Inbox#

The Inbox is one list of the decisions only you can make. MetaTana files what it is sure about on its own. Everything that waits for your OK shows up here, grouped by kind.

What counts#

Inbox counts decisions, not background work. Library health warnings, metadata tasks, and unscraped titles are things MetaTana can work through itself, so they stay on Home and in the Library's Needs attention menu.

The tabs at the top filter the list: All, New, Pick, Duplicates, Renames, and Files to write, plus Review and Scrape sessions when something waits there. Search titles or files narrows it further.

Groups with nothing waiting are hidden. When nothing needs you, Inbox says Nothing needs you.

A new title stays out of the Library while it waits here, and shows up there once you approve it. See Library.

Why each match is listed#

Each match in a Pick row shows a confidence word and short reasons, for example Exact title and year, Year 1995 vs 1996, Runtime matches, or Runtime 12 min short. Runtime is checked for the top match only. Rescrape shows the same reasons under each result.

Act on several rows#

Select rows with their checkboxes, or a whole group from its header. The bar at the bottom says how many are selected, offers Select all N, and acts on all of them: Approve N for new files, Keep suggested (N) for duplicates, Approve N or Skip for renames, and Ignore for new and pick rows. For a large selection MetaTana asks first. Approve N new at the top approves every new file that is ready.

Review rows#

Each Review row without a suggested match shows one short line saying why the match needs you, for example "Two films share this title: Heat (1995) and Heat (1986). Pick one." or "The evidence is weak, so check this match." Open the title, then Rescrape…, to see the match and the reason beside the results; see Rescrape.

A title that Autopilot applies on its own in a later scan leaves Review, and the older Scrape Session that held it no longer shows as waiting.

Inbox also tells you when a matched show still needs episode numbers. Select Open, then Files › Set episode in the show. Other numbered files in that show keep their numbers.

Show all#

Show all on the New and Pick groups opens All arrivals in place, and on Duplicates the duplicate tools. All arrivals and Duplicate tools in the ⋯ menu at the top open them too, and Back to Inbox returns.

All arrivals#

Arrivals handles new files in incoming folders. When files land in a folder whose role is Incoming, Drop folder, or Disc copies, Arrivals waits until each file is complete, identifies it, picks a destination, and holds it for your approval. New files that wait for you are the rows under New and Pick; All arrivals is the full list behind them.

All arrivals shows every new file with its match, its confidence word, and where it will go. A row that is still being checked shows Processing; a row that stopped shows Blocked with the reason. Process Arrivals checks the incoming folders again now.

Decide a row quickly#

• Confidence in words. Each match shows Good, Fair, or Weak. Good means MetaTana would have accepted it on its own.
• Why this match. An opened row starts with a Why this match block: how the match was found (NFO, an ID in the file or folder name, a title search, AI, or the file name only), the evidence, other candidates and why they lost, the confidence word, and a note when the row needs you. See Library.
• Top matches. Open a row with Review and MetaTana lists its top 3 matches. Use saves that match and confirms the file. If no matches come back, the row offers Search instead. Top matches need a TMDb key or Pro. Without either, the row says so and offers Add TMDb key or Sign in for Pro.
• Search. Type a title and select Search. Use this on a result also saves the match and confirms the file in the same click.
• Approve all Good. Approves every row with a Good match in one step. Fair, Weak, unmatched, and blocked rows are left for you.
• Blocked rows say why they stopped in plain words (for example, the library drive is full or the file was moved) and what to do next. Fix it (folder permissions, free space, a moved file, a missing destination), then select Retry, or pick a match yourself. Ignore sets a row aside; it moves to Ignored.

New files wait for approval#

A folder watcher can't tell when a copy has finished, so MetaTana never files new arrivals on its own: every new file waits for you. Use Approve all Good to add every Good match in one step. Preview only (no file changes) in Settings › General › Scanning also keeps ready files waiting.

Follow-up steps run after you approve an arrival. Turn them on in Settings › General › After a title is filed: Refresh media servers, Subtitle search (Pro), Flag disc copies for follow-up, and Webhooks (Pro). Waiting in Inbox below them shows how many steps will and won't run for the files waiting now, and Show lists each one with its first blocking reason. Nothing runs until you approve. See Settings.

Before you have an incoming folder#

Until an incoming folder exists, All arrivals says No incoming folder yet and has one Add folder button. It opens the same Add folder flow as Home and Folders, with Incoming folder already picked. Choose the folder and select Scan folder. + Add incoming folder in the folder summary at the top opens the same flow. A folder added as a Library folder scans straight into the library and does not appear here.

Approved media needs a destination. If MetaTana cannot tell where sorted files should go, Arrivals shows Choose where sorted files go with Open Destinations, which opens Folders.

Duplicate tools#

Two files with the same identity may be accidental copies, separate editions, alternate cuts, or versions you intend to keep. Decide which before moving or removing anything; Find and resolve duplicates walks through it.

Duplicate tools in the Inbox menu holds the rest. Recent Duplicate Actions records keeper decisions, archive targets, protected items, affected library entries, and recovery state. Depending on the completed action, you may be able to undo, retry, or replay it. File-backed resolve actions use MetaTana's recoverable trash, so an available Undo Resolve can restore the file and library record together.

Protected Groups, Protected Deletes, and Protected Archives keep items that broad cleanup must not touch. Clear a protection only after confirming why it was created. Export Audit saves cleanup and protection evidence. Prune Stale removes only old finished history and stale protections, and keeps recent, undoable, and active protections.

Ignored#

Ignored N at the top of the Inbox opens everything you set aside: files you ignored, titles you ignored from Review, duplicate groups you kept with Keep both, renames you skipped, and folders set to Never for this folder. Sample clips MetaTana ignores on its own are not listed.

The tabs filter by kind (All, Files, Duplicates, Renames, Files to write), and you can search and sort. Restore on a row, or Restore N for a selection, puts each item back in the Inbox as it was. A skipped rename comes back with its plan. If one item can't be restored, the rest still are, and MetaTana says why.

Which episode is this file#

When the show is known but the episode is not, the Pick row says why and Compare… opens Rescrape episode. It lists the suggested answers first, each with a confidence word and a reason, for example:

• E05–E06 when the file's runtime fits two episodes together.
• E05 only for that one episode. This also clears a range set before.

Or pick by hand from the season's episodes (shift-click picks a range), Mark as special (Season 0), or Pick by air date (daily shows). The bottom of the dialog shows where the file will go, and the button names the choice, for example File as E05–E06. The toast after filing offers Undo.

A range you set by hand stays after the next scan, and a new file that holds two episodes is filed as both.

Rescrape#

Change… on a New row, and Rescrape… on a title's page, open Rescrape. Its left column shows:

• Match: the current match, its confidence word, and the reason MetaTana picked it.
• File info: the file name, the year in the name (or Not in the name), runtime, and video.
• Search by ID: type a TMDb or IMDb ID, or paste a provider link, then Look up. A plain number is read as a TMDb ID of the same kind (movie or show).

The results list marks the current match as Current and shows the reasons for each result.

Renames#

A folder added with Tidy into Movies and TV folders (or with that switch on in the folder's Edit folder drawer on Folders) gets rename proposals from Autopilot. In a folder whose Rename files in this folder is Ask first, nothing moves until you approve. Approving renames, one at a time or with Approve all, approves only those renames and never changes the folder's rename mode. To skip approval for a folder, set Rename files in this folder to Always in its Edit folder drawer on Folders. Waiting renames from every Autopilot run collect in one Renames group, counted once per file, so a later run never hides an earlier one. The Rename row on Home's Inbox card and the Autopilot receipt both link here.

1. Select Review renames. MetaTana reads the planned changes and says how many files change on disk, how many move to a different folder, and how many lose words from the filename, with examples.
2. Select Rename N files to run them, or not now to leave them waiting.

To decide file by file, use Approve or Skip on each row instead.

In a folder set to Always, Autopilot notes each file's size and time when it plans the rename and checks them again right before the move. A file that changed, or changed in the last minute, is held as still copying instead of being moved.

A rename held because the file was still being copied or was playing is retried automatically in folders that already rename on their own. MetaTana tries again after about 2 minutes, then 10 minutes, 30 minutes, and 2 hours; if it still can't, the rename stays here for you. A rename whose move was cut short, because the file was busy or the network share dropped mid-move, is retried on the same schedule. Renames that need your decision, such as a name clash or a folder MetaTana may not write to, are never retried on their own. In a Docker setup with separate web and background containers, a file being transcoded for playback counts as playing, so it is not moved mid-stream.

Renames held in folders that still need your approval are checked on the same schedule, but MetaTana never renames them itself: once the wait is over, they are ready here for you to approve. A held rename whose file is gone, for example because the copy finished under another name, is dropped, and the next scan proposes a new one. While every rename here is only waiting, Review renames says Nothing can be renamed yet and, for example, 3 planned renames are waiting: file was still copying.

If two runs proposed a rename for the same file, only the newest one runs. Every rename is saved in Activity under Show: Renames, where you can undo it. See Naming and organizing.

Badges#

The sidebar shows a count next to Inbox (everything waiting). The count updates after each action you take in Inbox or on Home, and about once a minute otherwise.

If MetaTana can't read one of the lists the count comes from, it never shows that as zero. The section says it couldn't load and offers Retry, and the badge keeps its last count with a ?.

Home's Inbox card shows one row for each kind of decision waiting, with one Review Inbox button, and each row opens its tab in the Inbox. See Home.

Going deeper#

• Triage what needs your attention
• Set up an Arrivals folder
• Library: where approved titles go
• Fix a wrong identity match
• Find and resolve duplicates