Fix A Wrong Identity Match#

A file landed with the wrong title, year, or episode number. Search for the right identity, apply it, and lock it.

Step 1: Open the title#

In Library, select the poster. The title opens as its own page.

Quick checks before fixing:

• External IDs (in Edit › Details): if these point at the wrong record on TMDb, IMDb, or TVDB, every refresh has been pulling from the wrong record. This is usually the cause.
• Files (in Edit › Files): confirm the file path is the file you expected. If the file itself is wrong, not only the identity, the fix is different.
• Content type: if a TV episode was scanned in a folder whose Content type is movies, every scan tried to identify it as a film. Check the folder's Edit folder drawer on the Folders page.
• Check match: a hollow amber ring on the poster means the title was accepted with Fair confidence and never went to review. Library › Needs attention › Check matches lists them all. If the match is right, select This is correct in the Check match box on the title's page.

Step 2: Search for the right identity#

On the title's page, open ⋯ › Wrong match… (or ⋯ › Rescrape…); both open Rescrape. The search box already holds the current title, so you can type the right one straight away. In Library, the S key opens Rescrape for the selected titles, or for the focused one when nothing is selected.

The left column shows the current match with the reason MetaTana picked it, the file's name, year, and runtime, and Search by ID: type a TMDb or IMDb ID, or paste a provider link, then select Look up. That is the fastest fix when you know the right record. Otherwise, search by Title (Year) and pick from the results. Each result shows short reasons such as Exact title and year or Year 1995 vs 1996, and the current match is marked Current. See Pages: Inbox.

If the name alone isn't enough, select Ask AI Vision (Pro): it looks at frames from the file and suggests the identity. See Use AI Vision.

A title waiting in review because its title or year did not line up also has Ask AI (Pro): AI picks one of the search results and Use this match applies it. See Ask AI to pick the match.

Step 3: Apply the match#

Pick the right result and select Apply match (or press Enter). When the match would change no field you edited or locked, MetaTana applies it straight away and shows a toast with Undo. For a movie or episode, Undo restores the title exactly as it was, including values you edited or locked by hand, and puts back NFO and artwork files the apply replaced. For a show, Undo applies the previous match again. If the new match would change a field you edited or locked, or would replace an existing NFO, MetaTana opens Review changes first so you can decide field by field.

Want to see the changes every time? Select Review changes instead of Apply match. You'll see what would change (title, year, provider IDs, overview, artwork) before anything is written. NFO and artwork writes that follow show up in Activity.

Step 4: Lock the corrected identity#

The most important step. Without locks, a future scrape can point the provider IDs back at the wrong record.

Select Edit, find the external IDs on Details, and select the lock next to each correct ID. Save. Future scrapes leave these fields alone.

See Lock fields for how locks work.

Step 5: Rewrite the NFO#

MetaTana's database now has the right identity. The NFO on disk may still have the old one, and media servers reading the NFO will see the old value.

Fix it with ⋯ › Write NFO on the title's page, or Library › Needs attention › NFO out of date › Rewrite files for N for many titles at once.

What success looks like#

• The title's page shows the right title, year, and provider IDs
• The external IDs show closed locks in the editor
• A later rescrape leaves the locked fields untouched

Going deeper#

• Troubleshooting: wrong identity match: the diagnostic version of this recipe
• Lock fields: how locks work
• Re-scrape and review the diff: the rescrape flow on its own