2026-08-20 09:38:30 -04:00

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Plex Media Library Statistics Generator

A production-quality Python 3 command-line tool for scanning Plex-style media libraries and generating CSV statistics about storage size versus total video duration.

Purpose

This tool analyzes media libraries (TV shows, anime, and movies) without requiring Plex itself or the Plex API. It operates directly on the filesystem and generates CSV reports showing:

Storage size (in bytes and GB)
Total video duration (in seconds and hours)
Storage efficiency (GB per hour of video)

The key innovation is incremental scanning with SQLite caching: after the first full scan, subsequent scans are fast because unchanged files are never re-probed with FFmpeg.

Features

✅ Supports TV shows, anime (treated as TV), and movies
✅ Automatic library type detection (override with --type)
✅ Persistent SQLite cache with change detection
✅ Fast incremental scans using file size + mtime signatures
✅ Comprehensive error handling (one bad file doesn't break the scan)
✅ Progress output during scanning and probing
✅ CSV output sorted alphabetically by series/movie
✅ Support for multiple libraries in a single database
✅ Per-video metadata stored for future feature expansion

Requirements

System

Linux (though Windows/macOS paths would work with minor adjustments)
Python 3.10+
FFmpeg with ffprobe installed

Python

Only Python standard library is used:

argparse (CLI argument parsing)
pathlib (filesystem operations)
sqlite3 (caching)
subprocess (invoking ffprobe)
csv (output generation)

Installation

Ubuntu / Debian

# Install FFmpeg
sudo apt update
sudo apt install ffmpeg

# Clone or download the tool
cd /path/to/media-scrapper

# Make the script executable (optional)
chmod +x plex_stats.py

# Test that ffprobe works
ffprobe -version

CentOS / RHEL

sudo yum install ffmpeg

macOS (using Homebrew)

brew install ffmpeg

Quick Start

Scan a TV library

python3 plex_stats.py /plex/tv --type tv --csv-prefix tv

Output:

tv_seasons.csv — one row per season
tv_series.csv — one row per complete series
plex_stats.db — SQLite cache

Scan an anime library

python3 plex_stats.py /plex/anime --type tv --csv-prefix anime

TV and anime use the same directory structure and CSV format.

Scan a movies library

python3 plex_stats.py /plex/movies --type movies --csv-prefix movies

Output:

movies_movies.csv — one row per movie folder

Re-scan (fast)

Run the same command again. Files that haven't changed will be cached and won't be re-probed:

python3 plex_stats.py /plex/tv --type tv --csv-prefix tv

Expected output:

Scanning /plex/tv...

Files discovered: 4,812
Cached/unchanged: 4,790
New:              17
Changed:           5
Removed:           3

Probing 22 files...
  [1/22] Breaking Bad...
  [2/22] Game of Thrones...
  ...

Scan complete.

TV shows:       163
Seasons:        691
Video files:    4,809
Total size:     6.82 TB
Total runtime:  3,921.4 hours

Unchanged:      4,790
New:            14
Changed:        5
Removed:        3
Errors:         0

CSV files written:
  tv_seasons.csv
  tv_series.csv

Database:
  plex_stats.db

CLI Options

usage: plex_stats.py [-h] [--type {tv,movies}] [--db DB] 
                     [--output-dir OUTPUT_DIR] [--csv-prefix CSV_PREFIX] 
                     [--force] [--verbose]
                     library_root

positional arguments:
  library_root          Path to media library root (e.g. /plex/tv)

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show help message
  --type {tv,movies}    Library type. If omitted, inferred from directory name.
  --db DB               Path to SQLite database (default: plex_stats.db)
  --output-dir OUTPUT   Directory for CSV files (default: current directory)
  --csv-prefix PREFIX   Prefix for CSV filenames (default: derived from root name)
  --force               Force ffprobe scan of all files (ignore cache)
  --verbose             Print verbose output

Usage Examples

Basic single-library scan

python3 plex_stats.py /plex/tv

Infers type as "tv", creates plex_stats.db in current directory, outputs tv_seasons.csv and tv_series.csv.

All three libraries with explicit prefixes

python3 plex_stats.py /plex/tv --type tv --csv-prefix tv
python3 plex_stats.py /plex/anime --type tv --csv-prefix anime
python3 plex_stats.py /plex/movies --type movies --csv-prefix movies

All use the same plex_stats.db, creating six CSV files:

tv_seasons.csv, tv_series.csv
anime_seasons.csv, anime_series.csv
movies_movies.csv

Centralized database and output directory

python3 plex_stats.py /plex/tv \
    --type tv \
    --db /var/lib/plex-stats/plex_stats.db \
    --output-dir /home/user/plex-reports \
    --csv-prefix tv

Force complete re-scan (e.g., after fixing bad ffprobe issues)

python3 plex_stats.py /plex/tv --force

Every file is re-probed. Useful if you suspect cache corruption or want to update all durations.

Verbose output

python3 plex_stats.py /plex/tv --verbose

Directory Structure

TV / Anime

/plex/tv/
├── Breaking Bad/                          <- Series name (first directory level)
│   ├── Season 01/                         <- Season folder (second level)
│   │   ├── Breaking Bad - S01E01.mkv
│   │   ├── Breaking Bad - S01E02.mkv
│   │   └── ...
│   ├── Season 02/
│   │   └── ...
│   └── Specials/                          <- Any season name is recognized
├── Game of Thrones/
│   ├── Season 01/
│   │   └── ...
│   └── Season 02/
│       └── ...

Season folder names are flexible:

Season 01, Season 1
Season 00 (for pilots/specials)
Specials, Special
S01, S1

The actual folder name found on disk is preserved in the CSV output.

Movies

/plex/movies/
├── Dune (2021)/                           <- Movie name (first directory level)
│   └── Dune (2021).mkv
├── Interstellar (2014)/
│   ├── Interstellar (2014).mkv
│   └── Interstellar (2014) - Extras.mkv   <- Multiple files per movie are aggregated

Recognized Video Extensions

The tool recognizes these file extensions (case-insensitive):

.mkv, .mp4, .m4v, .avi, .mov
.ts, .m2ts, .webm
.mpg, .mpeg, .wmv

Other files (subtitles, .srt, .sub, .idx, .nfo, images, metadata) are ignored.

CSV Output Format

TV Seasons (`*_seasons.csv`)

One row per season of a TV series:

Library,Series,Season,File_Count,Size_Bytes,Size_GB,Duration_Seconds,Duration_Hours,GB_Per_Hour
tv,Breaking Bad,Season 01,7,13786845020,12.84,20952,5.82,2.21
tv,Breaking Bad,Season 02,13,25887942819,24.11,38628,10.73,2.25
tv,Breaking Bad,Season 03,13,26943589405,25.10,38628,10.73,2.34
tv,Game of Thrones,Season 01,10,47129348901,43.91,41932,11.65,3.77
tv,Game of Thrones,Season 02,10,45219374812,42.13,41932,11.65,3.61

Library: Always "tv" for TV/anime
Series: Show name
Season: Season folder name as found on disk
File_Count: Number of video files in this season
Size_Bytes: Total bytes (numeric, for calculation)
Size_GB: Decimal gigabytes (1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes)
Duration_Seconds: Total duration in seconds
Duration_Hours: Total duration in hours
GB_Per_Hour: Storage efficiency (size / duration)

TV Series (`*_series.csv`)

One row per complete series, summing all seasons:

Library,Series,Season_Count,File_Count,Size_Bytes,Size_GB,Duration_Seconds,Duration_Hours,GB_Per_Hour
tv,Breaking Bad,5,62,128608176245,119.88,191500,53.19,2.25
tv,Game of Thrones,8,80,434328947123,404.56,334656,92.96,4.35

Season_Count: Number of seasons in the series
Other fields aggregate across all seasons

Movies (`*_movies.csv`)

One row per movie:

Library,Movie,File_Count,Size_Bytes,Size_GB,Duration_Seconds,Duration_Hours,GB_Per_Hour
movies,Dune (2021),1,4829348901,4.50,10680,2.97,1.51
movies,Interstellar (2014),2,6234919234,5.81,14400,4.00,1.45

Movie: Movie folder name
File_Count: Number of video files under the movie folder (includes extras)
Other fields aggregate all files

CSV Import to Google Sheets

All numeric columns remain numeric (not formatted as strings), so they import cleanly into Google Sheets:

Open Google Sheets
Click "File" > "Import" > "Upload"
Select the CSV file
Choose "Replace spreadsheet"
Numeric columns are automatically detected

SQLite Cache Database

Schema

The tool automatically creates and maintains a SQLite database with this schema:

CREATE TABLE media_files (
    id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
    path TEXT UNIQUE NOT NULL,
    library_root TEXT NOT NULL,
    library_type TEXT NOT NULL,
    show_movie TEXT NOT NULL,
    season TEXT,
    size_bytes INTEGER NOT NULL,
    mtime_ns INTEGER NOT NULL,
    duration_seconds REAL,
    scan_timestamp REAL NOT NULL,
    error_message TEXT
);

CREATE INDEX idx_library_root ON media_files(library_root);
CREATE INDEX idx_path ON media_files(path);
CREATE INDEX idx_show_movie ON media_files(show_movie);
CREATE INDEX idx_season ON media_files(season);

Per-Video Storage

Every video file is stored individually, not just aggregated season/movie totals. This enables future features like:

Per-episode statistics
Codec and resolution analysis
Average file size per series
Duplicate detection
Video quality metrics

Change Detection & Incremental Scanning

How It Works

File discovery: Walk the filesystem and list all video files.
Stat check: For each file, read stat() to get size and modification time.
Cache lookup: Check SQLite for this file's cached entry.
Decision logic:
- If cached entry exists AND size and mtime match → Reuse cache (no ffprobe)
- If cached entry exists BUT size or mtime differs → Re-probe (file changed)
- If no cached entry → Probe (new file)
- If cached entry is in SQLite BUT file no longer exists → Delete from cache

Why Size + mtime?

Size: Detects if video content changed
mtime (modification time): Detects if metadata or the file was touched
Together: Extremely fast check without hashing or reading file content
Safe: Works reliably for normal media workflows (copying files, minor edits)

Limitations

If you manually edit file bytes without updating mtime (unusual), the cache will not detect it. This is acceptable for media libraries.

Handling Unchanged, New, and Changed Files

Unchanged

ffprobe not called → instant retrieval from cache

New

File doesn't exist in cache → ffprobe called → database entry created

Changed

File exists but size_bytes or mtime_ns differs → ffprobe called → database entry updated

Removed

Cached file path no longer exists → removed from database
Note: Only scanned library root is checked. 
     Other libraries' files are not affected.

Forced Rescans

Use --force to ignore the cache and re-probe every file:

python3 plex_stats.py /plex/tv --force

This is useful if:

You suspect cache corruption
FFmpeg was updated and you want fresh probes
You want to update all durations to the latest ffprobe version

Forced rescans still respect the database schema and update all cached entries.

Error Handling

FFprobe Failures

If ffprobe fails on a specific file:

A warning is printed to console
The error is recorded in the database (error_message column)
The scan continues with other files
The file is eligible for retry on future scans

What's Not an Error

Permission denied reading a file → warning, continue
Corrupted video file → ffprobe fails, recorded, continue
Network timeouts on NFS → handled, continue

Error Summary

At scan completion, total error count is displayed:

Errors: 5

To see details, query the database:

sqlite3 plex_stats.db "SELECT path, error_message FROM media_files WHERE error_message IS NOT NULL;"

Database Management

View cached files for a library

sqlite3 plex_stats.db "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM media_files WHERE library_root = '/plex/tv';"

Export all files for a series

sqlite3 plex_stats.db "SELECT path, size_bytes, duration_seconds FROM media_files WHERE show_movie = 'Breaking Bad';"

Clear all cache for one library

sqlite3 plex_stats.db "DELETE FROM media_files WHERE library_root = '/plex/tv';"
sqlite3 plex_stats.db "VACUUM;"  # Reclaim disk space

Clear entire database

rm plex_stats.db

The tool will recreate it on the next run.

Performance Tips

First scan is slow: Thousands of ffprobe calls can take 10–30 minutes for large libraries.
Subsequent scans are fast: Usually under a minute if only a few files changed.
Use --force sparingly: Only when you have a specific reason.
Database is small: Even for 10,000+ files, SQLite database is typically < 1 MB.
CSV generation is instant: All heavy lifting is in the scanning phase.

Estimated Timeline

1,000 files: 3–10 minutes (first scan), 10–30 seconds (subsequent)
5,000 files: 15–50 minutes (first scan), 30–60 seconds (subsequent)
10,000 files: 30–90 minutes (first scan), 1–2 minutes (subsequent)

Varies based on filesystem speed, network latency (NFS/SMB), and average file size.

Multiple Libraries in One Database

All three examples below use the same plex_stats.db:

python3 plex_stats.py /plex/tv --type tv --csv-prefix tv
python3 plex_stats.py /plex/anime --type tv --csv-prefix anime
python3 plex_stats.py /plex/movies --type movies --csv-prefix movies

Database records are scoped by library_root, so:

Scanning /plex/tv only touches records where library_root = '/plex/tv'
Deletion detection only removes files that belong to that library
Each library can be scanned independently

This allows a single CSV output directory with files from multiple sources:

tv_seasons.csv       (from /plex/tv)
tv_series.csv        (from /plex/tv)
anime_seasons.csv    (from /plex/anime)
anime_series.csv     (from /plex/anime)
movies_movies.csv    (from /plex/movies)

Troubleshooting

ffprobe not found

Error: ffprobe was not found.

Install FFmpeg, for example on Ubuntu/Debian:

  sudo apt install ffmpeg

Solution: Install FFmpeg as shown in the error message.

Permission denied scanning directory

Warning: Could not access /plex/tv: Permission denied

Solution: Run with appropriate permissions:

sudo python3 plex_stats.py /plex/tv

Database locked

sqlite3.OperationalError: database is locked

Solution: Ensure only one instance of the tool is running. If multiple processes try to write simultaneously, wait for the first to finish.

CSV files not created

Check that the output directory exists and is writable:

python3 plex_stats.py /plex/tv --output-dir /tmp

Strange results in CSV

Verify the directory structure matches TV or movie format
Check for videos in unexpected locations
Re-scan with --force to regenerate all probes

Extending the Tool

The database stores per-video metadata, so future enhancements are straightforward:

Adding codec analysis

# Expand ffprobe query to include codec
ffprobe ... -show_entries stream=codec_name
# Add columns: video_codec, audio_codec
# Aggregate in CSV generation

Adding resolution tracking

# Query video stream height
ffprobe ... -show_entries stream=height
# Add columns: resolution, resolution_count

Per-episode breakdown

# Parse episode numbers from filenames
# Create *_episodes.csv with per-episode stats

All of this is possible without redesigning the cache because per-video data is preserved.

License

MIT License. Use freely.

Support

For issues or feature requests, consult the source code and modify as needed. The tool is designed to be maintainable and extensible.

Example complete workflow:

#!/bin/bash

# Install FFmpeg (first time only)
sudo apt install ffmpeg

# Create output directory
mkdir -p ~/plex-reports

# Scan TV library
python3 plex_stats.py /plex/tv \
    --type tv \
    --db ~/plex-stats.db \
    --output-dir ~/plex-reports \
    --csv-prefix tv

# Scan anime library
python3 plex_stats.py /plex/anime \
    --type tv \
    --db ~/plex-stats.db \
    --output-dir ~/plex-reports \
    --csv-prefix anime

# Scan movies library
python3 plex_stats.py /plex/movies \
    --type movies \
    --db ~/plex-stats.db \
    --output-dir ~/plex-reports \
    --csv-prefix movies

# View results
ls -lh ~/plex-reports/*.csv

# Import into Google Sheets:
# - Open Google Sheets
# - File > Import
# - Upload ~/plex-reports/tv_seasons.csv

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