Smart Builders allow Plex Meta Manager to create Smart Collections in two different ways.
## Smart Label
A Smart Label Collection is a smart collection that grabs every item with a specific label generated by the program. That label is added to all the items the Collection Builders find instead of being added to a normal collection.
To make a collection a Smart Label Collection,the `smart_label` attribute must added to the collection definition. It functions in two different ways:
1. Define the sort using the Movies/Shows column of the [Sorts Table](#sort-options) below along with any other builder to make that collection a Smart Label Collection.
2. Provide a whole `smart_filter` to determine exactly how the smart collection should be built, ensuring to include `label: <<smart_label>>`, which will link it to the collection labels.
This is extremely useful because smart collections don't follow normal show/hide rules and can eliminate the need to have [Plex Collectionless](plex.md#plex-collectionless) when used correctly. To fix the issue described in [Plex Collectionless](plex.md#plex-collectionless) you would make `Marvel Cinematic Universe` a Smart Label Collection and all other Marvel collection just normal collections, and they will show/hide all the movie properly.
To have the Smart Label Collections to eliminate Plex Collectionless you have to go all in on using them. A good rule of thumb to make sure this works correctly is that every item in your library should have a max of one non-smart collection.
Reach out on the [Plex Meta Manager Discord](https://discord.gg/TsdpsFYqqm) or in the [GitHub Discussions](https://github.com/meisnate12/Plex-Meta-Manager/discussions) for help if you're having any issues getting this to work properly.
## Smart Filter
Uses Plex's [Advanced Filters](https://support.plex.tv/articles/201273953-collections/) to create a smart collection based on the filter parameters provided.
Any Advanced Filter made using the Plex UI should be able to be recreated using `smart_filter`. If you're having trouble getting `smart_filter` to work correctly, build the collection you want inside of Plex's Advanced Filters and take a screenshot of the parameters in the Plex UI and post it in either the [Discussions](https://github.com/meisnate12/Plex-Meta-Manager/discussions) or on [Discord](https://discord.gg/TsdpsFYqqm), and I'll do my best to help you.
like Plex's [Advanced Filters](https://support.plex.tv/articles/201273953-collections/) you have to start each filter with either `any` or `all` as a base. You can only have one base attribute and all filter attributes must be under the base.
Inside the base attribute you can use any filter below or nest more `any` or `all`. You can have as many nested `any` or `all` next to each other as you want. If using multiple `any` or `all` you will have to do so in the form of a list.
There are a couple other attributes you can have at the top level only along with the base attribute are:
| `type` | **Description:** The Type of items inside this collection.<br>**Default:**<tableclass="clearTable"><tr><td>`movies` for Movies Libraries</td></tr><tr><td>`shows` for Show Libraries</td></tr><tr><td>`artists` for Music Libraries</td></tr></table>**Values:** `movies`, `shows`, `seasons`, `episodes`, `artists`, `albums`, or `tracks` |
| `limit` | **Description:** The max number of item for the filter.<br>**Default:** `all`<br>**Values:** `all` or a number greater then 0 |
| `sort_by` | **Description:** This will control how the filter is sorted in your library.<br>**Default:** `random`<br>**Values:** Any sort options for your filter type in the [Sorts Options Table](#sort-options) |
| `validate` | **Description:** Determines if a collection will fail on a validation error<br>**Default:** `true`<br>**Values**: `true` or `false` |
## Sort Options
| Sort Option | Description | Movies | Shows | Seasons | Episodes | Artists | Albums | Tracks |
| No Modifier | Matches every item where the date attribute is in the last X days<br>**Format:** number of days<br>**Example:** `30` | `is in the last` |
| `.not` | Matches every item where the date attribute is not in the last X days<br>**Format:** number of days<br>**Example:** `30` | `is not in the last` |
| `.before` | Matches every item where the date attribute is before the given date<br>**Format:** MM/DD/YYYY or `today` for the current day<br>**Example:** `01/01/2000` | `is before` |
| `.after` | Matches every item where the date attribute is after the given date<br>**Format:** MM/DD/YYYY or `today` for the current day<br>**Example:** `01/01/2000` | `is after` |
| `.gt` | Matches every item where the number attribute is greater then the given number<br>**Format:** number<br>**Example:** `30`, `1995`, or `7.5` | `is greater than` |
| `.gte` | Matches every item where the number attribute is greater then or equal to the given number<br>**Format:** number<br>**Example:** `30`, `1995`, or `7.5` | N/A |
| `.lt` | Matches every item where the number attribute is less then the given number<br>**Format:** number<br>**Example:** `30`, `1995`, or `7.5` | `is less than` |
| `.lte` | Matches every item where the number attribute is less then or equal to the given number<br>**Format:** number<br>**Example:** `30`, `1995`, or `7.5` | N/A |
| `duration` | Uses the duration attribute to match using minutes<br>**Minimum:** `1` | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| `plays` | Uses the plays attribute to match<br>**Minimum:** `1` | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| `episode_plays` | Uses the Episode's plays attribute to match<br>**Minimum:** `1` | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| `critic_rating` | Uses the critic rating attribute to match<br>**Range:** `0.0` - `10.0` | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| `audience_rating` | Uses the audience rating attribute to match<br>**Range:** `0.0` - `10.0` | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| `user_rating` | Uses the user rating attribute to match<br>**Range:** `0.0` - `10.0` | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| `episode_user_rating` | Uses the user rating attribute of the show's episodes to match<br>**Range:** `0.0` - `10.0` | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| `year` | Uses the year attribute to match<br>**Minimum:** `1` | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| `episode_year` | Uses the Episode's year attribute to match<br>**Minimum:**`1` | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| `album_year` | Uses the Album's year attribute to match<br>**Minimum:** `1` | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| `album_decade` | Uses the Album's decade attribute to match<br>**Minimum:** `1` | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| `album_plays` | Uses the Album's plays attribute to match<br>**Minimum:** `1` | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| `track_plays` | Uses the Track's plays attribute to match<br>**Minimum:** `1` | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| `track_skips` | Uses the Track's skips attribute to match<br>**Minimum:** `1` | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| `artist_user_rating` | Uses the Artist's user rating attribute to match<br>**Range:** `0.0` - `10.0` | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| `album_user_rating` | Uses the Album's user rating attribute to match<br>**Range:** `0.0` - `10.0` | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
If you specify TMDb Person ID's using the Detail `tmdb_person` and then tell either `actor`, `director`, `producer`, or `writer` to add `tmdb`, the script will translate the TMDb Person IDs into their names and run the filter on those names.
