One-Way Sync

One-way sync in WatchState allows you to sync data from one backend to one or more other backends without affecting the data in the source backend. This is useful for scenarios where you want to back up your data or sync it to a different environment without modifying the original data.

Use Cases

You want to try Jellyfin, Plex, or Emby without changing your original data.
You want to keep your Jellyfin, Emby, or Plex backend in sync with your preferred media backend.
You’ve created a new media backend that doesn’t have your play state yet, and you want to sync it with your main backend.

How to Set Up One-Way Sync

Adding your backend with has the most accurate data

First, go to Backends and click on the Add Backend button. Follow the interactive setup guide. When you reach the step asking Export data to this backend?, disable it, this applies to your main backend as you don’t want to alter its data. Keep Import data from this backend? enabled, which will allow you to import data from the backend.

Enable the Force one time import from this backend? option to import your current data into WatchState. This will bring all the data from the backend into WatchState.

Note

It’s recommended to keep Create backup for this backend data? enabled. This will create a snapshot of your backend data so you can restore it if anything goes wrong. You can access backups from Tools > Backups.

Importing the Data

The import process may take some time, depending on the size of your library. To check the import status, go to the Backends page and check the last import date for the backend. If it shows the current time, the import is finished.

Alternatively, visit the Logs page and look at the task.YYYYMMDD.log file, or go to the More > Events page and look for the run_console events. The logs page is updated more frequently, so we recommend using it. Once the import is complete, you should see a message like this:

[DD/MM HH:mm:SS]: NOTICE: SYSTEM: Completed 'XXX' requests in 'XXX.XXX's for 'main' backends.

┌─────────┬───────┬─────────┬────────┐
│ Type    │ Added │ Updated │ Failed │
├─────────┼───────┼─────────┼────────┤
│ Movie   │ XXX   │ XXX     │ XXX    │
├─────────┼───────┼─────────┼────────┤
│ Episode │ XXX   │ XXX     │ XXX    │
└─────────┴───────┴─────────┴────────┘

Once the import is done, go to the History page to view the imported items. You can also navigate through the data to check its accuracy. Once satisfied, proceed to the next step.

Adding Other Backends

For each backend, follow these steps:

Step 1

Do exactly as you did for the main backend, but make the following changes:

Import data from this backend?: No
Import metadata only from this backend?: Yes
Export data to this backend?: Yes
Force Export local data to this backend?: This depends on your setup:
- If you have only one extra backend and have already imported your main backend data, select Yes and skip Step 2.
- If you have multiple backends, keep this option disabled and proceed to Step 2.

Important

Selecting the correct options is crucial to avoid altering the data in the main backend. The Import metadata only from this backend? option will only appear if you have Import data from this backend? disabled.

Step 2

You have two options:

Option 1 (One Extra Backend)

Go to the Backends page, and under the backend, there is a Quick operations list. Select 2. Force export local play state to this backend. Once selected, you'll be redirected to the More > Console page, where the command will be pre-filled for you. Just hit Enter or click the Execute button.

Option 2 (Multiple Backends)

If you have multiple backends, skip Step 2 for now and add all your backends. Once all backends are added, go to the Tools > Console page and run the following command:

state:export -fi -v -u main

This command will force export your locally stored play state to all export enabled backends. Once that’s done, proceed to the next step.

Enable Scheduled Tasks

If you’re happy with the setup and want to automate the process, go to the Tasks page. Enable the two tasks by toggling the sliders next to Import and Export.

To adjust how often the tasks run, go to the Env page, click on the Add button, and select the relevant environment variables: WS_CRON_EXPORT_AT and WS_CRON_IMPORT_AT. These variables accept CRON timer expressions. For example, to run the export task every 6 hours, set WS_CRON_EXPORT_AT to 0 */6 * * *.
For more info about CRON expressions, visit crontab.guru.

Important

The Import task can be resource-intensive, especially for large libraries. It may take some time to complete and could use a lot of CPU power. It’s recommended to run it a few times a day, with every 6 hours being a good starting point.

Enable Webhooks

For faster sync operations, you can enable webhooks. For more information, check out the webhooks guide.

Troubleshooting

TBA

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