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Getting Started

Unmanic is designed to automatically process your files by scanning your libraries and detecting work that needs to be done. When Unmanic identifies files that require processing, it schedules that work and executes it through a plugin-based system.

How Unmanic Works​

At its core, Unmanic monitors one or more libraries (directories containing your files) and determines which files need processing based on the plugins you configure. Plugins are modular components that you add to Unmanic and assign to individual libraries. Each library can have its own unique set of plugins, allowing you to tailor the processing workflow to the specific needs of different file collections.

When a file is identified as needing work, it is added to the pending tasks queue. Workers then pick up these tasks and execute the configured plugins in sequence, performing the series of operations you've defined. This plugin flow architecture gives you fine-grained control over exactly what happens to your files and in what order.

Setting Up Unmanic​

Getting Unmanic configured to process your files involves the following steps:

1. Determine Your Processing Goals​

Before configuring Unmanic, identify what work needs to be done on your library of files. Common use cases include transcoding video to a specific codec, converting audio formats, stripping unwanted subtitle tracks, or organizing files. Understanding your goals will guide which plugins you need.

2. Set Up Your Libraries​

Add one or more libraries to Unmanic, pointing each to a directory containing files you want to process. You can create multiple libraries for the same path if you need different plugin configurations for different file types. Configure each library's settings including file extensions to monitor and paths to ignore.

3. Install and Configure Plugins​

Browse and install plugins from the official repository or add custom plugin repositories. Plugins handle everything from file detection to processing to post-processing actions. Review the plugins overview to understand how plugins execute at different stages of task processing.

4. Add Plugins to Your Libraries​

Once plugins are installed in Unmanic, add them to your libraries in the order you want them to execute. Each library maintains its own plugin flow, so you can have different processing pipelines for different directories. Configure each plugin's settings as needed for your specific requirements.

5. Configure Workers​

Set up worker groups to control how tasks are processed. Workers are the processing engines that execute your plugin flows. You can create multiple worker groups with different configurations and associate them with specific libraries to optimize resource usage.

6. Enable File Discovery​

Configure how Unmanic discovers files that need processing:

  • Library Scanner: Configure the scanner to periodically scan your libraries for files that need processing.
  • Event Monitoring: Enable real-time file system monitoring to detect new or changed files immediately.
  • API Integration: Use Unmanic's API to programmatically add files to the processing queue.

Next Steps​

With Unmanic configured, you can monitor progress through the Dashboard, view active Workers, and review Completed Tasks.

For advanced setups involving multiple Unmanic installations, see the Link documentation to distribute processing across machines.