New episodes are missing metadata and duplicated in "Unknown" season #16381
Description
Description of the bug
Hello,
I would like to report a reproducible problem in Jellyfin 10.11.6 with a TV library that uses only local metadata.
Environment
- Jellyfin version: 10.11.6
- Library type: TV Shows
- Metadata source: local tvshow.nfo, season.nfo, episode.nfo
- Local images enabled
- Internet metadata providers disabled
- Internet image providers disabled
- “Update metadata from the Internet” disabled
The media files and NFO files are generated externally and are not edited manually inside Jellyfin.
Question
Is this a known issue in Jellyfin 10.11.6 with incremental scanning of newly added TV episodes that use local NFO metadata?
If useful, I can also provide example tvshow.nfo, season.nfo and episode.nfo files.
Thanks in advance.
Reproduction steps
- Create a TV library with local NFO files
- Let Jellyfin import the initial set of episodes
- Confirm that everything looks correct
- Add new episodes later, using the same folder/NFO structure
- Scan/refresh the library
- Observe that the new episodes:
- are incomplete in the correct season
- also appear duplicated in an extra "Unknown" season
What is the current bug behavior?
The initial library creation works correctly.
If I delete the whole library and create it again from scratch, all episodes are imported correctly with the expected metadata.
The problem appears only later, when the library already exists and I add new episodes.
For these newly added episodes:
- they appear in the correct season but they also appear again as duplicates in an extra "Unknown" season
- in that "Unknown" season, the entries have no useful metadata
- and even in the correct season, the newly added episodes are missing metadata: only title is present
So the same newly added episodes are effectively broken in both places.
What is the expected correct behavior?
When new episodes are added to an existing library, Jellyfin should read their local NFO files and import them correctly:
- correct title
- correct plot
- correct season number
- correct episode number
- no duplicate entries
- no extra "Unknown" season
Jellyfin Server version
10.11.6
Specify commit id
No response
Specify unstable release number
No response
Specify version number
No response
Specify the build version
10.11.6
Environment
- OS:
- Linux Kernel: Debian 13 from official docker release
- Virtualization: Docker
- Clients: LibreElec on Raspberry 4, Kodi in Linux Mint 22.3
- Browser: Firefox/Chromium
- FFmpeg Version: -
- Playback Method: -
- Hardware Acceleration: none
- CPU Model: AMD Ryzen 5 2400GE with Radeon Vega Graphics
- GPU Model: integrated in CPU
- Plugins:
- Reverse Proxy: none
- Base URL: http://jelly.fin
- Networking: Wired
- Jellyfin Data Storage & Filesystem: from official Docker Image
- Media Storage & Filesystem: NAS with ZFS-Share (EXT4)
- External Integrations: unknownJellyfin logs
...
[2026-03-10 09:00:56.600 +01:00] [INF] [205] Jellyfin.Plugin.KodiSyncQueue.EntryPoints.LibrarySyncNotification: Started library sync
[2026-03-10 09:01:02.918 +01:00] [INF] [205] Jellyfin.Plugin.KodiSyncQueue.EntryPoints.LibrarySyncNotification: Library Sync: Updated 2 items
[2026-03-10 09:01:02.919 +01:00] [INF] [205] Jellyfin.Plugin.KodiSyncQueue.EntryPoints.LibrarySyncNotification: Finished library sync, taking "00:00:06.3187142"
[2026-03-10 09:06:08.261 +01:00] [INF] [133] Emby.Server.Implementations.HttpServer.WebSocketManager: WS "10.1.1.3" closed
[2026-03-10 09:06:08.604 +01:00] [INF] [206] Emby.Server.Implementations.HttpServer.WebSocketManager: WS "10.1.1.3" request
[2026-03-10 09:24:49.841 +01:00] [INF] [116] Jellyfin.Plugin.KodiSyncQueue.EntryPoints.LibrarySyncNotification: Started library sync
[2026-03-10 09:24:55.110 +01:00] [INF] [116] Jellyfin.Plugin.KodiSyncQueue.EntryPoints.LibrarySyncNotification: Library Sync: Updated 1 items
[2026-03-10 09:24:55.111 +01:00] [INF] [116] Jellyfin.Plugin.KodiSyncQueue.EntryPoints.LibrarySyncNotification: Finished library sync, taking "00:00:05.2697117"
[2026-03-10 09:24:56.083 +01:00] [INF] [116] Emby.Server.Implementations.HttpServer.WebSocketManager: WS "10.1.1.3" closed
[2026-03-10 09:24:56.395 +01:00] [INF] [116] Emby.Server.Implementations.HttpServer.WebSocketManager: WS "10.1.1.3" request
[2026-03-10 09:25:18.126 +01:00] [INF] [108] Emby.Server.Implementations.HttpServer.WebSocketManager: WS "10.1.1.3" closed
[2026-03-10 09:25:18.441 +01:00] [INF] [119] Emby.Server.Implementations.HttpServer.WebSocketManager: WS "10.1.1.3" request
[2026-03-10 09:25:34.809 +01:00] [INF] [40] Emby.Server.Implementations.IO.LibraryMonitor: "Staffel 2026" ("/media/Video/YouTube/Aktuell (2026)/Staffel 2026") will be refreshed.
[2026-03-10 09:25:35.293 +01:00] [INF] [40] Emby.Server.Implementations.IO.LibraryMonitor: "Aktuell" ("/media/Video/YouTube/Aktuell (2026)") will be refreshed.
[2026-03-10 09:25:35.374 +01:00] [INF] [54] MediaBrowser.Providers.TV.SeriesMetadataService: Creating Season "Staffel unbekannt" entry for "Aktuell"
[2026-03-10 09:25:40.355 +01:00] [INF] [54] Jellyfin.Plugin.KodiSyncQueue.EntryPoints.LibrarySyncNotification: Started library sync
[2026-03-10 09:25:45.456 +01:00] [INF] [54] Jellyfin.Plugin.KodiSyncQueue.EntryPoints.LibrarySyncNotification: Library Sync: Updated 1 items
[2026-03-10 09:25:45.456 +01:00] [INF] [54] Jellyfin.Plugin.KodiSyncQueue.EntryPoints.LibrarySyncNotification: Finished library sync, taking "00:00:05.1011049"
[2026-03-10 09:32:18.914 +01:00] [INF] [99] Emby.Server.Implementations.HttpServer.WebSocketManager: WS "10.1.1.3" closed
[2026-03-10 09:32:19.229 +01:00] [INF] [167] Emby.Server.Implementations.HttpServer.WebSocketManager: WS "10.1.1.3" request
[2026-03-10 09:32:38.227 +01:00] [INF] [38] Emby.Server.Implementations.HttpServer.WebSocketManager: WS "10.1.1.3" closed
[2026-03-10 09:32:38.528 +01:00] [INF] [62] Emby.Server.Implementations.HttpServer.WebSocketManager: WS "10.1.1.3" request
[2026-03-10 09:32:40.491 +01:00] [INF] [99] Emby.Server.Implementations.HttpServer.WebSocketManager: WS "10.1.1.3" closed
[2026-03-10 09:32:40.798 +01:00] [INF] [130] Emby.Server.Implementations.HttpServer.WebSocketManager: WS "10.1.1.3" request
[2026-03-10 09:32:55.171 +01:00] [INF] [38] Emby.Server.Implementations.HttpServer.WebSocketManager: WS "10.1.1.3" closed
[2026-03-10 09:32:55.337 +01:00] [INF] [62] Jellyfin.Plugin.KodiSyncQueue.EntryPoints.LibrarySyncNotification: Started library sync
...FFmpeg logs
Client / Browser logs
No response
Relevant screenshots or videos
No response
Additional information
This does not look like a general NFO formatting issue, because the exact same files and exact same NFOs are imported correctly if I rebuild the whole library from scratch.
This seems specifically related to:
- incremental scan / refresh
- handling of newly added episodes
- local NFO metadata in an already existing TV library