Naming shows and anime

TV Shows and Anime libraries are read the same way: a show holds seasons, and a season holds episodes. Credenza takes the show from a folder name and the season and episode from the file name or its folders, then matches the show on TMDB and fills in every episode beneath it.

The short version

One folder per show, one folder per season, and SxxEyy in every file name:

Shows/
├── Breaking Bad (2008)/
│   ├── Season 01/
│   │   ├── Breaking Bad - S01E01 - Pilot.mkv
│   │   └── Breaking Bad - S01E02 - Cat's in the Bag.mkv
│   ├── Season 02/
│   │   └── Breaking Bad - S02E01 - Seven Thirty-Seven.mkv
│   └── Specials/
│       └── Breaking Bad - S00E01 - Good Cop Bad Cop.mkv
└── Firefly (2002)/
    └── Season 1/
        └── Firefly.S01E01.Serenity.1080p.WEB-DL.mkv

The same file types as films are collected: .mkv, .mp4, .m4v, .avi, .mov, .ts and .webm by default, changeable under Settings → Server → Scanning.

The show

The show’s name comes from the nearest folder above the file that isn’t a season folder. That means you can group shows into bucket folders, and add folders like Disc 1 inside a season, without confusing it:

TV/
└── A-E/
    └── Breaking Bad/
        └── S01/
            └── Disc 1/
                └── S01E01.mkv

The show folder’s name is tidied the same way a film’s is: text in square or curly brackets and release details like 1080p or WEB-DL are dropped, and a season in the name is removed, so Show.Name.S01.1080p.WEB-DL and Taskmaster Series 9 read as Show Name and Taskmaster.

A year in the show folder is optional. It keeps apart two shows with the same name, such as Doctor Who (1963) and Doctor Who (2005), and helps choose between them on TMDB. It never stops a show matching: if the only TMDB show with that exact name premiered in a different year, Credenza still takes it.

A file sitting directly in the library folder, with no show folder, can still be read if its name has a season and episode, such as The Sopranos - S02E03.mkv; the show is the text before the marker. Give every show a folder anyway. Some things need one, like the match file that remembers a corrected match.

Seasons

A season can come from the file name or from a folder. When both say something, the file name wins.

These folder names are read as a season:

Folder	Season
Season 1, Season 01, season 1	1
Series 1	1
S1, S01	1
1, 01	1
Specials, Special	0
Season 2026, 2026	2026

Seasons numbered by year suit shows filed by broadcast year, like sport or news.

If nothing on the path names a season and the file name doesn’t either, the episode goes in season 1. The exception is anime-style absolute numbering, below.

Specials are season 0, from a Specials folder or from S00Exx in the name. They’re matched against the show’s specials on TMDB.

Season folders are only created from what’s in them: an empty Season 4 folder adds nothing.

Episode numbers

Any of these in a file name is understood, in any capitalisation:

In the name	Season	Episode
S01E05, S1E5, s01e05	1	5
S01.E05, S01 E05, S01_E05	1	5
1x05, 01x05	1	5
S01E123	1	123
S2026E24	2026	24
E05, Ep05, Episode 5	from the folder, or 1	5

Inside a show folder, a plain number also works, such as 05 - Title.mkv, Show - 05.mkv or Show 05 - Title.mkv. The show’s own name is skipped first, so an episode of Show 2 named Show 2 - 05.mkv is episode 5. A season stated in the name without an E, like S2 - 09, Season 2 - 09 or 2nd Season - 09, is read as season 2, episode 9.

A year or a resolution is never read as an episode number, so Show (2019) - 07 is episode 7 and 1080p is ignored.

The episode title is whatever follows the number: Firefly - S01E01 - Serenity.mkv is titled Serenity until TMDB’s details arrive.

Multi-episode files

A file holding more than one episode is one entry covering all of them, shown as S01E05-E06. Write the range closed up:

The Wire S01E05E06.mkv
The Wire S01E05-E06.mkv
The Wire S01E05-06.mkv
The Wire S01E05-S01E06.mkv
Show S02E01E02E03.mkv

S01E05 - 06 with spaces around the hyphen isn’t a range. Spaces there are read as the start of an episode title, as in Show - S01E01 - 2 Broke Girls.

Two copies of one episode

Two files for the same episode, like a 720p and a 1080p copy, are filed as one episode with two files, and the largest one plays. See Scanning.

What isn’t recognised

These files are left out of the library and counted as not recognised on the library’s last scan:

• Episodes named by date, like The Daily Show - 2024-01-15.mkv.
• Files with no episode number at all, such as Behind the Scenes.mkv or Trailer.mkv.
• A plain number with no show folder above it, like 05 - Something.mkv in the library folder itself.

Put bonus material in an Extras, Featurettes, Behind the Scenes, Deleted Scenes, Trailers or Samples folder so it isn’t looked at at all.

Anime

An Anime library reads everything above, and copes with the way fansub releases are usually named:

Anime/
└── Frieren (2023)/
    └── Season 1/
        ├── [SubsPlease] Frieren - 01 (1080p) [A1B2C3D4].mkv
        ├── [SubsPlease] Frieren - 02v2 (1080p) [5E6F7A8B].mkv
        └── [SubsPlease] Frieren - NCOP1 (1080p).mkv

• A leading group tag like [SubsPlease] or [Erai-raws] is skipped, so the number after the show’s name is found correctly.
• A revision suffix like 02v2 is read as episode 2.
• Episode numbers up to four digits work, such as [Group] One Piece - 1085 (1080p).mkv.
• Openings, endings and promos are left out: creditless NCOP and NCED, OP, ED, PV, CM, menus, previews and trailers. A show whose own name starts with one of those words, like Ed, Edd n Eddy, is still read correctly.

Name the show folder plainly after the show. A folder still carrying a release group’s name or other tags is the usual reason an anime series lands on Needs matching.

Season folders or absolute numbering

Anime is often numbered straight through, 1 to 500, where TMDB splits the same show into seasons. Credenza handles both, depending on how you file it.

Filed in seasons — season folders, or SxxEyy in the names — it’s matched exactly like any other show: season 2 episode 1 is TMDB’s season 2 episode 1. This is the most predictable way, and the one to use if you’re organising from scratch.

Numbered absolutely — episode files straight inside the show folder, with no season anywhere on the path or in the name:

Anime/
└── Cowboy Bebop/
    ├── Cowboy Bebop - 001.mkv
    ├── Cowboy Bebop - 002.mkv
    └── Cowboy Bebop - 026.mkv

Credenza records each file’s absolute number. When the show is matched, it works out where each number falls among TMDB’s seasons and gives every episode the right title and details. It uses TMDB’s curated absolute order for the show when one exists, and otherwise lays TMDB’s seasons end to end, leaving out specials.

Your files keep your numbering: the show appears as one season with episodes numbered as they are on disk. Only each episode’s title and other details come from where TMDB files it.

Caution

Don’t mix the two. A plain number inside a season folder is read as the episode within that season, so absolutely-numbered files in a Season 2 folder become season 2 episodes 13, 14 and so on, which TMDB probably doesn’t have. Either use season folders with each season numbered from 1, or no season folders at all.

Renaming later

A show’s identity is its folder name, and its year if it has one. Renaming the show folder so it reads differently makes a new show on the next scan; the old one is left with its episodes marked file missing, and you can remove it.

To point a show at a particular TMDB entry, add its id to the show folder’s name, such as Breaking Bad [tmdbid-1396], or pick it in the app with Fix match…. See Fixing matches.