# Subtitle acquisition process — v1

Last updated: 2026-05-10
Status: **v3.5** — four fetch paths (plugin / OS REST / Addic7ed / YouTube auto-CC). American Dad 49/58 + Sassy 5/5. v4 WhisperX planned (ROADMAP H5).

This recipe is written for Claude Code to execute. Each step lists the exact
command, what to verify, and what to do on failure. Background reference for
how Jellyfin and the OpenSubtitles plugin work together lives in
[`docs/03-subtitles.md`](../../docs/03-subtitles.md).

> **Current state:** [`COVERAGE.md`](COVERAGE.md) is the live audit
> (per-show + per-movie). Regenerate at any time:
>
> ```bash
> JELLYFIN_TOKEN=<admin-token> playbooks/subtitles/lib/audit-coverage.py
> ```
>
> Run after every fetch batch so the committed file stays accurate.
>
> **Read [`STYLE.md`](STYLE.md) first.** Every fetch must hit the
> bar set there: one English `.srt` per episode, plain (no SDH / no MT / no
> AI / no Forced), best-quality release. The picker logic in v1/v2/v3
> mirrors that bar; if a step would violate it, stop and ask before
> downloading.
>
> Stop-gap exception: when the only available source is the v3.5 YouTube
> auto-CC path (lowercase, censored, mangled names), ship the sub but
> **add the show to [`STOPGAP-SUBS.md`](STOPGAP-SUBS.md)** so v4 WhisperX
> picks it up later.

---

## Prereqs (verify before running)

| Check | How |
|---|---|
| OpenSubtitles plugin v20 installed + Active | `docker exec jellyfin ls /config/plugins | grep -i opensub` |
| Plugin creds saved (`Caveman5`) | `docker exec jellyfin grep -E 'Username\|CredentialsInvalid' /config/plugins/configurations/Jellyfin.Plugin.OpenSubtitles.xml` — expect `Caveman5` and `false` |
| TV library has `SaveSubtitlesWithMedia=true`, `SubtitleDownloadLanguages=["eng"]`, `RequirePerfectSubtitleMatch=false` | `curl -s -H "X-Emby-Token: $TOK" http://localhost:8096/Library/VirtualFolders` |
| Free-tier quota remaining today (≥ episode count, else plan multi-day) | `docker logs --tail 200 jellyfin 2>&1 \| grep "Remaining downloads" \| tail -1` (free = 20/day, resets 00:00 UTC) |
| Source files have audio language tag | `ffprobe` sample episode |

If any prereq fails, stop. Fix it before running the recipe.

---

## Step 1 — Probe the source

Pick one episode of the target show. Run `ffprobe` on it:

```bash
ssh user@192.168.0.100 'docker exec jellyfin /usr/lib/jellyfin-ffmpeg/ffprobe -hide_banner "<path-to-mkv>" 2>&1 | grep -E "Stream|Duration"'
```

Record in the run log:

- video codec + resolution + frame rate
- audio language tag(s)
- whether any subtitle streams are embedded
- container

Decide based on probe:

| Probe result | Branch |
|---|---|
| English audio, no embedded subs | "simple" path (this recipe) |
| Foreign-dub audio, no embedded subs | "foreign-dub" path (deferred to v?) |
| Embedded English subs already present | skip — Jellyfin will use them |
| Embedded PGS/VobSub bitmap subs | "OCR" path (deferred to v?) |

---

## Step 2 — Resolve series + episode IDs

```bash
TOK=<jellyfin-admin-token>
SERIES_NAME='American Dad'
ssh user@192.168.0.100 "docker exec jellyfin curl -s -H 'X-Emby-Token: $TOK' \
  'http://localhost:8096/Items?searchTerm=${SERIES_NAME// /+}&IncludeItemTypes=Series&Recursive=true&Limit=3'" \
  | python3 -c "import json,sys; [print(x['Id'],x['Name']) for x in json.load(sys.stdin).get('Items',[])]"
```

Record series Id. Then list episodes:

```bash
SERIES=<series-id>
ssh user@192.168.0.100 "docker exec jellyfin curl -s -H 'X-Emby-Token: $TOK' \
  'http://localhost:8096/Items?ParentId=$SERIES&IncludeItemTypes=Episode&Recursive=true&Fields=Path,ParentIndexNumber,IndexNumber'" \
  | python3 -c "import json,sys; [print(e['Id'],'S%02dE%02d'%(e['ParentIndexNumber'],e['IndexNumber']),e['Name']) for e in json.load(sys.stdin)['Items']]"
```

---

## Step 3 — Pick fetch path

Four paths, ordered cheapest-quota-cost-first:

| Path | Cost / day cap | Coverage | Tool |
|---|---|---|---|
| **v3 Addic7ed** | free, no daily cap (anon) | English-only; near-complete on broadcast US shows; spotty on animated specials / niche titles | `lib/sub-a7d-fetch.py` |
| **v2 OS REST** | 20 / day on free OS account | best overall coverage; survives any S/E numbering quirk via per-ep `imdb_id` | `lib/sub-rest-fetch.py` |
| **v1 plugin** | counts against same OS 20/day | only works when library numbering matches OS catalogue (e.g. fails on American Dad past S01E07) | `lib/sub-fetch.sh` |
| **v3.5 YouTube auto-CC** | free, ratelimited only | for shows distributed YouTube-first (no community subs anywhere); produces lowercase, no-punctuation, name-mangled subs — **stop-gap, violates STYLE.md** | `lib/sub-yt-fetch.sh` + `lib/yt-clean.py` |
| **v4 WhisperX (planned)** | local CPU/GPU time | full-quality auto-transcription, restores STYLE.md bar for niche shows | TBD `lib/sub-whisperx-fetch.py` (ROADMAP H5) |

Default: try **v3** first to spare quota; fall back to **v2** for episodes
v3 misses or for non-English needs. **v1** stays for shows where simple
plugin auto-fetch is enough. **v3.5** is the stop-gap when nothing exists
on community providers; **v4** replaces v3.5 once the GPU node is set up.

Quick check whether v1 plugin will suffice (skip the rest if yes):

1. Pick the first episode of season 2 in the library.
2. Run `curl -s -H 'X-Emby-Token: $TOK' 'http://localhost:8096/Items/$EP/RemoteSearch/Subtitles/eng'` (read-only).
3. If results > 0 — v1 works.
4. If results == 0 but the show exists on opensubtitles.com — numbering mismatch (e.g. American Dad: library uses Hulu S1=7 eps; OS uses different). Use **v3** then **v2** for misses.

---

## Step 4 — Fetch subs per episode

### v3 — Addic7ed (default, free)

```bash
JELLYFIN_TOKEN=<admin-token> \
OPENSUBTITLES_API_KEY=$HOME/.config/arrflix-opensubtitles-api.txt \
playbooks/subtitles/lib/sub-a7d-fetch.py <series-id> --season N [--start E] [--end E]
```

Pre-flight with `DRY_RUN=1`. The OS REST key is used only for search
(quota-free) to translate library S/E to the show's catalogue numbering.

### v2 — OpenSubtitles REST (fallback for v3 misses)

```bash
JELLYFIN_TOKEN=<admin-token> \
OPENSUBTITLES_API_KEY=$HOME/.config/arrflix-opensubtitles-api.txt \
OPENSUBTITLES_USER=Caveman5 \
OPENSUBTITLES_PASS=<password> \
playbooks/subtitles/lib/sub-rest-fetch.py <series-id> --season N [--start E] [--end E]
```

20 / day cap, resets at 00:00 UTC.

### v1 — Jellyfin plugin (when library numbering matches OS)

`lib/sub-fetch.sh` — see header for env. Counts against the same 20/day cap.

### Verify after each batch

```bash
ssh user@192.168.0.100 'ls "<media-dir>/" | grep -c eng.srt'
```

---

## Step 5 — Library scan + de-dup (v1 only)

If you used the v1 plugin path, the metadata-cache copy and the media-folder
sidecar both register as subtitle streams in Jellyfin (counted twice).
Delete the cache copies:

```bash
ssh user@192.168.0.100 'docker exec jellyfin bash -c "find /config/metadata/library -path \"*<show-name>*S0[1-9]E*.eng.srt\" -delete -print"'
```

v2 writes directly to the media folder so there is no cache copy to clean.

Trigger a validation-only refresh so Jellyfin sees the new sidecars:

```bash
ssh user@192.168.0.100 "docker exec jellyfin curl -s -X POST -H 'X-Emby-Token: $TOK' \
  'http://localhost:8096/Items/$SERIES/Refresh?MetadataRefreshMode=ValidationOnly&Recursive=true'"
```

Confirm one episode has exactly 1 external eng sub stream:

```bash
ssh user@192.168.0.100 "docker exec jellyfin curl -s -H 'X-Emby-Token: $TOK' \
  'http://localhost:8096/Items/<sample-ep-id>?Fields=MediaStreams'" \
  | python3 -c "import json,sys; subs=[s for s in json.load(sys.stdin).get('MediaStreams',[]) if s['Type']=='Subtitle']; print(len(subs),'sub streams')"
```

---

## Step 6 — Quality gate

For the run to pass:

- [ ] **Coverage**: every episode has a matching `<base>.eng.srt` sidecar
- [ ] **Sync sample**: at least one episode of each season is opened in
  Jellyfin web and subs visually align with audio (±1 s) on a known dialogue
  line
- [ ] **Flag check**: no `.sdh.srt`, `.forced.srt`, or `.hi.srt` files
  (machine pick should have filtered)
- [ ] **Stream count**: Jellyfin shows exactly 1 external eng sub per episode

If any check fails, log it in `runs/<show>.md` under "breakage" and propose
the recipe amendment in `CHANGELOG.md`.

---

## Quota hygiene

Free OpenSubtitles.com account = 20 downloads / day, resets 00:00 UTC.
Plan large series across multiple days, or switch to VIP (~$3/mo, unlimited).

Quota check:

```bash
ssh user@192.168.0.100 'docker logs --tail 200 jellyfin 2>&1 | grep "Remaining downloads" | tail -1'
```

When quota hits 0 the API returns 0 results, indistinguishable from a real
miss. Always check quota before declaring a "no subs" failure.
