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API endpoint to scan a single library - Printable Version

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+--- Thread: API endpoint to scan a single library (/t-api-endpoint-to-scan-a-single-library)

API endpoint to scan a single library - alextruppel - 2025-02-12

Hi everyone! I know this can be used to trigger a scan of all libraries in Jellyfin:

Code:
http://jellyfin-ip-etc.../library/refresh?api_key=my-api-key

But is there a way to trigger a refresh of just a single library? This is because I have multiple libraries, some smaller libraries have new files being constantly added, whereas some large libraries almost never change and also take easily 1 hour or more to scan, not to mention that they pull 80MB/s from my NAS during the entire time of the scan. Ideally, I'd be able to trigger a re-scan of only some libraries when they change.

Thank you!

RE: API endpoint to scan a single library - TheDreadPirate - 2025-02-12

When I go to Dashboard > Libraries, and scan for updates on an individual library I see this in the browser developer console.

Code:
https://jellyfin-testing.domain.tld/Items/f137a2dd21bbc1b99aa5c0f6bf02a805/Refresh?Recursive=true&ImageRefreshMode=Default&MetadataRefreshMode=Default&ReplaceAllImages=false&RegenerateTrickplay=false&ReplaceAllMetadata=false

Looks like the library has an Items ID that you need to use?

RE: API endpoint to scan a single library - arjuan - 2025-03-31

The API documentation is a good place to start for this type of question Smiling-face

https://api.jellyfin.org/#tag/Library/operation/PostUpdatedMedia

Here's an example cURL query to update a specific library path:


curl -H "X-MediaBrowser-Token: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"Updates": [{"Path":"/path/to/folder/","UpdateType":"scan"}]}' https://jellyfin.example.com/Library/Media/Updated

RE: API endpoint to scan a single library - I-G-1-1 - 2025-07-11

I know this post is old, but to trigger a single Library scan thanks to "url scheme" suggested by TheDreadPirate I solved writing this script:

Code:
#!/bin/sh

# CHANGE THESE:
JELLYFIN_SERVER="http://192.168.1.1:8096"
API_KEY="<YOUR_API_KEY>"

echo "Retrieving available libraries..."

# Get the list of libraries from the Jellyfin server using the API key for authentication
LIBRARIES=$(curl -s -H "X-Emby-Token: $API_KEY" "$JELLYFIN_SERVER/Library/VirtualFolders")

# Extract the names of the libraries from the JSON response
NAMES=$(echo "$LIBRARIES" | grep -o '"Name":"[^"]*"' | sed 's/"Name":"\(.*\)"/\1/')
# Extract the IDs of the libraries from the JSON response
IDS=$(echo "$LIBRARIES" | grep -o '"ItemId":"[^"]*"' | sed 's/"ItemId":"\(.*\)"/\1/')

# Combine and print the name and ID of each library in a readable format
paste <(echo "$NAMES") <(echo "$IDS") | while IFS=$'\t' read -r name id; do
  echo "Name: $name | ID: $id"
done

echo
read -p "Enter the ID of the library to scan: " LIBRARY_ID

if [[ -z "$LIBRARY_ID" ]]; then
  echo "Library ID not provided. Exiting."
  exit 1
fi

echo "Starting scan of library $LIBRARY_ID ..."
# Send a POST request to trigger a scan/refresh of the specified library on the Jellyfin server
curl -X POST "$JELLYFIN_SERVER/Items/$LIBRARY_ID/Refresh?Recursive=true&ImageRefreshMode=Default&MetadataRefreshMode=Default&ReplaceAllImages=false&RegenerateTrickplay=false&ReplaceAllMetadata=false" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-Emby-Token: $API_KEY"

echo
echo "Scan started (check the Jellyfin dashboard for status)."

exit 0


RE: API endpoint to scan a single library - SenileOtaku - 2025-08-23

(2025-07-11, 03:13 PM)I-G-1-1 Wrote: I know this post is old, but to trigger a single Library scan thanks to "url scheme" suggested by TheDreadPirate I solved writing this script:

I tried the script but it failed at:

bin/refresh-jellyfin.sh: 35: Syntax error: "(" unexpected

that would be the line:
Code:
paste <(echo "$NAMES") <(echo "$IDS") | while IFS=$'\t' read -r name id; do

in the section:
Code:
# Combine and print the name and ID of each library in a readable format
paste <(echo "$NAMES") <(echo "$IDS") | while IFS=$'\t' read -r name id; do
  echo "Name: $name | ID: $id"
done


RE: API endpoint to scan a single library - Azruzagar - 2025-09-14

I ran into the same problem, but I gave the code to Chat-GPT to rewrite.

Code:
#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -o errexit
set -o nounset
set -o pipefail

JELLYFIN_SERVER="http://server_ip"
API_KEY="YOUR-API-Key"

trap 'printf "Script interrupted.\n" >&2; exit 1' INT TERM

fetch_libraries() {
    local response
    if ! response=$(curl -s -H "X-Emby-Token: $API_KEY" "$JELLYFIN_SERVER/Library/VirtualFolders"); then
        printf "Failed to retrieve libraries from Jellyfin server.\n" >&2
        return 1
    fi
    if [[ -z "${response//[[:space:]]/}" ]]; then
        printf "Empty response received from Jellyfin server.\n" >&2
        return 1
    fi
    printf "%s" "$response"
}

extract_names() {
    local data="$1"
    local names
    if ! names=$(printf "%s" "$data" | grep -o '"Name":"[^"]*"' | sed 's/"Name":"\(.*\)"/\1/'); then
        printf "Failed to extract names from JSON response.\n" >&2
        return 1
    fi
    if [[ -z "${names//[[:space:]]/}" ]]; then
        printf "No library names found in JSON response.\n" >&2
        return 1
    fi
    printf "%s" "$names"
}

extract_ids() {
    local data="$1"
    local ids
    if ! ids=$(printf "%s" "$data" | grep -o '"ItemId":"[^"]*"' | sed 's/"ItemId":"\(.*\)"/\1/'); then
        printf "Failed to extract IDs from JSON response.\n" >&2
        return 1
    fi
    if [[ -z "${ids//[[:space:]]/}" ]]; then
        printf "No library IDs found in JSON response.\n" >&2
        return 1
    fi
    printf "%s" "$ids"
}

print_libraries() {
    local names="$1"
    local ids="$2"
    paste <(printf "%s\n" "$names") <(printf "%s\n" "$ids") | while IFS=$'\t' read -r name id; do
        printf "Name: %s | ID: %s\n" "$name" "$id"
    done
}

scan_library() {
    local library_id="$1"
    if [[ -z "${library_id//[[:space:]]/}" ]]; then
        printf "Library ID not provided. Exiting.\n" >&2
        return 1
    fi
    printf "Starting scan of library %s ...\n" "$library_id"
    if ! curl -s -X POST \
        "$JELLYFIN_SERVER/Items/$library_id/Refresh?Recursive=true&ImageRefreshMode=Default&MetadataRefreshMode=Default&ReplaceAllImages=false&RegenerateTrickplay=false&ReplaceAllMetadata=false" \
        -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
        -H "X-Emby-Token: $API_KEY" >/dev/null; then
        printf "Failed to start scan for library %s.\n" "$library_id" >&2
        return 1
    fi
    printf "Scan started (check the Jellyfin dashboard for status).\n"
}

main() {
    printf "Retrieving available libraries...\n"
    local libraries names ids library_id
    libraries=$(fetch_libraries) || return 1
    names=$(extract_names "$libraries") || return 1
    ids=$(extract_ids "$libraries") || return 1
    print_libraries "$names" "$ids"
    printf "\n"
    read -r -p "Enter the ID of the library to scan: " library_id
    scan_library "$library_id" || return 1
}

main "$@"

Code:
Retrieving available libraries...
Name: TV | ID: 4514ec850e5ad0c47b58444e17b6346c
Name: Movies | ID: f137a2dd21bbc1b99aa5c0f6bf02a805

Enter the ID of the library to scan: e2c00f297a5f80af390f52f72e782147
Starting scan of library e2c00f297a5f80af390f52f72e782147 ...
Scan started (check the Jellyfin dashboard for status).