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AniList

Create and sync Plex collections from AniList user lists and curated browse lists. No API key required - homescreen-hero uses the public AniList GraphQL API to fetch anime data and matches it to your Plex library using the anime-lists mapping database.

Setup​

No API key or credentials needed. AniList is always available on the Integrations page as long as you have sources configured.

Adding a Source​

AniList supports two modes: User Lists and Public Lists.

User Lists​

Sync from any public AniList user's anime list (e.g., their "Watching", "Completed", or custom lists).

  1. Go to the Integrations page in the dashboard
  2. Under AniList, select the User Lists tab
  3. Enter the AniList username and click the fetch button to load their lists
  4. Select a list from the dropdown (e.g., "Completed", "Watching", or a custom list)
  5. Select which Plex library to sync to
  6. Adjust the collection name if needed (auto-filled from the list name)
  7. Click Add
tip

The user's AniList profile must be public for homescreen-hero to access their lists.

Public Lists​

Sync from AniList's curated browse lists - great for discovery collections.

  1. Under AniList, select the Public Lists tab
  2. Choose a browse list:
    • Trending - Currently trending anime
    • Popular - Most popular all-time
    • Top 100 - Highest rated anime
    • Most Favorited - Most favorited by users
    • This Season - Popular anime airing this season
    • Next Season - Upcoming anime for next season
  3. Select which Plex library to sync to
  4. Set the max items (10–500, default 100)
  5. Adjust the collection name if needed
  6. Click Add

How Syncing Works​

When you sync an AniList source, homescreen-hero:

  1. Fetches all anime from the AniList list via the GraphQL API
  2. Filters by format based on your target library type:
    • Show libraries: TV, TV Short, OVA, ONA, Special
    • Movie libraries: Movie
  3. Matches each anime to your Plex library using a multi-step approach:
    • Looks up the AniList ID in the anime-lists mapping database to get TMDb, IMDb, and TVDB IDs
    • Tries matching by TMDb ID first (most reliable)
    • Falls back to IMDb ID, then TVDB ID
    • Last resort: title + year search
  4. Creates or updates the Plex collection with all matched items
  5. Removes stale items - if something is removed from the AniList source, it gets removed from the collection on the next sync
  6. Tracks missing items - any anime on the list that aren't in your Plex library are logged and viewable from the dashboard
note

The anime-lists mapping database is cached locally and refreshed every 24 hours. Both modern (tmdb://, imdb://, tvdb://) and legacy Plex agent GUIDs are supported for matching.

Sync on Rotation​

AniList sources can be synced automatically every time a rotation runs, controlled by the same sync_all_on_rotation setting as the other integrations:

rotation:
  sync_all_on_rotation: true  # Sync all sources before each rotation

When disabled, only sources whose collection names match the selected rotation collections will be synced.

Missing Items​

After a sync, you can view which anime from the AniList source weren't found in your Plex library. Each missing item includes the title, year, media format, and a link to the anime's AniList page.

Automatic requesting of missing items via Radarr/Sonarr is planned for a future release.