Tracker to Media Server

Why syncing from a tracker into a media server is risky, and safer defaults for history and ratings.

Tracker to media server syncing is tempting. It is usually the wrong direction for history and ratings.

Plex has no supported way to backdate a play.

If CrossWatch writes History into Plex, Plex records watched_at as now.

This affects history sync and History capture restores.

That matters because when you later syncs history back from Plex to a tracker, CrossWatch send those Plex timestamps back to the tracker as if they were the real watch dates. This can overwrite the user’s historical watch timeline.

Why it is risky

Libraries change

Media servers rematch. Editions change. Specials move.

Pushed history and ratings can drift or vanish.

Trackers are a superset

A tracker knows everything you watched. Cinema counts. Streaming counts. Friends TVs count.

A media server only knows what is on disk. That is a subset.

Tracker to server writes history and ratings for items the server does not have. That creates weird outcomes.

Common failures:

• Ghost history appears later when you add the file.
• Flip-flops happen after rescans. History toggles.

When it can make sense

Limit this to watchlists. Keep history and ratings server-driven.

Examples:

• Use a tracker watchlist to drive what you want to download next.
• Use a tracker list as a "to watch" queue in Plex/Jellyfin.

What to do instead

Use these defaults:

• History: Media server -> tracker
• Ratings: Media server -> tracker
• Watchlist: start one-way. Move to two-way only after clean runs.

Related topics

• Best practices - recommended directions and defaults.
• Trackers vs. Media Servers - why the roles differ.