Media Forge after every rename when a Fanart.tv API key is configured in Settings.

In Plex, open any item, click the three-dot menu and select Get Info. In the XML URL that opens, look for X-Plex-Token= and copy the value after the equals sign. Paste this into Media Forge Settings under Plex along with your server URL.

Press Cmd+Shift+Z or click Undo Last Batch to reverse the most recent rename operation. For older batches, go to the History tab and click Revert on any batch.

Large renames over SMB network shares take time as macOS copies then deletes each file rather than doing an instant rename. The progress counter such as Renaming 14 of 27... shows real-time progress. If it appears stalled, check the History tab — if the batch appears there the rename completed successfully.

Click the override button on any file card. A search panel opens where you can search the TVDB manually and select the correct match. When you select a TV show, a Season field appears — make sure this is set to the correct season so episodes are numbered accurately. The override is locked in before rename so all episodes will use the correct metadata.

MediaForge automatically detects common extras suffixes — featurettes, deleted scenes, behind the scenes, interviews and more — and excludes them from the organise pipeline. Full extras organisation with dedicated subfolders is on the roadmap. For now, run MediaForge on your main feature files and handle extras manually.

The Library Manager is a visual browser for your entire media library. It displays every title as a poster grid, lets you filter by category, and shows which titles have missing artwork at a glance. From there you can open any title to manage its artwork, replace posters, download missing images, and generate NFOs — without re-organising the file.

Click the Library tab in the Media Forge navigation bar. Media Forge will scan your selected media folder and display all recognised titles as a poster grid.

Click the Missing Artwork button in the Library Manager toolbar. The grid will filter to show only titles where one or more artwork files are absent from disk. Click any title to open its artwork browser and download what is missing.

Open the title in the Library Manager and click any artwork thumbnail in the Available Artwork panel. A full-size preview opens with a Replace Artwork button — clicking it downloads that image and overwrites the existing file on disk. You can browse through all available posters, backdrops, logos, banners and disc art from TVDB and Fanart.tv before deciding.

Yes. Open any title in the Library Manager and click Generate NFO. This creates or updates the NFO file for that title using the latest TVDB data, without touching any filenames. Useful for enriching an existing library that was organised outside of Media Forge.

Yes, as long as your files follow standard naming conventions — Show Name (Year)/Season 01/ for TV and Movie Title (Year)/ for movies. Point Media Forge at your library folder and the Library Manager will scan and display it. Renaming is not required to use artwork download, NFO generation or artwork replacement.