Trash Panda Guides

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====== Media Library Structure Best Practices ======
A clean, predictable directory structure is the **foundation** of a stable media ecosystem. Plex, Sonarr, Radarr, Lidarr, and other automation tools all assume certain filesystem behaviors — and fighting those assumptions leads to broken imports, duplicate media, and long-term frustration.\\

This guide covers **directory layout best practices only**. File naming conventions, renaming rules, and application-specific settings are covered in their respective guides.

===== Design Goals =====
A well-designed media library structure should:\\
  * Be unambiguous to both humans and automation tools
  * Prevent media type overlap
  * Scale cleanly as libraries grow
  * Survive rebuilds of Plex or automation services
  * Avoid brittle, one-off layouts

The goal is **boring predictability**. If you ever need to re-point Plex or rebuild the ARR stack, the filesystem should require **zero rethinking**.

===== Core Principles =====
Follow these rules universally:

  * One media type per top-level directory
  * One logical library per directory tree
  * No mixed media types in the same path
  * No temporary or in-progress data in final library paths
  * Automation tools manage contents — not humans

Violating these rules almost always leads to:\\
  * Misidentified media
  * Incorrect imports
  * Broken Plex metadata
  * Difficult troubleshooting

===== Recommended Top-Level Layout =====
At the highest level, media should be separated by **type**, not quality, codec, or source.

Example:

  * /media/movies
  * /media/tv
  * /media/music

These paths should be treated as **final destinations only**. Nothing enters these directories unless it is ready to be consumed by Plex.

===== Movies Directory Structure =====
Movies should live in a **flat but organized** hierarchy.

Recommended structure:

  * /media/movies/Movie Title (Year)/
      * Movie Title (Year).ext

Why this works well:\\
  * Plex expects one movie per directory
  * Radarr manages movies at the folder level
  * Prevents subtitle and extra file collisions
  * Makes manual inspection trivial

Avoid:\\
  * Nesting by genre
  * Nesting by resolution (4K, 1080p, etc.)
  * Grouping multiple movies in a single directory

Quality and format decisions belong to **automation profiles**, not filesystem layout.

===== TV Shows Directory Structure =====
TV content is inherently hierarchical and should reflect that clearly.

Recommended structure:

  * /media/tv/Show Name/
      * Season 01/
          * Episode files
      * Season 02/
          * Episode files

Why this works well:\\
  * Plex relies on season-based hierarchy
  * Sonarr expects one show per root folder
  * Enables clean season upgrades and replacements
  * Keeps specials and extras manageable

Notes:\\
  * Season folders should always exist, even for single-season shows
  * Specials should be handled using standard season conventions
  * Avoid dumping episodes directly into the show root

===== Music Directory Structure =====
Music libraries benefit from **strict separation and consistency**, especially when managed by automation tools.

Recommended structure:

  * /media/music/Artist/
      * Album/
          * Track files

Why this works well:\\
  * Plex Music expects Artist → Album hierarchy
  * Lidarr manages artists and albums cleanly
  * Preserves album-level metadata and artwork
  * Avoids cross-artist collisions

Additional guidance:\\
  * Multi-disc albums should live under the same album directory
  * Compilations can be handled via artist naming rules
  * Soundtracks should be treated as albums, not playlists

===== Separation of Download, Staging, and Final Media =====
Never allow automation tools to download directly into final library paths.

Instead, maintain **three conceptual zones**:

  * Download directory (temporary, incomplete)
  * Staging/import directory (post-processing)
  * Final media library (read-mostly)

Only the final library paths should be exposed to Plex. This separation ensures:\\
  * Clean libraries
  * Predictable imports
  * Easy recovery from failed downloads
  * No partial or corrupted media appearing in Plex

===== Permissions and Ownership =====
Ensure consistent permissions across all media paths.

Best practices:\\
  * Plex and automation tools should have read/write access
  * Avoid mixing ownership models
  * Prefer group-based permissions
  * Avoid per-file manual permission changes

If permissions require constant fixing, the structure is likely wrong upstream.

===== What This Guide Intentionally Does NOT Cover =====
This page does **not** cover:\\
  * File naming formats
  * Episode numbering schemes
  * Metadata agents
  * Quality profiles
  * Import and rename settings

Those topics are covered in:\\
  * Sonarr configuration guide
  * Radarr configuration guide
  * Lidarr configuration guide
  * Plex library configuration guide

Keeping these concerns separate prevents overlap and confusion.

===== Design Philosophy Recap =====
A good media library structure should be:\\
  * Obvious
  * Boring
  * Automation-friendly
  * Easy to rebuild against

If your automation stack disappeared tomorrow, you should be able to:\\
1. Reinstall applications\\
2. Point them at the same directories\\
3. Resume operation without reorganization\\

If the filesystem gets out of the way, the ecosystem works as intended.