Python Set Up

Install requirements:

$ pip install -r requirements.txt

Before running any scripts, you will need to update your PYTHONPATH to include flexy.

If you receive the following error, then it's because you need to export the python path.

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "update_video_settings.py", line 3, in <module>
    import settings
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'settings'

On a Mac, you can do this by adding the following line to your .bash_profile.

export PYTHONPATH=$PYTHONPATH:<path_to_flexy>

After updating the file, run source ~/.bash_profile to update the settings.

Flexy Set Up

You'll need to set up your credentials for your plex account in settings.py by updating PLEX_URL and PLEX_TOKEN. Rename settings-template.py to settings.py.

Trakt

Update the TRAKT_DEFAULT_USER_ID in settings.py to your username...unless you want to use my lists...

Before running anything dealing with collections or videos, you must run:

$ python utils/create_trakt_groups.py

This creates a json replica of your Trakt account to limit hits to the API. Once it's ran, you won't need to run it again until you make changes to your Trakt lists.

For an example of how I set up my Trakt lists, you can check my account.

Dropbox

Add your DropBox token to DROPBOX_TOKEN in settings.py to get access. Add a folder for collections and one for movies, making sure the file names match their respective item.

Update SEMICOLON_REPLACEMENT with your value of choice so the code can find matches between titles and file names.

Scripts

You can run individual functions by doing something like this:

python -c 'import scripts.update_video_settings as a; a.execute()'

Otherwise, I have grouped similar ones together and made heavy use of variables to decide which functions are called. There is also a main.py that will run everything so if your settings are set up properly, you can run the main file in a bash script on a nightly basis. If I already mentioned that somewhere in this, my apologies.

add videos to collections

$ python scripts/update_video_settings.py

Any list in your Trakt account that is prefixed with COLLECTION or HOLIDAY will be converted into a collection and all movies or tv shows in that Trakt list will be added to the collection.

add genres to videos

$ python scripts/update_video_settings.py

Any list in your Trakt account that is prefixed with TAG will be converted into a genre tag and applied to all movies or tv shows in that list.

If you don't want the tag Oscar Best Picture Winner applied, set ADD_OSCAR_TAG in the settings.py file to False.

If you don't want the tags 4K Videos or 8K Videos applied, set ADD_QUALITY_TAG in the the settings.py file to False.

add icons to titles

$ python scripts/update_video_settings.py

Any movie in the Trakt list COLLECTION - Oscar Best Picture Winners will have a little trophy (🏆) added to the title while any movie in COLLECTION - Oscar Best Picture Nominees will have a little medal (🥈) added to the title.

If you don't want this feature, set ADD_WINNERS_TROPHY and ADD_NOMINEES_MEDAL in the settings.py file to False.

add quality suffixes to titles

$ python scripts/update_video_settings.py

Any movie in Plex that meets the requirements for 4K or 8K gets a suffix applied to the title.

If you don't want the suffixes (4K) or (8K) applied, set ADD_QUALITY_SUFFIX in the the settings.py file to False.

upload poster for individual movies

$ python scripts/update_posters.py

Will search for a poster for any movies added to Plex within the last 24 hours and will update any posters added to the movies DropBox folder within the last 24 hours.

upload poster for collections

$ python scripts/update_posters.py

Will search for a poster for any collections added to Plex within the last 24 hours and will update any posters added to the collections DropBox folder within the last 24 hours.

write a JSON of movies and collections missing custom posters

$ python scripts/update_posters.py

Will write out a json file for any movies added within the last 24 hours that is missing a poster.

Note: if you'd like to extend the 24 hour window, then update the DAYS_TO_CHECK variable in settings.py.

update collection mode and sort

$ python scripts/update_collection_settings.py

Plex has 4 modes for how a collection is displayed:

modes = {
    -1: "Library default",
    1: "Hide items in this collection",
    2: "Show this collection and its items",
    0: "Hide collection"
}

The default settings of flexy will set any collections with more than 10 videos to "Show this collection and its items" while anything less is set to "Hide items in this collection". If you'd like to change the minimum quantity of videos, update the HIDE_VIDEOS_MAX_COLLECTION_LENGTH in settings.py.

If there are collections where you'd like to ignore the max length, add the name to IGNORE_COLLECTION_LENGTH in settings.py. A use-case would be for the Star Trek movies. You know pretty easily whether or not you want to watch a Star Trek movie and you don't have to scroll through 14 videos to figure that out.

If there are collections where you'd always like to show the videos, add the name to ALWAYS_SHOW_VIDEOS_IN_COLLECTION in settings.py. A use-case would be for the Marvel or DC cinematic universes. Not everyone knows which movies belong in those collections.

Other setting options:

• ALWAYS_HIDE_COLLECTION: just add the collection name to the list
• SORT_VIDEOS_BY_RELEASE_MAX_COLLECTION_LENGTH: defaults to 10 and works under the assumption that with more videos in a collection, it's easier to browse alphabetically
• ALWAYS_SORT_BY_RELEASE_DATE: just add the collection name to the list
• ALWAYS_SORT_ALPHABETICALLY: just add the collection name to the list

show/hide holiday-specific collections from library

$ python scripts/update_collection_settings.py

To add collections you'd like available during certain windows of time (usually holiday-specifc), update the HOLIDAY_COLLECTIONS variable in settings.py.

For example:

HOLIDAY_COLLECTIONS = {
    "Christmas Time": ("12-01", "12-31"),
    "Halloween Time": ("10-01", "11-01"),
}

You also have the option of remove out-of-season collections all together by setting the DELETE_OUT_OF_SEASON_COLLECTIONS variable to True in settings.py. Else, you can just hide the collection from the main view (mode 0) by setting it to False. If you choose to delete the collection, it will still be rebuilt and available when it is in season.

write a JSON of movies missing from Trakt lists

$ python scripts/check_for_missing_collection_videos.py

Compares your Trakt lists with your Plex library and creates a JSON of videos missing from Plex. Useful for finding other items to focus on collecting.

Only run if you find this information valuable as it is a time-consuming script. The FIND_MISSING_VIDEOS variable is defaulted to False, set to True if you would like it to run.

If there are collections where you're not concerned about getting all of the videos, add them to IGNORE_MISSING_VIDEOS in settings.py. I use it for holiday-specific movies. I don't need all of the Christmas movies ever made.

remove single video collections

$ python scripts/delete_single_video_collections.py

Loops through collections and removes any with only one video. If you have collections that are for grouping a tv show with a movie (Firefly 🍃 , Twin Peaks, The X-Files, etc), add them to the IGNORE_SINGLE_VIDEO_COLLECTIONS list in settings.py.

Clean Up

Mistakes happen.

delete_all_collections

$ python scripts/delete_all_collections.py

Pretty self-explanatory. Deletes all collections.

delete_all_trophies

$ python scripts/delete_all_trophies.py

Pretty self-explanatory. Removes trophies from titles.

delete_tag

$ python scripts/delete_tag.py --genre='Bad Genre'

Pretty self-explanatory. Removes a tag you don't want or have one you hate seeing for some reason.

end

This has been my TED talk about how to spend more time on automating organizational processes than it would have taken you do to by hand.