Preprocessing Examples

This page provides ready-to-use configurations for common preprocessing scenarios. Copy these examples and adapt them to your needs.

Manga Library

Common patterns for manga directories that often include metadata in folder names.

Complete Manga Setup

Title Preprocessing Rules:

[
  {
    "pattern": "\\s*\\(Digital\\)$",
    "replacement": "",
    "description": "Remove (Digital) suffix",
    "enabled": true
  },
  {
    "pattern": "\\s*\\[English\\]$",
    "replacement": "",
    "description": "Remove [English] suffix",
    "enabled": true
  },
  {
    "pattern": "^\\[[^\\]]+\\]\\s*",
    "replacement": "",
    "description": "Remove [Scanlator] prefix",
    "enabled": true
  },
  {
    "pattern": "\\s*\\(\\d{4}\\)$",
    "replacement": "",
    "description": "Remove year in parentheses",
    "enabled": true
  },
  {
    "pattern": "\\s+v\\d+.*$",
    "replacement": "",
    "description": "Remove volume information",
    "enabled": true
  },
  {
    "pattern": "\\s{2,}",
    "replacement": " ",
    "description": "Normalize multiple spaces",
    "enabled": true
  }
]

Example Transformations:

Before	After
One Piece (Digital)	One Piece
[Viz] Naruto [English]	Naruto
Attack on Titan (2013)	Attack on Titan
My Hero Academia v01-v30	My Hero Academia

Auto-Match Conditions (Library Level)

Only auto-match series that:

• Have at least 1 book
• Don't have metadata locked

{
  "mode": "all",
  "rules": [
    {
      "field": "book_count",
      "operator": "gte",
      "value": 1
    },
    {
      "field": "metadata.title_lock",
      "operator": "not_equals",
      "value": true
    }
  ]
}

Comics Library

Common patterns for western comics with publisher and volume information.

Complete Comics Setup

Title Preprocessing Rules:

[
  {
    "pattern": "\\s*\\(\\d{4}\\)$",
    "replacement": "",
    "description": "Remove year suffix",
    "enabled": true
  },
  {
    "pattern": "\\s*\\(DC Comics\\)$",
    "replacement": "",
    "description": "Remove DC publisher suffix",
    "enabled": true
  },
  {
    "pattern": "\\s*\\(Marvel\\)$",
    "replacement": "",
    "description": "Remove Marvel publisher suffix",
    "enabled": true
  },
  {
    "pattern": "\\s*[Vv]ol\\.?\\s*\\d+.*$",
    "replacement": "",
    "description": "Remove volume suffix",
    "enabled": true
  },
  {
    "pattern": "\\s*-\\s*The Complete.*$",
    "replacement": "",
    "description": "Remove 'The Complete...' suffix",
    "enabled": true
  },
  {
    "pattern": "\\s*\\(TPB\\)$",
    "replacement": "",
    "description": "Remove TPB indicator",
    "enabled": true
  }
]

Example Transformations:

Before	After
Batman (2016)	Batman
Spider-Man (Marvel)	Spider-Man
X-Men Vol. 1 - Revolution	X-Men
Saga - The Complete Collection (TPB)	Saga

Ebooks Library

Common patterns for ebooks with author names and series information.

Complete Ebooks Setup

Title Preprocessing Rules:

[
  {
    "pattern": "^[^-]+\\s*-\\s*",
    "replacement": "",
    "description": "Remove 'Author - ' prefix",
    "enabled": true
  },
  {
    "pattern": "\\s*\\(.*?Series.*?\\)$",
    "replacement": "",
    "description": "Remove series indicator",
    "enabled": true
  },
  {
    "pattern": "\\s*#\\d+$",
    "replacement": "",
    "description": "Remove book number",
    "enabled": true
  },
  {
    "pattern": "\\s*\\[\\d+\\]$",
    "replacement": "",
    "description": "Remove book number in brackets",
    "enabled": true
  }
]

Example Transformations:

Before	After
Brandon Sanderson - Mistborn	Mistborn
The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive Series)	The Way of Kings
Harry Potter #1	Harry Potter
Dune [1]	Dune

Plugin-Specific Configurations

MangaBaka Plugin

Configuration for the MangaBaka metadata provider.

Search Query Template:

{{metadata.title}}

Search Preprocessing Rules:

[
  {
    "pattern": "^The\\s+",
    "replacement": "",
    "description": "Remove leading 'The'",
    "enabled": true
  },
  {
    "pattern": "\\s*:\\s*",
    "replacement": " ",
    "description": "Replace colons with spaces",
    "enabled": true
  }
]

Auto-Match Conditions:

Only match if not already matched by this plugin:

{
  "mode": "all",
  "rules": [
    {
      "field": "external_ids.plugin:mangabaka",
      "operator": "is_null"
    }
  ]
}

ComicVine Plugin (Hypothetical)

Example configuration for a ComicVine-style plugin.

Search Query Template:

Include year for better matching:

{{metadata.title}}{{#if metadata.year}} ({{metadata.year}}){{/if}}

Search Preprocessing Rules:

[
  {
    "pattern": "\\s*'s\\b",
    "replacement": "",
    "description": "Remove possessive apostrophe-s",
    "enabled": true
  },
  {
    "pattern": "&",
    "replacement": "and",
    "description": "Replace ampersand with 'and'",
    "enabled": true
  }
]

Advanced Scenarios

Multi-Language Library

For libraries with content in multiple languages:

Auto-Match Conditions:

Only match Japanese and English content:

{
  "mode": "all",
  "rules": [
    {
      "field": "metadata.language",
      "operator": "in",
      "value": ["en", "ja", "ja-JP"]
    }
  ]
}

Conservative Matching

For users who prefer manual matching for most content:

Auto-Match Conditions:

Only auto-match when confident (many books, no existing match):

{
  "mode": "all",
  "rules": [
    {
      "field": "book_count",
      "operator": "gte",
      "value": 5
    },
    {
      "field": "external_ids.count",
      "operator": "equals",
      "value": 0
    }
  ]
}

Publisher-Specific Matching

Different conditions for different publishers:

Example: Only match Dark Horse comics automatically

{
  "mode": "all",
  "rules": [
    {
      "field": "metadata.publisher",
      "operator": "contains",
      "value": "Dark Horse"
    }
  ]
}

Skip Completed Series

Don't re-match series that are already marked as completed:

{
  "mode": "any",
  "rules": [
    {
      "field": "metadata.status",
      "operator": "not_equals",
      "value": "completed"
    },
    {
      "field": "metadata.status",
      "operator": "is_null"
    }
  ]
}

Regex Reference

Common Regex Patterns

Pattern	Matches	Example
\\s*	Zero or more whitespace	Handles varying spacing
$	End of string	foo$ matches "foo" at end
^	Start of string	^foo matches "foo" at start
\\d+	One or more digits	Matches "2024"
\\(.*?\\)	Text in parentheses	Matches "(Digital)"
\\[.*?\\]	Text in brackets	Matches "[English]"
[^\\]]+	Any chars except ]	Non-greedy bracket content

Capture Groups

Use $1, $2, etc. to reference captured groups:

{
  "pattern": "^(.*?)\\s*\\(\\d{4}\\)$",
  "replacement": "$1",
  "description": "Keep text before year"
}

Before: Batman (2016) → After: Batman

Case-Insensitive Matching

Rust regex supports case-insensitive mode:

{
  "pattern": "(?i)\\s*\\(digital\\)$",
  "replacement": "",
  "description": "Remove (Digital) case-insensitive"
}

This matches (Digital), (DIGITAL), (digital), etc.

Testing Your Rules

Web UI Testing

1. Go to Library Settings → Preprocessing
2. Enter a test title in the preview field
3. See the transformed result in real-time
4. Adjust rules until the output is correct

API Testing

Use the API to test preprocessing without scanning:

curl -X POST "http://localhost:8080/api/v1/admin/test-preprocessing" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "title": "One Piece (Digital)",
    "rules": [
      {"pattern": "\\s*\\(Digital\\)$", "replacement": ""}
    ]
  }'

Troubleshooting

Rule Not Working

1. Check order: Rules are applied sequentially
2. Escape backslashes: JSON requires \\ for \
3. Test pattern: Use a regex tester first
4. Check enabled: Ensure enabled is true or omitted

Unexpected Results

1. Check previous rules: Earlier rules may have modified the string
2. Check anchors: Use ^ and $ for start/end matching
3. Check greedy vs lazy: Use .*? for non-greedy matching

Performance Issues

1. Limit complex patterns: Avoid excessive backtracking
2. Order by frequency: Put most common patterns first
3. Disable unused rules: Set enabled: false instead of deleting

Next Steps

• Preprocessing Rules Guide - Full reference
• Libraries & Scanning - Library setup
• Plugin Overview - Plugin system