Babel

Media Dub Detection & Upgrade Tool for Sonarr and Plex

Babel monitors your media library, detects sub-only episodes, and automatically searches for English dubbed versions through Sonarr. Named after the Tower of Babel — bridging the language gap in your media library.

Features

Core

• Automatic dub detection via Plex audio track analysis and ffprobe
• Smart upgrade searches with rate limiting, cooldowns, and max attempt caps
• Upgrade tracking — monitors downloads from search through import, auto-retries failures
• Stuck import resolution — detects and force-imports stuck Sonarr queue items (including ID mismatches)

Intelligence

• Dub availability lookup via MyAnimeList/Jikan — knows if a dub even exists before searching
• Dub status change notifications — alerts when a previously unlicensed show gets a dub
• Auto-overrides MAL when actual dubbed audio is detected in files

Integrations

• Sonarr: custom format creation, tag syncing, webhook support for instant upgrade detection
• Plex: audio indexing, collection management (Dubbed Anime, Sub-Only, etc.)
• Discord: webhook notifications for scan results and dub upgrades
• Sonarr webhook endpoint for real-time import awareness

Dashboard

• Polished dark-themed web UI with poster art and live scan progress
• Series browser with filter pills, search, sort, and pagination
• Activity feed with real-time download monitoring
• Dub Intelligence page with Recently Dubbed / Dub Expected / No Dub tabs
• Scan history with drilldown detail views
• Log viewer with level filtering
• All settings configurable via web UI

Quick Start

services:
  babel:
    image: therealshadoh/babel:latest
    container_name: babel
    ports:
      - "8686:8686"
    volumes:
      - babel-data:/app/data
    environment:
      - SONARR_URL=http://your-server:8989
      - SONARR_API_KEY=your-api-key
      - PLEX_URL=http://your-server:32400
      - PLEX_TOKEN=your-plex-token
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  babel-data:

docker compose up -d

Open http://localhost:8686 to access the dashboard.

Configuration

All settings can be configured via environment variables or the web UI Settings page.

Security

Babel has no built-in accounts and, by default, no authentication — anyone who can reach the port can view and change settings (including your Sonarr API key and Plex token). For anything beyond a trusted home LAN, do one of:

• Set AUTH_USERNAME + AUTH_PASSWORD to put the dashboard behind HTTP Basic Auth, or
• Put Babel behind a reverse proxy (Caddy, Traefik, Nginx Proxy Manager, etc.) that handles authentication.

GET /api/health and POST /api/webhook/sonarr are always reachable without Basic Auth credentials (health checks and Sonarr can't complete an interactive login) — set WEBHOOK_SECRET to authenticate the webhook instead.

Sonarr Webhook (Recommended)

For instant upgrade detection instead of waiting for scan cycles:

1. In Sonarr, go to Settings > Connect > + > Webhook
2. Name: Babel
3. URL: http://your-babel-container:8686/api/webhook/sonarr (append ?apikey=your-secret if WEBHOOK_SECRET is set)
4. Events: Enable On Import and On Upgrade
5. Click Save

Unraid Installation

1. In the Unraid web UI, go to Docker > Add Container
2. Set Repository to therealshadoh/babel:latest
3. Configure ports (8686), appdata path, and environment variables
4. Click Apply
5. Access the web UI at http://your-server:8686

How It Works

Scan Cycle:
  Sonarr ──> Fetch anime series + episodes
  │
  For each episode:
    ├── Check DB cache — unchanged files skip straight to their known status
    ├── Otherwise check audio tracks (Plex → ffprobe fallback; Plex's
    │   library index is only built the first time a scan actually needs
    │   it, so a cycle where nothing changed never touches Plex at all)
    ├── Classify: DUBBED / SUB_ONLY / MISSING
    └── If SUB_ONLY → trigger Sonarr search
  │
  Post-scan:
    ├── Check download queue status
    ├── Resolve stuck imports
    ├── Sync Sonarr tags + Plex collections
    └── Send Discord notifications

Webhook (real-time):
  Sonarr import event → re-check audio via ffprobe → resolve upgrade

Note: Sonarr is optional — with only Plex configured, Babel runs in a
read-only "Plex-only" mode (detection and collections, no searches).

API

Data & Backups

Everything Babel needs to keep is under /app/data (the babel-data volume in the Quick Start example): the SQLite database (babel.db) and rotating application logs (babel.log*). Back up that volume to preserve scan history, upgrade tracking, and settings saved via the web UI — the container itself is stateless otherwise.

Links

• Docker Hub
• GitHub
• Issues