Running a server

Naming your files

How Wren TV reads titles, years, seasons and episodes from file and folder names, and how to pin a match.

Wren TV works out what each file is from its name and folders, then looks it up on TMDB. Most downloads and rips already have names it understands. These conventions give the best results.

#Movies

Put each movie in its own folder named Title (Year):

textMovies/
├── Arrival (2016)/
│   └── Arrival (2016).mkv
├── Blade Runner 2049 (2017)/
│   └── Blade.Runner.2049.2017.2160p.UHD.BluRay.REMUX.HDR.HEVC.Atmos.mkv
└── The Matrix (1999).mkv

• The folder name wins when it has a year (or an ID tag), so the file inside can keep its release name.
• A loose file works too: The Matrix (1999).mkv directly in the library folder.
• Release tags are ignored: everything from the first tag such as 2160p, BluRay, REMUX, WEB-DL, HDR, DV, x265 or Atmos onwards is dropped from the title. Text in [brackets] and {braces} is ignored too.
• The year matters. It separates remakes (Dune 1984 and 2021). When a name contains several years, the last one counts, so 2001 A Space Odyssey (1968) is read as 2001 A Space Odyssey from 1968.

#More than one version

Put several files in the same movie folder and they become versions of one movie, with a picker when you press play:

textDune Part Two (2024)/
├── Dune Part Two (2024) - 2160p DV.mkv
└── Dune Part Two (2024) - 1080p.mkv

See Versions for how the player picks one.

#TV shows

Use a folder per show, optionally with season folders:

textTV Shows/
└── Severance (2022)/
    ├── Season 1/
    │   ├── Severance - S01E01 - Good News About Hell.mkv
    │   └── Severance - S01E02.mkv
    ├── Season 2/
    │   └── Severance.S02E01.2160p.WEB-DL.DV.mkv
    └── Specials/
        └── Severance - S00E01.mkv

• The show is the first folder under the library folder. Add the year when two shows share a name: Doctor Who (2005).
• Episodes are numbered with S01E02 (or s1e2, S01.E02), or 1x02.
• Multi-episode files like S01E01E02 or S01E01-E02 are read as one file spanning those episodes.
• Season folders can be named Season 1, Series 1, S1, Staffel 1 or Saison 1. Inside one, a file named Episode 3, Ep 3 or just starting with 03 is read as episode 3 of that season.
• Specials go in Season 0 or a Specials folder.

Season packs from torrents (Show.Name.S01.1080p.WEB-DL/…) are understood as well.

#Pinning the match with an ID

If a title keeps matching the wrong thing, put its TMDB or IMDb ID in the folder or file name. The ID wins over the title search:

textThe Office (2005) {tmdb-2316}/
Ghosts (2021) [imdbid-tt11379026]/
Arrival (2016) {imdb-tt2543164}.mkv

Any of these forms work: {tmdb-123}, [tmdbid-123], (tmdb=123), {imdb-tt1234567}, [imdbid-tt1234567]. You can also fix a match afterwards from the title's page with Fix match.

#Extras, samples and junk

Samples, Extras, Featurettes, Trailers, Behind the Scenes and Deleted Scenes folders, hidden files and NAS system folders are skipped. See what's skipped.