Shownamer - The Ultimate Media Renamer

Shownamer is a powerful yet lightweight command-line tool written in Python that automatically renames your TV show, anime and movie files. It fetches accurate episode titles, release years, and other metadata from online sources like TVmaze, TMDB, OMDb, and anime metadata sources. transforming your messy filenames into a clean, consistent, and organized format.

Note

Fetches details and metadata from TVmaze, TMDb, OMDb API and Kitsu. No API Keys of further tweaking will be required to rename and handle TV Show files. For movies, you'll be prompted for a free OMDb and/or TMDb key on first use — either can be skipped. If a TMDb key is configured, TMDb is used ahead of OMDb automatically, falling back to OMDb if TMDb has no match.

The Philosophy

The philosophy behind Shownamer is simplicity. It's designed to work "out of the box" with minimal configuration. TV shows and anime require no API keys. Movie renaming can use a free TMDb and/or OMDb API key, with TMDb taking priority when configured and OMDb available as a fallback. It does one thing and does it well -- renaming your media files to make your collection look neat and tidy.

Installation

Installing Shownamer is as simple as running a single command. All you need is Python 3.7 or higher.

Using PIP

pip install shownamer

That's it! You're ready to start renaming your files.

Using PIPX

pipx install shownamer

Using UV

uv tool install shownamer

For the recommended installation, use uv or pipx. Both install in an isolated environment while making the command available globally.

Usage

You can use Shownamer by simply typing shownamer in your terminal. By default, it will scan the current directory for TV show files and rename them.

To see a list of all available options, you can use the --help flag:

shownamer --help

Arguments

Flag	Description
--dir	Specifies the directory where your media files are located. Defaults to the current working directory.
-m, --movie	Process movie files instead of TV shows.
--anime	Process anime files instead of TV shows. Use only with anime files.
--api-key	Your OMDb API key. Overrides the stored API key for the current invocation.
--tmdb-api-key	Your TMDb API key. Overrides the stored TMDb API key for the current invocation.
--ext	Specifies the file extensions to consider. Defaults to mkv, mp4, avi, mov, flv.
--dry-run	Preview changes without actually renaming or modifying files.
--verbose	Show detailed information while processing files.
--name	List detected media and their metadata instead of renaming them.
--format	Define a custom filename format using supported placeholders and optional zero-padding.
--char	Replace illegal filename characters with _, -, ., or another supported replacement.
--title	Embed the resulting media title into file metadata after renaming. Compatible with --format and --movie.
-h, --help	Print the help message and exit.
-v, --version	Print the current version and exit.

Examples

Rename TV Show Episodes

# Rename all supported video files in the current directory
shownamer

# Specify a directory
shownamer --dir "/path/to/your/shows"

# Only consider .mkv and .mp4 files
shownamer --ext mkv mp4

Rename Movie Files

The first time you run the movie command, you'll be prompted for a TMDb key, then an OMDb key. Either prompt can be skipped by entering n or leaving it blank — you don't need both, but having both enables richer metadata (see below). Whichever keys you provide are stored on disk and won't be asked for again.

Get a free TMDb key here: https://www.themoviedb.org/settings/api Get a free OMDb key here: https://www.omdbapi.com/apikey.aspx

If a TMDb key is configured, TMDb is used first for movie lookups; OMDb is only used as a fallback if TMDb has no key or no match for a title. If you also have an OMDb key stored, TMDb results get enriched with OMDb's Awards, Rotten Tomatoes, and Metacritic ratings automatically.

# Rename movie files in the current directory
shownamer --movie

# Provide an OMDb API key directly
shownamer --movie --api-key YOUR_OMDB_API_KEY

# Provide a TMDb API key directly (takes priority over OMDb once configured)
shownamer --movie --tmdb-api-key YOUR_TMDB_API_KEY

Rename Anime Episodes

Use --anime to process anime files. Anime mode has its own filename parser and metadata lookup and should only be used with anime files.

# Rename anime files in the current directory
shownamer --anime

# Use a specific directory
shownamer --anime --dir "/path/to/your/anime"

# Restrict the files that are scanned
shownamer --anime --ext mkv mp4

Dry Run and Verbose Mode

Use --dry-run to preview all changes without modifying files.

# Preview the changes without actually renaming any files
shownamer --dry-run

# Preview movie file renames
shownamer --movie --dry-run

# Preview anime renames
shownamer --anime --dry-run

# See detailed logs of what the tool is doing
shownamer --verbose

List Detected Media

# List all detected TV shows in the current directory
shownamer --name

# List all detected movies
shownamer -m --name

For TV shows, it prints: Show Name, Premiered, Ended, Status, Genres, Language, Country, Runtime, Main Cast, Rating, Summary, Total Seasons, Total Episodes, Local Collection Status (per season, with available/missing episode breakdown), Missing Seasons, and a Collection Summary.

user@device: shownamer --name
Show Name: Raising Hope
Premiered: 2010
Ended: 2014
Status: Ended
Genres: Comedy, Family
Language: English
Country: United States
Runtime: 30 min
Main Cast: Lucas Neff, Martha Plimpton, Garret Dillahunt, Shannon Woodward, Cloris Leachman
Rating: 7.9
Summary: At 23 years old, Jimmy Chance is going nowhere in life. He skims pools for a
         living, parties every night and still lives at home with his family,
         including his parents and his cousin, Mike. Jimmy's life takes a
         drastic turn when a chance romantic encounter with Lucy goes awry once
         he discovers she is a wanted felon. Months later, when Jimmy pays a
         visit to the local prison, he discovers Lucy gave birth to their baby,
         who he is now charged with raising.
Total Seasons: 4
Total Episodes: 88

Local Collection Status:
[!] Season 04: 15 / 22 episodes
    Available: Episodes 8-22
    Missing: Episodes 1-7

Missing Seasons: 01-03

Collection Summary:
Seasons Present: 1 / 4
Episodes Present: 15 / 88
---

For movies, it prints: Movie Name, Filename, Year, Director(s), Genre(s), Runtime, Rated, Released, Writer(s), Main Cast, Plot, Language(s), Country, Awards, IMDb Rating, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, Box Office.

user@device: shownamer --movie --name
Movie Name: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Filename: the.secret.life.of.walter.mitty.720p.mkv
Year: 2013
Tagline: Stop dreaming. Start living.
Director(s): Ben Stiller
Genre(s): Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Runtime: 114 min
Rated: PG
Released: 2013-12-18
Writer(s): Steven Conrad
Main Cast: Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Sean Penn
Plot: A timid magazine photo manager who lives life vicariously through daydreams
      embarks on a true-life adventure when a negative goes missing.
Language(s): en
Country: United Kingdom, United States of America, Australia, Canada, Iceland
Awards: 5 wins & 18 nominations total
IMDb Rating: 7.227
Rotten Tomatoes: 52%
Metacritic: 54/100
Box Office: $188,133,322
Production/Studio: Samuel Goldwyn Films, Red Hour, New Line Cinema,
                   Big Screen Productions, Down Productions,
                   Ingenious Media, 20th Century Fox, TSG Entertainment
---

Fields like Tagline and Collection only appear when the resolved source (TMDb, or OMDb enrichment) actually has a value for them — any field that comes back N/A is omitted from the listing rather than shown as empty.

Custom Filename Formatting

You can use the --format argument to define your own filename structure.

Available Placeholders:

• For TV Shows: {name}, {season}, {episode}, {title}, {year}
• For Movies: {name}, {year}, {director}, {genre}

Formatting Examples:

# Default TV show format: {name} S{season:02}E{episode:02} - {title}
# Output: The Office S01E01 - Pilot.mkv

# Custom TV show format
shownamer --format "{name} ({year}) - {season}x{episode} - {title}"

# Default movie format: {name} ({year})
# Output: The Green Knight (2021).mkv

# Custom movie format
shownamer --movie --format "{director} - {name} ({year}) [{genre}]"

# produces e.g, "The Office - S03E0007 - Branch Closing.mkv"
shownamer --format "{name} - S{season:02}E{episode:04} - {title}"

Numeric fields support zero-padding using Python-style format specifiers: {season:03}, {episode:02}, {season:06} etc. Only supported fields and numeric zero-padding format specifiers are accepted.

Title Embedding

Use the --title flag to write a title string directly into the file's metadata after renaming.

# Embed title metadata after renaming TV show files
shownamer --title

# Embed title metadata after renaming movie files
shownamer --movie --title

# Works alongside --format
shownamer --title --format "{name} ({year}) - {season}x{episode} - {title}"

# Preview what would be embedded without touching files
shownamer --title --dry-run

The title string embedded into the metadata follows this format:

Mode	Embedded Title Format	Example
Show	S{season:02}xE{episode:02} - {title}	S02xE05 - The Dinner Party
Movie	{name} ({year})	The Green Knight (2021)

When --format is used, the formatted filename string is embedded as-is instead of the defaults above.

FAQ

1. Are you open to fixing issues or adding new enhancements?

Absolutely! If an issue or enhancement is useful and fits the philosophy of the project, I'd be glad to consider it. Suggestions, bug reports, and feature requests are always welcome. If I don't respond to an issue, feel free to email me at amallalgi@protonmail.com

2. Does it fetch subtitles or cover images?

Nah! This tool only renames the video files with accurate episode titles as of now. Will I add this? Probably Not.

Contributions

For information about contributing to Shownamer, please see CONTRIBUTIONS.md. I'm always open to suggestions and ideas that can make Shownamer simpler, more useful, and better aligned with its philosophy.