Files
watchstate/FAQ.md
2023-11-09 13:10:07 +03:00

21 KiB

FAQ

To see list of all the available commands run

$ docker exec -ti watchstate console list

This command will list all available commands, and each command has help document attached to it, simply run

$ docker exec -ti watchstate console help [COMMAND_NAME]

It will show you the relevant information regarding the command and some frequently asked question about that command.

Important

The help document attached to each command is more up to date and precise. So, please read it.


How to turn on scheduled tasks for import/export?

Scheduled tasks are configured via specific environment variables refers to environment variables section, to turn on the import/export tasks add the following environment variables:

  • WS_CRON_IMPORT=1
  • WS_CRON_EXPORT=1

By default, import is scheduled to run every 1hour while export is scheduled to run every 1hour 30minutes, you can alter the time when the tasks are run via adding the following variables with valid cron expression. good source to check your cron expression is crontab.guru.

  • WS_CRON_IMPORT_AT="*/1 * * * *"
  • WS_CRON_EXPORT_AT="30 */1 * * *"

to see the status of your scheduled tasks, simply run the following command:

$ docker exec -ti watchstate console system:tasks

Note

All scheduled tasks are configured via the same variables style, refer to Tool specific environment variables for more information.


Container is crashing on startup?

This is likely due to misconfigured user: in docker-compose.yaml, the container is rootless as such it will crash if the tool unable to access the data path. to check permissions simply do the following

$ stat data/config/ | grep 'Uid:'

It should show something like

Access: (0755/drwxr-xr-x)  Uid: ( 1000/  user)   Gid: ( 1000/  user)

Use the ids as parameters for user: in this case it should be user:"1000:1000".


MAPPER: Watch state conflict detected in [BACKEND_NAME]...?

This warning occurs when the database has the movie/episode marked as played but a backend reporting the item as unplayed and there is no metadata that indicates that the movie was previously imported from the backend. So, Preserving your current watch state takes priority, and thus we mark the item as tainted and re-process it. To Fix this conflict you should re-export your database state back to the problematic backend using the following command:

$ docker exec -ti console state:export -fi -s [BACKEND_NAME]

My new backend overriding my old backend state / My watch state is not correct?

This likely due to the new backend reporting newer date than your old backend. as such the typical setup is to prioritize items with newer date compared to old ones. This is what you want to happen normally. However, if the new media backend state is not correct this might override your current watch state.

The solution to get both in sync, and to do so follow these steps:

  1. Add your backend that has correct watch state and enable full import.
  2. Add your new backend as metadata source only, when adding a backend you will get asked Enable importing of metadata and play state from this backend? answer with N for the new backend.

After that, do single backend export by using the following command:

$ docker exec -ti watchstate console state:export -vvif -s new_backend_name

Running this command will force full export your current database state to the selected backend. Once that done you can turn on import from the new backend. by editing the backend setting via docker exec -ti watchstate console config:manage backend_name


My new backend watch state not being updated?

The likely cause of this problem is date related problem, as we check the date on backend object and compare that to the date in local database, to make sure this is the error you are facing please do the following.

$ docker exec -ti watchstate console state:export -vvv --trace --context -s new_backend_name > backend.log

After running the command, open the log file and look for episode and movie that has the problem and read the text next to it. The error usually looks like:

[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS-ZZ] DEBUG: Ignoring [backend_name] [Title - (Year or episode)]. reason. { ..., (comparison: [ ... ]) }

In this case the error text should be Backend date is equal or newer than database date.

To bypass the date check you need to force ignore date comparison by using the [-i, --ignore-date] flag, so to get your new backend in sync with your old database, do the following:

$ docker exec -ti watchstate console state:export -vvif -s new_backend_name

This command will ignore your lastSync date and will also ignore object date comparison and thus will mirror your database state back to the selected backend.


Is there support for Multi-user setup?

No, The tool is designed to work for single user. However, It's possible to run container for each user. You can also use single container for all users, however it's not really easy refer to issue #136.

For Jellyfin and Emby, you can just generate new API tokens and link it to a user.

For Plex, You should use your admin token and by running the config:add command and selecting a user the tool will attempt to generate a token for that user.

Note

If the tool fails to generate a access token for the user, you can run the following command to generate the access token manually.

$ docker exec -ti console backend:users:list --with-tokens -- [BACKEND_NAME]

Does this tool require webhooks to work?

No, You can use the task scheduler or on demand sync if you want.


I get tired of writing the whole command everytime is there an easy way run the commands?

Since there is no way to access the command interface outside the container, you can create small shell script to at least omit part of command that you have to write for example, to create shortcut for docker command do the following:

$ echo 'docker exec -ti watchstate console "$@"' > ws
$ chmod +x ws

after that you can do ./ws command for example, ./ws db:list


Sometimes there are problems related to HTTP/2, so before reporting bug please try running the following command:

$ docker exec -ti watchstate console config:edit --key options.client.http_version --set 1.0 -- [BACKEND_NAME] 

This will force set the internal http client to use http v1 if it does not fix your problem, please open bug report about it.


Sync operations are failing due to request timeout?

If you want to increase the timeout for specific backend you can run the following command:

$ docker exec -ti watchstate console config:edit --key options.client.timeout --set 600 -- [BACKEND_NAME] 

where 600 is the number of secs before the timeout handler will kill the request.


How to fix corrupt SQLite database?

Sometimes your SQLite database will be corrupted, and you will get an error similar to this General error: 11 database disk image is malformed. To fix this error simply execute the following commands:

$ docker exec -ti watchstate bash
$ sqlite3 /config/db/watchstate_v01.db '.dump' | sqlite3 /config/db/watchstate_v01-repaired.db

After executing the previous command you should run integrity check, by running the following command:

$ sqlite3 /config/db/watchstate_v01-repaired.db 'PRAGMA integrity_check'

it should simply say ok. then you should run the following command to replace the corrupted database.

$ mv /config/db/watchstate_v01-repaired.db /config/db/watchstate_v01.db

Which external db ids supported for Plex Media Server?

  • tvdb://(id) New plex agent
  • imdb://(id) New plex agent
  • tmdb://(id) New plex agent
  • com.plexapp.agents.imdb://(id)?lang=en (Legacy plex agent)
  • com.plexapp.agents.tmdb://(id)?lang=en (Legacy plex agent)
  • com.plexapp.agents.themoviedb://(id)?lang=en (Legacy plex agent)
  • com.plexapp.agents.thetvdb://(seriesId)?lang=en (Legacy plex agent)
  • com.plexapp.agents.xbmcnfo://(id)?lang=en (XBMC NFO Movies agent)
  • com.plexapp.agents.xbmcnfotv://(id)?lang=en (XBMC NFO TV agent)
  • com.plexapp.agents.hama://(db)\d?-(id)?lang=en (HAMA multi source db agent mainly for anime)
  • com.plexapp.agents.youtube://youtube|(seriesId)|(?\w)?/(? \d)?(.+) YouTube-Agent.bundle With jp_scanner.py as scanner.
  • com.plexapp.agents.cmdb://(id)?(.+) (Custom metadata db agent) Will release more information about it at later time.

Which external db ids supported for Jellyfin and Emby?

  • imdb://(id)
  • tvdb://(id)
  • tmdb://(id)
  • tvmaze://(id)
  • tvrage://(id)
  • anidb://(id)
  • ytinforeader://( id) jellyfin & Emby. A yt-dlp plugin for both emby & jellyfin.
  • cmdb://(id) (Custom metadata db agent) Will release more information about it at later time.

Environment Variables

There are many ways to load the environment variables, However the recommended methods are:

  • Via docker-compose.yaml file.
  • Via /config/config/.env file. This file normally does not exist you have to created manually.

to see list of loaded environment variables run:

$ docker exec -ti watchstate console system:env

Tool specific environment variables.

These environment variables relates to the tool itself, you can load them via the recommended methods.

Key Type Description Default
WS_DATA_PATH string Where to store main data. (config, db). ${BASE_PATH}/var
WS_TMP_DIR string Where to store temp data. (logs, cache) ${WS_DATA_PATH}
WS_TZ string Set timezone. UTC
WS_CRON_{TASK} bool Enable {task} task. Value casted to bool. false
WS_CRON_{TASK}_AT string When to run {task} task. Valid Cron Expression Expected. */1 * * * *
WS_CRON_{TASK}_ARGS string Flags to pass to the {task} command. -v
WS_LOGS_CONTEXT bool Add context to console output messages. false
WS_LOGGER_FILE_ENABLE bool Save logs to file. true
WS_LOGGER_FILE_LEVEL string File Logger Level. ERROR
WS_WEBHOOK_DUMP_REQUEST bool If enabled, will dump all received requests. false
WS_EPISODES_DISABLE_GUID bool Disable external id parsing for episodes and rely on relative ids. true
WS_TRUST_PROXY bool Trust WS_TRUST_HEADER ip. Value casted to bool. false
WS_TRUST_HEADER string Which header contain user true IP. X-Forwarded-For
WS_LIBRARY_SEGMENT integer Paginate backend library items request. Per request get total X number. 1000

Important

for environment variables that has {TASK} tag, you MUST replace it with one of IMPORT, EXPORT, PUSH, BACKUP, PRUNE, INDEXES, REQUESTS. To see tasks active settings run

$ docker exec -ti watchstate console system:tasks

Container specific environment variables.

Important

These environment variables relates to the container itself, and must added via the docker-compose.yaml file.

Key Type Description Default
WS_DISABLE_HTTP integer Disable included HTTP Server. 0
WS_DISABLE_CRON integer Disable included Task Scheduler. 0
WS_DISABLE_CACHE integer Disable included Cache Server. 0

How to add webhooks?

To add webhook for your backend the URL will be dependent on how you exposed webhook frontend, but typically it will be like this:

Directly to container: http://localhost:8080/?apikey=[WEBHOOK_TOKEN]

Via reverse proxy : https://watchstate.domain.example/?apikey=[WEBHOOK_TOKEN].

If your media backend support sending headers then remove query parameter ?apikey=[WEBHOOK_TOKEN], and add this header

x-apikey: [WEBHOOK_TOKEN]

where [WEBHOOK_TOKEN] Should match the backend webhook.token value. To see your webhook token for each backend run:

$ docker exec -ti watchstate console config:view webhook.token

If you see 'Not configured, or invalid key.' or empty value. run the following command

$ docker exec -ti watchstate console config:edit --regenerate-webhook-token -- [BACKEND_NAME] 

Emby (you need Emby Premiere to use webhooks).

Go to your Manage Emby Server > Server > Webhooks > (Click Add Webhook)

Webhook Url:

http://localhost:8080/?apikey=[WEBHOOK_TOKEN]

Webhook Events:

v4.7.9 or higher

  • New Media Added
  • Playback
  • Mark played
  • Mark unplayed

Versions prior to 4.7.9

  • Playback events
  • User events
Limit user events to:
  • Select your user.
Limit library events to:
  • Select libraries that you want to sync or leave it blank for all libraries.

Click Add Webhook


Plex (You need Plex Pass to use webhooks)

Go to your Plex Web UI > Settings > Your Account > Webhooks > (Click ADD WEBHOOK)

URL:

http://localhost:8080/?apikey=[WEBHOOK_TOKEN]

Click Save Changes

Important

If you use multiple plex servers and use the same PlexPass account for all of them, you have to unify the API key, by running the following command:

$ docker exec -ti watchstate console config:unify plex 
Plex global webhook API key is: [random_string]

The reason is due to the way plex handle webhooks, And to know which webhook request belong to which backend we have to identify the backends. The unify command will do the necessary adjustments to handle multiple plex servers setup. for more information run.

$ docker exec -ti watchstate console help config:unify 

Important

If you share your plex server with other users, i,e. Home/managed users, you have to enable match user id, otherwise their play state will end up changing your play state. Plex will still send their events. But with match user id they will be ignored.


Jellyfin (Free)

go to your jellyfin dashboard > plugins > Catalog > install: Notifications > Webhook, restart your jellyfin. After that go back again to dashboard > plugins > webhook. Add Add Generic Destination,

Webhook Name:

Watchstate-Webhook

Webhook Url:

http://localhost:8080

Notification Type:
  • Item Added
  • User Data Saved
  • Playback Start
  • Playback Stop
User Filter:
  • Select your user.
Item Type:
  • Movies
  • Episodes

Send All Properties (ignores template)

Toggle this checkbox.

Add Request Header

  • Key: x-apikey
  • Value: [WEBHOOK_TOKEN]

Click save


What are the webhook limitations?

Those are some web hook limitations we discovered for the following media backends.

Plex

  • Plex does not send webhooks events for "marked as played/unplayed" for all item types.
  • Sometimes does not send events if you add more than one item at time.
  • When you mark items as unwatched, Plex reset the date on the object.

Emby

  • Emby does not send webhooks events for newly added items. See feature request implemented in 4.7.9 still does not work as expected no metadata being sent when the item notification goes out.
  • Emby webhook test event does not contain data. To test if your setup works, play something or do mark an item as played or unplayed you should see changes reflected in docker exec -ti watchstate console db:list.

Jellyfin

  • If you don't select a user id, the plugin will send itemAdd event without user data, and will fail the check if you happen to enable webhook.match.user for jellyfin.
  • Sometimes jellyfin will fire webhook itemAdd event without the item being matched.
  • Even if you select user id, sometimes itemAdd event will fire without user data.
  • Items might be marked as unplayed if Libraries > Display - Date added behavior for new content: is set to Use date scanned into library. This happens if the media file has been replaced.

Sometimes newly added episodes or movies don't make it to webhook endpoint?

As stated in webhook limitation section sometimes media backends don't make it easy to receive those events, as such, to complement webhooks, you should enable import/export tasks by settings their respective environment variables in your docker-compose.yaml file. For more information run help on system:env command as well as system:tasks command.


How to disable the included HTTP server and use external server?

Set this environment variable in your docker-compose.yaml file WS_DISABLE_HTTP with value of 1. your external server need to send correct fastcgi environment variables. Example caddy file


https://watchstate.example.org {
    # Change "172.23.1.2" to your watchstate container ip e.g. "172.23.20.20"
	reverse_proxy 172.23.1.2:9000 {
		transport fastcgi {
			root /opt/app/public
			env DOCUMENT_ROOT /opt/app/public
			env SCRIPT_FILENAME /opt/app/public/index.php
			env X_REQUEST_ID "{http.request.uuid}"
			split .php
		}
	}
}

How to disable the included cache server and use external cache server?

Set this environment variable in your docker-compose.yaml file WS_DISABLE_CACHE with value of 1. to use external redis server you need to alter the value of WS_CACHE_URL environment variable. the format for this variable is redis://host:port?password=auth&db=db_num, for example to use redis from another container you could use something like redis://redis:6379?password=my_secert_password&db=8. We only support redis at the moment.

Once that done, restart the container.

There are weirdly named directories in my data path?

Unfortunately, That was due to a bug introduced in (2023-09-12 877a41a) and was fixed in (2023-09-19 a2f8c8a), if you have happened to installation or update during this period, you will have those directories. To fix this issue, you can simply delete those folders %(tmpDir) %(path) {path} {tmpDir}. I decided to not do it automatically to avoid any data loss. you should check the directories to make sure they are empty. if not copy the directories to the correct location and delete the empty directories.

How to get WatchState working with YouTube content/library?

Due to the nature on how people name their youtube files i had to pick something specific for it to work cross supported media agents. Please visit this link to know how to name your files. Please be aware these plugins and scanners REQUIRE that you have a yt-dlp .info.json files named exactly as your media file. For example, if you have 20231030 my awesome youtube video [youtube-RandomString].mkv you should have 20231030 my awesome youtube video [youtube-RandomString].info.json in the same directory. In the future, I plan to make .info.json optional However at the moment the file is required for emby/jellyfin plugin to work.

Plex Setup

  • Download this agent YouTube-Agent.bundle please follow the instructions on how to install it from the link itself.
  • Download my custom scanner jp_scanner.py and save it into [...]/Plex Media Server/Scanners/Series/jp_scanner.py if you don't know there are more detailed guide at this link How to install a Scanner.

Jellyfin Setup

Emby Setup

If you media is not matching correctly or not marking it as expected, it's most likely scanners issues as plex and jellyfin/emby reports the GUID differently, and we try our best to match them. So, please hop on discord with the relevant data if they are not matching correctly, and we hopefully can resolve it.