Install and maintain plugins

Silo is in active development before 1.0. These guides are updated frequently.

Plugins add providers and integrations to your server, such as metadata, skip markers, requests, scan sources, and sign-in. Silo installs the official TMDB, TVDB, and TheIntroDB plugins when it starts, as long as it can reach the plugin catalog. They need no configuration, so movie and series metadata and skip markers work on a new server. Install other plugins when you want an extra provider or integration.

Install from the catalog

1. Open Admin > Integrations > Plugins and choose the Catalog tab.
2. Search for the plugin. Read its description, publisher, and version.
3. Choose Install. For a community or external plugin, confirm with Install plugin. The plugin appears under Installed. If the install fails, the message says why, such as a download that didn’t match the catalog’s SHA-256 checksum or a plugin with no build for your server’s platform. Try again only if the message says to; the other failures repeat until the plugin or its catalog changes.
4. Open the plugin. If it shows Finish setting up, fill in the listed settings and save them.
5. Try it in the feature that uses it: match one library item or run one scan source.

Some providers also need to be selected in the library or feature settings, for example in a library’s Provider Priority. Sign-in plugins are set up and turned on in Admin > Sign-in & Security > Sign-in; see Set up single sign-on.

Choose sources you trust

Each plugin’s page, and its tile under Installed, show where it came from:

• Silo maintained: published by the Silo project.
• Approved community: reviewed by Silo maintainers, then maintained and supported by its author. Turn on Include approved community plugins to add these to the catalog.
• External source: from a repository you added under Repositories. Silo hasn’t reviewed it.
• Unverified: not linked to any of your catalogs, because it was installed with Install from a file or its repository was removed. Silo can’t verify it and never checks it for updates.

Repositories and files add code from other publishers, so review who publishes it first.

Catalog installs are checked against the catalog’s checksum. That confirms the download matches the catalog entry; it tells you nothing about what the plugin does.

Install a plugin from a file

Use a test server for an unpublished plugin. Review its source first: Silo runs the file to read its manifest during installation.

1. Open the Catalog tab on Admin > Integrations > Plugins and find Install from a file.
2. Choose Choose plugin file… and select the file built for your server’s operating system and processor.
3. Choose Upload. The plugin appears under Installed as Unverified.
4. Configure it and try it on test data.

Silo never checks an uploaded plugin for updates, so its page shows Updated by upload where other plugins have the Updates menu. To update it, upload the new version the same way.

Update or turn off a plugin

Check for updates on the Plugins page looks for new versions. On a plugin’s page, the Updates menu chooses Update automatically, Ask before updating, or Don’t check for updates.

If you turn off Include approved community plugins with a community plugin installed, or choose Disable for an external plugin’s repository under Repositories, Silo stops checking that plugin for updates. The plugin keeps running. Its tile and page show Updates paused instead of the menu, and its page has a notice linking to the Catalog tab. Turn the catalog or repository back on there, and the plugin’s Updates setting applies again.

To update by hand, open the More actions menu and choose Update to the new version. Read the release notes first if the plugin handles storage, credentials, or library changes.

To investigate a failing integration, turn the plugin off with its Enabled switch before you uninstall it. Turning off a metadata provider stops future matches from it; items already in the catalog stay.

Report a plugin problem to the plugin’s own project. Include the plugin and server versions and the error, but not your API key.