By default vodmatic finds new files on its next scan, which runs on the interval you set. If you use Sonarr, Radarr or anything that can call a URL when a download finishes, you can have it in the portal within seconds instead.
The webhook address
Settings › Webhook. Your instance has a private address of the form:
https://yourid.vodmatic.livlost.net/hook/<your-token>
The token is the whole of the security. Treat it like a password: anybody with it can make your instance scan. You can rotate it from the same screen, which immediately invalidates the old one.
Setting it up in Sonarr or Radarr
- Settings › Connect › add a Webhook.
- Paste the address above as the URL.
- Method: POST.
- Triggers: On Import and On Upgrade. Leave the rest off — a rename or a health check is not new media.
- Save, and use Sonarr's own Test button. You should see the call appear on your Activity screen.
No configuration beyond the URL is needed. vodmatic reads what Sonarr and Radarr send and works out what arrived; if it cannot, it falls back to scanning the folder.
Anything else that can call a URL
A plain POST to the address is enough, with no body at all. A download script can end with:
curl -fsS -X POST https://yourid.vodmatic.livlost.net/hook/<token>
That queues a scan of your folders. Sending the path of the new file, when you know it, is faster still — but the bare call works.
Why a webhook is worth it
Work queued by a webhook is treated as somebody waiting for it, and goes ahead of the ordinary backlog. During a first import of twenty thousand files an ordinary new episode would sit behind all of them — hours. A webhook's file overtakes and is usually in the portal within a minute, and the import loses only the seconds it took.
Existing entries and new episodes
When a new episode is added to a series already in your portal, vodmatic can republish the programme so the portal notices it changed. There is a setting for this, with a delay so that a season arriving in twenty pieces does not republish twenty times in a row.
Checking it works
The Activity screen shows every webhook call, whether it recognised what was sent, and what it queued. If a call is not appearing there, the problem is between your downloader and us — check the URL, and that the token has not been rotated since you pasted it.
