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OpenSubtitles searches match only on moviehash; the TMDB lane returns nothing #270

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opened 2026-08-30 12:51:34 +01:00 by naps62-yolo · 0 comments
naps62-yolo commented 2026-08-30 12:51:34 +01:00
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Found while validating #268 against a real 2160p BluRay import of Batman Begins (movie 5, media file 23).

What happens

POST /api/media-files/23/subtitles/search returns zero candidates for every language, with no provider error:

{"candidates":[],"provider_errors":[]}

That is not credible for Batman Begins in English.

Evidence it is the TMDB lane, not the provider

The same search against two Rick and Morty episode files works — but returns exactly one candidate each:

media file language candidates
23 (Batman Begins, 2160p remux) en 0
23 (Batman Begins, 2160p remux) pt-PT 0
2 (Rick and Morty S01) en 1
13 (Rick and Morty S02) en 1

One candidate for a show that popular is the signature of a moviehash hit and nothing else. A working TMDB lane would return dozens. Batman is a 2160p remux with no hash match on file, so it falls back to the TMDB lane and gets nothing.

Suspected cause

crates/arr-subs/src/opensubtitles.rs:350 sends parameter names the API does not appear to define:

MediaRef::Movie { tmdb_id } => {
    params.push(("tmdb_movie_id".to_owned(), tmdb_id.to_string()));
}
MediaRef::Episode { tmdb_id, season, episode } => {
    params.push(("tmdb_series_id".to_owned(), tmdb_id.to_string()));

OpenSubtitles.com GET /subtitles documents tmdb_id for a feature and parent_tmdb_id alongside season_number / episode_number for an episode. tmdb_movie_id and tmdb_series_id are not names I could confirm in the API docs. An unrecognised filter would explain both lanes contributing nothing while moviehash still works.

This is a hypothesis, not a confirmed fix — I could not test the API directly, since the key is prod environment and not something to pull out. The check is one authenticated request comparing tmdb_id=272 against tmdb_movie_id=272.

Why it matters

opensubtitles is the only enabled provider, so today arr can only find a subtitle for a file whose hash OpenSubtitles already knows. Any release that is not a common encode gets nothing — silently, since an empty answer is not an error and reads in the queue as no_candidates.

It also blocks #268 end to end: the image-track deadlock is broken correctly and the lane does ask for an English source, but the search comes back empty so there is nothing to translate from.

Found while validating #268 against a real 2160p BluRay import of Batman Begins (movie 5, media file 23). ## What happens `POST /api/media-files/23/subtitles/search` returns zero candidates for **every** language, with no provider error: ``` {"candidates":[],"provider_errors":[]} ``` That is not credible for Batman Begins in English. ## Evidence it is the TMDB lane, not the provider The same search against two Rick and Morty episode files works — but returns *exactly one* candidate each: | media file | language | candidates | |---|---|---| | 23 (Batman Begins, 2160p remux) | en | 0 | | 23 (Batman Begins, 2160p remux) | pt-PT | 0 | | 2 (Rick and Morty S01) | en | 1 | | 13 (Rick and Morty S02) | en | 1 | One candidate for a show that popular is the signature of a `moviehash` hit and nothing else. A working TMDB lane would return dozens. Batman is a 2160p remux with no hash match on file, so it falls back to the TMDB lane and gets nothing. ## Suspected cause `crates/arr-subs/src/opensubtitles.rs:350` sends parameter names the API does not appear to define: ```rust MediaRef::Movie { tmdb_id } => { params.push(("tmdb_movie_id".to_owned(), tmdb_id.to_string())); } MediaRef::Episode { tmdb_id, season, episode } => { params.push(("tmdb_series_id".to_owned(), tmdb_id.to_string())); ``` OpenSubtitles.com `GET /subtitles` documents `tmdb_id` for a feature and `parent_tmdb_id` alongside `season_number` / `episode_number` for an episode. `tmdb_movie_id` and `tmdb_series_id` are not names I could confirm in the API docs. An unrecognised filter would explain both lanes contributing nothing while `moviehash` still works. **This is a hypothesis, not a confirmed fix** — I could not test the API directly, since the key is prod environment and not something to pull out. The check is one authenticated request comparing `tmdb_id=272` against `tmdb_movie_id=272`. ## Why it matters `opensubtitles` is the only enabled provider, so today arr can only find a subtitle for a file whose hash OpenSubtitles already knows. Any release that is not a common encode gets nothing — silently, since an empty answer is not an error and reads in the queue as `no_candidates`. It also blocks #268 end to end: the image-track deadlock is broken correctly and the lane does ask for an English source, but the search comes back empty so there is nothing to translate from.
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Reference: yolo/arr#270
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