It is a folder containing artwork (posters and/or backgrounds) that is *typically* entirely separate to your media directories.
The only connection an asset directory has with your media directories is that the name of the folder your movie or series is in is the "asset name". Kometa uses that "asset name" as the **key** to find the artwork in the asset directory.
You **can** use your media directories as the asset directories (if for example you like to keep your artwork next to your media files), but this is not typical, nor is it required.
Kometa does not require direct access to your media directories in normal use, and it is typically run remote from the Plex server, which is why the asset directory is *typically* entirely separate.
If you want to apply artwork to movies and shows using the asset directory, the Kometa asset pipeline *requires* that your movies and shows are in folders of their own. The name that Kometa will use to look up the asset poster for a movie is the folder that the movie file is located in *on disk*, and each movie/show needs to have a unique asset name.
Assets can be stored anywhere on the host system that Kometa has visibility of (i.e. if using docker, the directory must be mounted/visible to the docker container).
For the sake of this document, we will assume that your assets folders are all based within the directory mapped to `config` within your Kometa environment.
* Kometa will not create the asset directories themselves; it will create folder *within* asset directories [if configured to do this], but not the asset directories themselves.
* You can specify an Image Asset Directory per Metadata/Playlist/Overlay File when calling the file. See [File Blocks](../../config/files.md) for how to define them.
Managed Collection and Playlist assets are applied whenever that collection/playlist is run. You do not have to specifically enable assets for these items; Kometa will always search for and apply them.
Item [movie/show/etc] assets and Unmanaged Collections assets have to be specifically enabled before Kometa will search for and apply them. Do this by enabling the `assets_for_all` Library Operation:
If you want to silence the `Asset Warning: No poster or background found in an assets folder for 'TITLE'` you can use the [`show_missing_assets` Setting Attribute](../../config/settings.md):
If a media item has an asset associated with it, that asset image is taken as the source of truth for what artwork the item should have, and the overlay pipeline will no longer download and back up the base artwork from Plex. Using the Asset Directory to assign custom art is the simplest and safest way to ensure that the overlay pipeline doesn't unexpectedly overwrite your custom artwork in Plex.
The table below shows the asset folder path structures that will be searched for. There are two options for how Kometa looks at the files inside your Asset Directories. Choose an option with the [`asset_folders` Setting Attribute](../../config/settings.md). Note that `asset_folders` is a toggle; you can't put some images in folders and some not in a context where it is enabled.
Assets can be stored anywhere on the host system that Kometa has visibility of (i.e. if using docker, the directory must be mounted/visible to the docker container).
`ASSET_NAME` is the mapping name used with the collection unless `name_mapping` is specified, in which case you would use what's specified in `name_mapping`.
* When `asset_folders` is set to `true` movie/show folders can be nested inside other folders, but you must specify how deep you want to search because the more levels to search the longer it takes.
