anilist-mal-sync

anilist-mal-sync

Program to synchronize your AniList and MyAnimeList accounts.

Features

• Bidirectional sync between AniList and MyAnimeList (anime and manga)
• OAuth2 authentication
• CLI interface

Quick Start (Docker - 5 minutes)

Prerequisites

• Docker
• Accounts on AniList and MyAnimeList

Step 1: Create OAuth applications

AniList:

1. Go to AniList Developer Settings
2. Click "Create New Client"
3. Set redirect URL: http://localhost:18080/callback
4. Save the Client ID and Client Secret

MyAnimeList:

1. Go to MAL API Settings
2. Click "Create Application"
3. Set redirect URL: http://localhost:18080/callback
4. Save the Client ID and Client Secret

Step 2: Configure

Create config.yaml:

anilist:
  client_id: "your_anilist_client_id"
  client_secret: "your_anilist_client_secret"
  username: "your_anilist_username"
myanimelist:
  client_id: "your_mal_client_id"
  client_secret: "your_mal_client_secret"
  username: "your_mal_username"
token_file_path: ""  # Empty = auto-detect (recommended)

Step 3: Authenticate

docker run --rm -p 18080:18080 \
  -v $(pwd)/config.yaml:/etc/anilist-mal-sync/config.yaml:ro \
  -v $(pwd)/tokens:/home/appuser/.config/anilist-mal-sync \
  ghcr.io/bigspawn/anilist-mal-sync:latest login all

Follow the URLs printed in terminal.

Step 4: Sync

docker run --rm -p 18080:18080 \
  -v $(pwd)/config.yaml:/etc/anilist-mal-sync/config.yaml:ro \
  -v $(pwd)/tokens:/home/appuser/.config/anilist-mal-sync \
  ghcr.io/bigspawn/anilist-mal-sync:latest sync

Done!

Commands

Login/Logout options:

Sync options:

Watch options:

Interval can be set via --interval flag or in config.yaml under watch.interval.

For backward compatibility, running anilist-mal-sync [options] without a command will execute sync.

Configuration

Config file

Full config.yaml example:

oauth:
  port: "18080"
  redirect_uri: "http://localhost:18080/callback"
anilist:
  client_id: "your_client_id"
  client_secret: "your_secret"
  auth_url: "https://anilist.co/api/v2/oauth/authorize"
  token_url: "https://anilist.co/api/v2/oauth/token"
  username: "your_username"
myanimelist:
  client_id: "your_client_id"
  client_secret: "your_secret"
  auth_url: "https://myanimelist.net/v1/oauth2/authorize"
  token_url: "https://myanimelist.net/v1/oauth2/token"
  username: "your_username"
token_file_path: ""  # Leave empty for default: ~/.config/anilist-mal-sync/token.json
watch:
  interval: "24h"  # Sync interval for watch mode (1h-168h), can be overridden with --interval flag

Environment variables (optional)

Override sensitive values:

• PORT - OAuth server port (default: 18080)
• CLIENT_SECRET_ANILIST - AniList client secret
• CLIENT_SECRET_MYANIMELIST - MyAnimeList client secret
• TOKEN_FILE_PATH - Token file path (default: ~/.config/anilist-mal-sync/token.json)

Advanced

Install as binary

go install github.com/bigspawn/anilist-mal-sync@latest
anilist-mal-sync login all
anilist-mal-sync sync

Docker

Important: For Docker, set token_file_path: "" in config.yaml to use the container's home directory.

Pre-built image:

docker pull ghcr.io/bigspawn/anilist-mal-sync:latest

# Create tokens directory
mkdir -p tokens

# Login
docker run --rm \
  -p 18080:18080 \
  -v $(pwd)/config.yaml:/etc/anilist-mal-sync/config.yaml:ro \
  -v $(pwd)/tokens:/home/appuser/.config/anilist-mal-sync \
  ghcr.io/bigspawn/anilist-mal-sync:latest login all

# Sync
docker run --rm \
  -p 18080:18080 \
  -v $(pwd)/config.yaml:/etc/anilist-mal-sync/config.yaml:ro \
  -v $(pwd)/tokens:/home/appuser/.config/anilist-mal-sync \
  ghcr.io/bigspawn/anilist-mal-sync:latest sync

Docker Compose:

version: '3'
services:
  anilist-mal-sync:
    image: ghcr.io/bigspawn/anilist-mal-sync:latest
    ports:
      - "18080:18080"
    volumes:
      - ./config.yaml:/etc/anilist-mal-sync/config.yaml:ro
      - ./tokens:/home/appuser/.config/anilist-mal-sync

Scheduling

Built-in watch mode (Docker-friendly):

Run continuous sync with Docker Compose. Set interval in config.yaml:

version: '3'
services:
  sync:
    image: ghcr.io/bigspawn/anilist-mal-sync:latest
    command: ["watch"]
    volumes:
      - ./config.yaml:/etc/anilist-mal-sync/config.yaml:ro
      - ./tokens:/home/appuser/.config/anilist-mal-sync
    restart: unless-stopped

Or override with CLI flag:

command: ["watch", "--interval=12h"]

Interval limits:

• Minimum: 1 hour (to avoid API rate limits)
• Maximum: 7 days
• Format: 12h, 24h, 48h (hours only)
• Priority: CLI flag > Config file
• Interval must be specified via one of these methods

Alternative: External schedulers

For non-Docker setups, use your system's scheduler:

• Linux/macOS: cron or systemd timers
• Windows: Task Scheduler

Example cron entry (daily at 2 AM):

0 2 * * * /usr/local/bin/anilist-mal-sync sync

Troubleshooting

"Config file not found"

• Ensure config.yaml exists in current directory or use -c /path/to/config.yaml

Authentication fails

• Check redirect URL matches exactly: http://localhost:18080/callback
• Verify client ID and secret are correct
• Ensure port 18080 is not already in use

Sync appears frozen

• Both services have rate limits. Wait a few minutes and try again
• Use --verbose to see progress

Token expired

• Run anilist-mal-sync status to check
• Run anilist-mal-sync login all to reauthenticate

Disclaimer

This project is not affiliated with AniList or MyAnimeList. Use at your own risk.

TODO

• Sync favorites
• Sync MAL to AniList
• Sync rewatching and rereading