# FileBot CLI Command-line interface usage manual

## About

FileBot can be called with a set of command-line arguments directly from the console or in scripts for automation running tasks like renaming TV shows and movies, fetching subtitles or checking SFV files.

The CLI is designed for simple tasks. Please have a look at Scripts and Automation for something more powerful and find scripts for many common tasks here.

## Examples

### Rename

`filebot -rename path/to/episodes` Rename given episodes or movies.

`filebot -rename "One Piece" --db anidb -non-strict` Rename given episodes using AniDB episode info. Enable comprehensive Episode/File matching.

`filebot -rename "Generation Kill" --format "{n} E{e} [{t}]" -non-strict` Rename given episodes according to the given format. Enable comprehensive Episode/File matching.

`filebot -rename "1x01.avi" --q "Dexter" --db TheTVDB --lang de` Rename a single episode forcing the series name. Use German language episode info.

`filebot -rename "movie.avi" --q "Avatar" --db TheMovieDB` Rename a single movie looking up movie info via file hash or using the given movie title.

Keep in mind that the CLI is strict by default so it will never mess up your files. In some cases you may need to enable -non-strict for more opportunistic matching like the GUI does.

### Fetch Subtitles

`filebot -get-subtitles path/to/episodes` Fetch subtitles that are missing for the given files. Lookup matching subtitles via file hash only.

`filebot -get-subtitles path/to/movie --q "Avatar" --lang zh --output srt --encoding utf8 -non-strict` Fetch subtitles and force output format. Lookup subtitles via file hash or given search query.

### File Verification

`filebot -check path/to/files` Compute SFV file and automatically determine output file.

`filebot -check path/to/files --output checksum.md5` Compute checksums and write to the given output file.

`filebot -check path/to/checksum.md5` Check file integrity using the given checksum file.

### Scripting

`filebot -extract "300.part01.rar" --output path/to/folder` Extract files from single-volume or multi-volume archives (e.g. rar).

`filebot -list --db thetvdb --q Dexter --format "{s}x{e.pad(2)} {t}"` Fetch episode list and print to console.

`filebot -mediainfo path/to/files --format "{fn} {resolution} {vc} {af}"` Read media info and print to console.

`filebot -script "path/to/script.groovy" args...` Execute a given Groovy script. Find the manual on scripting here.

### Advanced Usage

Check out the FileBot Command-Line Examples on how to use find and xargs in combination with filebot and advanced options such as --db xattr and --filter for querying and processing media files and photos.

## Argument Reference source

Name | Description | Usage
--- | --- | ---
-rename | rename media files | media folder or media file
--db | database |
Series mode: TheTVDB, AniDB
Movie mode: TheMovieDB, OMDb
Music mode: AcoustID, ID3
--order | episode numbering | airdate | absolute | dvd
--format | naming scheme | format expression
--action | rename action | move | copy | keeplink | symlink | hardlink | test
--conflict | conflict resolution | override | skip | auto | index | fail
--filter | match filter rules | filter expression (e.g. y > 2000)
-get-subtitles | fetch missing subtitles | media folder or video file
--q | search query | force movie or series name
--lang | 2-letter language code | en, de, fr, es, ja, zh, ...
-non-strict | opportunistic match mode |
Rename mode: required for tricky filenames
Subtitle mode: enable fuzzy search
-r | traverse folders recursively |
-check | create or check sfv file | folder or sfv file
-extract | extract archives | folder or archive file
--output | output format or path |
Rename mode: output folder
Subtitle mode: srt (enable transcode non-srt subtitles)
Checksum mode: sfv, md5, sha256
--encoding | output charset | UTF-8, Windows-1252, GB18030, ...
-list | print episode list |
-mediainfo | print media info |
-script | execute script |
--mode | interactive | enable console-interactive mode
--log | log level | ALL | FINE | INFO | WARNING
-clear-cache | clear cache |
-clear-prefs | reset application settings |
-no-xattr | disable extended attributes |
-version | print version |
-help | print usage |

Need some help getting started? Check the forums.