vod2strm – Dispatcharr Plugin

A high-performance Dispatcharr plugin that exports your VOD library (Movies and Series/Episodes) into a structured filesystem of .strm and .nfo files for Plex, Emby, Jellyfin, or Kodi.

Overview

vod2strm transforms Dispatcharr's VOD database into media server-compatible .strm files without duplicating content. It runs entirely inside Dispatcharr using the Django ORM for performance and Celery for background jobs. If Celery isn't available, it gracefully falls back to background threads.

Features

Core Functionality

• Movies + Series Support: Generates .strm files pointing to Dispatcharr proxy endpoints (/proxy/vod/movie/{uuid} and /proxy/vod/episode/{uuid})
• NFO Generation: Creates movie.nfo, season.nfo, and SxxExx.nfo with TMDB/IMDB metadata
• Season 00 Specials: Automatically organizes season 0 episodes into "Season 00 (Specials)" folders
• Manifest Caching: Tracks generated files to skip unnecessary writes (protects SD cards/NAS from wear)
• Cleanup: Detects and removes .strm files for content no longer in the database (Preview or Apply modes)

Performance & Protection

• Adaptive Throttling: Monitors NAS write performance and dynamically adjusts concurrency to prevent I/O overload
• Smart Skipping: Instantly skips entire series when filesystem already matches database
• Batch Processing: Processes files in batches with progress logging
• Compare-Before-Write: Only writes when content changes (hash-based comparison for NFO files)

Automation

• Auto-run After VOD Refresh: Optionally trigger generation automatically when Dispatcharr refreshes VOD content (30-second debounce)

Debugging & Reports

• Dry Run Mode: Simulate generation without touching filesystem (testing)
• Database Statistics: View content counts and provider breakdown
• CSV Reports: Detailed action logs for every run (/data/plugins/vod2strm/reports/)
• Verbose Logging: Optional debug logs (/data/plugins/vod2strm/logs/vod2strm.log)

Output Structure

/data/STRM/
├── Movies/
│   └── Movie Name (2023)/
│       ├── Movie Name (2023).strm
│       └── movie.nfo
└── TV/
    └── Series Name (2021)/
        ├── Season 01/
        │   ├── S01E01 - Episode Title.strm
        │   ├── S01E01.nfo
        │   └── season.nfo
        └── Season 00 (Specials)/
            └── S00E01 - Special Title.strm

Settings

Setting	Type	Default	Description
Output Root Folder	Text	/data/STRM	Destination for .strm and .nfo files
Base URL (for .strm)	Text	http://dispatcharr:9191	URL written inside each .strm file
Use Direct URLs	Boolean	☐	Write provider URLs directly instead of Dispatcharr proxy URLs
Write NFO files	Boolean	✅	Generate NFO metadata alongside .strm files
Cleanup	Select	Off	Off / Preview / Apply – removes stale files
Max Filesystem Concurrency	Number	4	Maximum concurrent file operations (adaptive throttling adjusts automatically)
Adaptive Throttling	Boolean	✅	Auto-adjust concurrency based on NAS performance
Auto-run after VOD Refresh	Boolean	☐	Automatically generate files when Dispatcharr refreshes VOD content
Dry Run	Boolean	☐	Simulate without writing (testing mode)
Robust debug logging	Boolean	☐	Enable verbose logging to /data/plugins/vod2strm/logs/
Name Cleaning Regex	Text	(empty)	Optional regex to strip patterns from names (e.g., ^(?:EN|TOP)\s*-\s*)
Content Filter: Movie IDs	Text	(empty)	Comma-separated database IDs to include (e.g., 123,456). Empty = generate all
Content Filter: Series IDs	Text	(empty)	Comma-separated database IDs to include (e.g., 789,012). Empty = generate all

Content Filtering

Filter specific movies or series by database ID instead of generating everything.

Finding Content IDs

Content IDs are available in the Dispatcharr database. You can find them by:

• Browsing your Dispatcharr VOD library UI (IDs visible in URLs or via browser dev tools)
• Using database queries if you have direct access
• Using the Dispatcharr API

Using Content Filters

1. Get the database IDs for content you want to include
2. Add IDs to plugin settings:
   • Navigate to Plugins → vod2strm
   • Enter comma-separated IDs in Content Filter: Movie IDs: 123,456,789
   • Enter comma-separated IDs in Content Filter: Series IDs: 321,654,987
3. Generate .strm files: Click Generate All

Actions

Action	Description
Database Statistics	Shows content counts, provider breakdown, and series without episodes
Stats (CSV)	Writes summary CSV (counts from DB + filesystem)
Generate Movies	Builds .strm + NFO files for all movies
Generate Series	Builds .strm + NFO files for all series/episodes
Generate All	Runs Movies + Series generation plus optional Cleanup

Installation

1. Create plugin directory

mkdir -p /opt/dispatcharr/plugins/vod2strm

2. Copy files

vod2strm/
├── __init__.py
└── plugin.py

3. Restart Dispatcharr

Restart Dispatcharr or reload plugins via the UI.

4. Configure

Navigate to Settings → Plugins → vod2strm and configure your settings.

Reports & Logs

CSV Reports

/data/plugins/vod2strm/reports/report_<mode>_<timestamp>.csv

Columns: type, series_name, season, title, year, db_uuid, strm_path, nfo_path, action, reason

Logs

/data/plugins/vod2strm/logs/vod2strm.log

Rotating log files with debug information (when enabled).

Performance Tips

First Run (100K+ files)

• Adaptive throttling starts at 4 workers and adjusts based on your NAS performance
• Slow NAS (>200ms writes): Automatically reduces to 3→2→1 workers
• Fast NAS (<50ms writes): Increases up to your max concurrency setting
• Progress logged every 100 files: "Movies: processed 100 / 10000 (current workers: 3)"

Subsequent Runs

• Manifest caching skips writes for unchanged files (most files skip on 2nd+ runs)
• Only new content or changed metadata triggers writes
• Minimal SD card/NAS wear

Safety Notes

• ✅ Read-only access to Dispatcharr database (no modifications)
• ✅ Writes only within configured output root
• ✅ Compare-before-write prevents redundant I/O
• ⚠️ Cleanup → Apply permanently deletes stale files — use Preview first!
• ⚠️ First run on large libraries may take hours (adaptive throttling helps)

Troubleshooting

NAS appears "stuck" on first run

Expected behavior - Processing 100K files takes time. Check logs for progress:

Movies: processed 100 / 10000 (current workers: 3)
Adaptive throttle: NAS slow (avg 0.350s), reducing workers 4 → 3

Files not updating after VOD refresh

• Enable Auto-run after VOD Refresh for automatic generation
• Or manually click Generate All after refreshing content
• Check Database Statistics to verify content is in Dispatcharr

Some series missing episodes

• Use Database Statistics to find series without episodes
• Plugin auto-refreshes series with 0 episodes on first encounter
• Check Dispatcharr VOD refresh to ensure provider has episode data

Versioning

Semantic versioning: MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH

• Current: 0.0.10

License

MIT / Public Domain — use freely, attribution appreciated.

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Made for Dispatcharr | Report issues on GitHub