Normalize and enrich a home media catalogue

Why use this

1. A household media library can contain several releases with similar titles, alternative editions and inconsistent season naming. Renaming everything into a neat pattern may make browsing worse if the files are attached to the wrong work or if legitimate variants are removed.

2. A catalogue-change manifest could separate confident identity matches from ambiguous ones and preserve the old paths. The owner could review naming, artwork and collection proposals without treating similar names or file sizes as sufficient evidence for deletion.

Why an agent / simpler alternative

Useful judgment

Resolve naming inconsistencies while noticing alternate cuts, remakes and episodic structures that need owner judgment.

Simpler alternative

Use the media application's standard naming rules when titles and editions are already unambiguous.

Unsuitable when

The task includes obtaining unauthorized media or deleting files without verified identity and recovery arrangements.

Proposed inputs

1. Name

   Media inventory

   Owner

   Library owner

   Minimum scope

   Selected paths, filenames, sizes and existing metadata

   Quality check

   Preserve editions, language variants and episode identifiers.

2. Name

   Catalogue preferences

   Owner

   Household owner

   Minimum scope

   Naming rules, collection categories and artwork permissions

   Quality check

   Separate desired metadata from unverified title matches.

Access and setup — proposed or unknown

Proposed minimum

1. Read-only inventory export and proposed change manifest, without media-file access.

Compatibility unknowns

1. Unknown: current runtime, catalogue write support, scanner behavior and backup restoration.

External actions requiring approval

1. Renames, metadata writes, artwork downloads or uploads and separately reviewed destructive actions.

Expected deliverable and review checks

Proposed artifact

Old-to-new path mapping, metadata proposals, ambiguous matches and duplicate-review candidates.

Critical checks

1. Every proposed rename retains a unique reversible mapping.

2. Edition differences remain visible and no duplicate candidate implies deletion approval.

Missing output evidence

No new workflow run or output inspection is performed for this editorial layer. The linked implementation evidence retains the original source-specific outcome and artifact limits.

Failure signals and proposed responses

1. Signal

   Two releases with the same title receive one identifier.

   Why it matters

   Artwork and descriptions may be assigned to the wrong work.

   Proposed response

   Keep both unresolved until year, edition or owner evidence distinguishes them.

2. Signal

   A naming rule collapses multi-episode files.

   Why it matters

   The catalogue may hide episodes or create false gaps.

   Proposed response

   Flag the episode range and request an explicit supported naming convention.

Effort and cost — unknown

Setup work

1. Document naming rules and an original inventory snapshot.

Ongoing review

1. Resolve identity disputes and inspect catalogue changes.

Unknowns

1. Unknown: metadata-source costs, storage needs and restoration reliability.

First check — proposed, unexecuted

Status

proposed_unexecuted

Synthetic fixture

Six invented inventory rows include a remake, an alternate cut and a file containing two episodes.

Acceptance checks

1. Preserve all variants and episode coverage.

2. Produce only reversible proposals and unresolved match flags.

Stop conditions

1. Real media access, downloads, file moves or deletions are needed.

Limits

1. Catalogue normalization does not authorize deletion; recovery and identity checks require separate validation.