The Maker is run by executing main.py using Python. The most basic commands for this are:

pipenv install
pipenv run python main.py -r

The first command (pipenv install) installs all the required Python packages. The second command (pipenv run python main.py -r) runs the Maker.

NOTE: If using the Docker container, then just launching the container with the default entrypoint will run the Maker.

All the runtime options (except --no-color) can be specified/changed within the Docker container by specifying environment variables. The following table details which environment variables are used to specify each option:

All of these can be specified like -e {variable}={value} (with {} omitted) in the docker run command. For example, to specify the preference file to something other than /config/preferences.yml, I'd add the following to my docker command:

-e TCM_PREFERENCES="/yaml_files/preferences.yml"

This file's -h or --help (help) menu is shown below:

pipenv run python3 main.py --help
usage: main.py [-h] [-p FILE] [-r] [-t HH:MM] [-f FREQUENCY[unit]] [-m FILE] [-l {DEBUG,INFO,WARNING,ERROR,CRITICAL}]
               [-nc]

Start the TitleCardMaker

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -p FILE, --preferences FILE, --preference-file FILE
                        File to read global preferences from. Environment variable TCM_PREFERENCES. Defaults
                        to "/mnt/user/Media/TitleCardMaker/preferences.yml"
  -r, --run             Run the TitleCardMaker
  -s, --sync, --run-sync
                        Sync from Sonarr/Plex without running
  -t HH:MM, --runtime HH:MM, --time HH:MM
                        When to first run the TitleCardMaker (in 24-hour time). Environment variable
                        TCM_RUNTIME
  -f FREQUENCY[unit], --frequency FREQUENCY[unit]
                        How often to run the TitleCardMaker. Units can be s/m/h/d/w for
                        seconds/minutes/hours/days/weeks. Environment variable TCM_FREQUENCY. Defaults to
                        "12h"
  -m FILE, --missing FILE, --missing-file FILE
                        File to write the list of missing assets to. Environment variable TCM_MISSING.
                        Defaults to "/mnt/user/Media/TitleCardMaker/missing.yml"
  -l {DEBUG,INFO,WARNING,ERROR,CRITICAL}, --log {DEBUG,INFO,WARNING,ERROR,CRITICAL}
                        Level of logging verbosity to use. Environment variable TCM_LOG. Defaults to "INFO"
  -nc, --no-color       Omit color from all print messages
  -tl FILE, --tautulli-list FILE, --tautulli-update-list FILE
                        File to monitor for Tautulli-driven episode watch-status updates. Environment variable
                        TCM_TAUTULLI_UPDATE_LIST.
  -tf FREQUENCY, --tautulli-frequency FREQUENCY, --tautulli-update-frequency FREQUENCY
                        How often to check the Tautulli update list. Units can be s/m/h/d/w for
                        seconds/minutes/hours/days/weeks. Environment variable TCM_TAUTULLI_UPDATE_FREQUENCY.
                        Defaults to "4m"

Specify the global preference file for configuring the Maker. If unspecified, the Maker looks for a file called preferences.yml within the local execution directory¹.

¹ Unless using the Docker container, which looks at /config/preferences.yml

Whether to run the TitleCardMaker right away. This is required to actually have the Maker do anything, unless using the --time argument.

Sync to any specified series YAML files without running the main TCM loop. This can be useful while you're setting up or debugging your sync setup.

Schedule the Maker to run on a set interval, starting on this time. Should be specified in military/24-hour time - i.e. 17:30 would be 5:30 PM, 09:00 is 9:00 AM. If specified, the Maker will never exit on it's own (unless an error occurs).

On what interval to run the Maker. This should be specified as INTERVAL[unit], with the acceptable units being s, m, h, d, and w for seconds, minutes, hours, days, and weeks respectively. For example, providing --frequency 12h would run the Maker every 12 hours, --frequency 1d is once a day.

Must be used in conjunction with the above -t/--time/--runtime argument. If provided on its own, nothing will happen!

File to write all missing assets to after the Maker has finished executing. If unspecified, the Maker writes to missing.yml within the local execution directory.

Minimum log level to use when executing the Maker. If unspecified, the Maker uses log level INFO. This must be one of DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR, or CRITICAL.

NOTE: This setting only adjusts the log level in the terminal/console, the Maker keeps a rolling scheduled log (up to 8 separate 6-hour log files) within the local logs directory of the Maker. This is always in DEBUG level.

Below are some examples of the types of messages printed at each log level.

Whether to disable color printing for messages output by the Maker. This should be enabled if your terminal / command prompt does not support color output, and the print outs have text like [33;20m before print statements.

Update file/list to monitor for immediate title card updating after an episode has been watched. The specific integration is detailed here, but this is the update.txt file, not the .sh file.

If using a Docker container, this file must be available within the container - i.e. if the file is at /mnt/user/appdata/tautulli/update.txt, this can be mounted as a path in the TitleCardMaker container at /tautulli/update.txt and then this variable would be --tautulli-update-list /tautulli/update.txt

On what interval the tautulli update list should be read for cards to remake. This should be specified as INTERVAL[unit], with the acceptable units being s, m, h, d, and w for seconds, minutes, hours, days, and weeks respectively. For example, providing --tautulli-update-frequency 60s would check the update file every 60 seconds.

If the update file is empty (i.e. no episodes have been watched), the Maker exits immediately and does not use any processing resources. Because of this, I recommend setting this to execute pretty often - depending on how quickly you want cards to be remade.

Must be used in conjunction with the above --tautulli-update-list argument. If provided on its own, nothing will happen!

In order to make "manually" creating images like title cards, show summaries, or genre cards, the mini maker should be used. It's functionality is detailed here

The Maker also has a few "fix"-related options, such as importing archives, downloading source images, etc. This functionality is detailed here.