Settings — Metadata
Sublarr enriches library entries with metadata from external providers so the UI shows posters, episode summaries, and accurate anime mappings. None of these are required for basic operation — search and download work without them — but configure them when you want polished UI tiles or anime-specific resolution.
TMDB (movies + TV)
Section titled “TMDB (movies + TV)”The Movie Database provides posters, summaries, and IMDB cross-references for both movies and shows. Sublarr uses TMDB primarily as a fallback when *arr metadata is sparse.
| Field | Effect |
|---|---|
| API key | Free tier is sufficient — register at themoviedb.org/settings/api. |
| Test | Round-trips a known movie ID. |
TVDB (TV)
Section titled “TVDB (TV)”TheTVDB is the canonical TV database. Useful when Sonarr’s metadata is stale or when you maintain an unofficial entry.
| Field | Effect |
|---|---|
| API key | TVDB v4 API key; free tier has rate limits but is usually sufficient. |
| PIN | Some account types require a subscriber PIN alongside the key. |
| Test | Calls /login then /series/<known>. |
AniDB (anime)
Section titled “AniDB (anime)”The most important metadata source for anime. Resolves AniDB IDs that subtitle providers like Jimaku and Kitsunekko use for episode-accurate matching. See AniDB for the full reference.
| Field | Effect |
|---|---|
| Enabled | Master toggle. When off, Sublarr falls back to anime-list mapping + offline dump. |
| Cache TTL (days) | How long online lookups stay cached. Default 30. |
| Custom field name | Sonarr/Radarr custom field for manual override. Default anidb_id. |
| Fallback to mapping | If live lookup fails, try the bundled anime-list.xml. |
Why a metadata provider matters
Section titled “Why a metadata provider matters”| Without any metadata | With TMDB | With AniDB (anime) |
|---|---|---|
| Generic fallback poster | Real poster from TMDB | — |
| “Series 1 Episode 1” labels | Episode title from TMDB | Episode title aligned to AniDB numbering |
| Show name string-match for providers | Same | AniDB ID match — providers return the right episode |
Cache behaviour
Section titled “Cache behaviour”All three providers cache aggressively (default 30 days for AniDB, 7 days for TMDB/TVDB). Cache lives at /config/cache/metadata/ and is cleared via:
| Action | Effect |
|---|---|
| Clear cache (button on this page) | Drops every cached entry; next lookups re-fetch. |
| Per-provider expiry | Lower the TTL when you want fresher data; raise to spare API quota. |
Quotas
Section titled “Quotas”Free tiers usually suffice. If your library is huge or you re-scan frequently:
| Provider | Quota |
|---|---|
| TMDB | 30 req/sec, ~ 50 req/min for /find endpoints. |
| TVDB | 1 req/sec on free tier. |
| AniDB | 1 req every 2 sec, hard-banned if exceeded. |
Sublarr’s metadata client respects these limits — if you see “rate limited” warnings in the logs, raising the cache TTL is the right knob.