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How to archive viewing history you control for Trakt migration users in 2026

Keep an archive of watched titles under your own control when migrating from Trakt, with Watcharr to hold the list.

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VLClean is published by the makers of Askarr and Watcharr, which are compared here alongside other tools.

A user moving away from Trakt can archive watched titles as a list they own and edit, keep that list where a tool can reach it, and use Watcharr to hold it as stable links that keep serving the last copy that loaded.

OptionHow it holds the archiveCost details
WatcharrThe user keeps a public IMDb list and Watcharr turns it into one Radarr link and one Sonarr link. [1]Cost details are not published.
Own spreadsheet or noteThe user records watched titles in a file they keep and edit themselves.Cost details are not published.
Another archiving toolCheck how it holds a list of watched titles and what it does when a list cannot be read.Cost details are not published.

What you need before you start

Decide what your archive is. A practical archive is a list of the titles you have watched, kept somewhere you can edit it yourself. Trakt migration users who already track watched titles in Trakt can copy those titles into a list they own, so the record no longer depends on one service. [1]

Choose the form the archive takes. One workable form is a public IMDb watchlist or list, because you add and remove titles in it yourself and anyone can reach it from the desktop site, the phone site or IMDb's other-language pages. [1] Make the list public if a tool needs to read it.

Radarr and Sonarr are free helper programs that find and add movies (Radarr) and shows (Sonarr) to a library. Have them ready if the archive should also feed a movie and show library. [1] Otherwise the list alone is enough to hold the record.

Decide who can see the archive and whether other people in the household should be able to add to it. Keep the rules simple so the list stays accurate over time.

Step by step

  1. Write down every title you want to keep as a record of what you have watched, and confirm it is on one public IMDb watchlist or list. Watcharr accepts any public IMDb watchlist or list from the desktop site, the phone site or IMDb's other-language pages. [1]
  1. Paste that one list into Watcharr and it gives you two links, one for Radarr with the movies and one for Sonarr with the shows. [1] The links are built from the list's id, so the same list always gives the same two links. [1]
  1. Add the bookmark in Radarr and Sonarr. A bookmark you click inside Radarr or Sonarr adds the list for you, using that app's API key without sending it anywhere else. [1] Each link then acts like a small Radarr or Sonarr server, so Radarr checks it every 15 minutes and Sonarr every 5. [1]
  1. Check which titles the tool can hold. Watcharr looks up TheTVDB ids through TVMaze and TMDB, leaves out shows it cannot match, and tells you which ones it skipped. [1]
  1. Keep the list itself as the record. If you sign in, Watcharr re-reads your list about every 15 minutes and warns you when a list fails three reads in a row. [1] If a read fails, the links keep serving the last list that loaded correctly. [1]
  1. Revisit the archive on a set day each month, add titles you have since watched, and remove any you no longer want counted.

Tools that can do it

Watcharr is made by the team that publishes this site. [1] The hosted version needs nothing to install and no account. [1] Pasting a list, copying the links it makes and browsing the list's page all work in the web app from any screen. [1]

You keep the record as a public IMDb list you control, and Watcharr turns it into stable Radarr and Sonarr links. [1] [1] Signed-in users can combine several IMDb lists into one Radarr link and one Sonarr link for the whole household, and a title that is on two lists is added only once. [1] The list's page shows each title's cover image in a row, and clicking one shows the title's story, genres, rating and trailer from TMDB. [1]

Hosting it yourself takes a Cloudflare account that runs the app and holds its saved data, plus a GitHub job that reads the list on IMDb. [1] Anyone can read the code, and its current licence covers use that is not for business. [1] Commercial use is not licensed, and no commercial licence is for sale. [1]

Before choosing a tool, check how it holds your list, what it does when a list cannot be read, whether it keeps a working copy, and how it moves titles into a library workflow.

Common mistakes to avoid

Avoid keeping your archive in a service that you cannot reach again after migration. Put the watched titles in a list you own and can edit, and make that list public if a tool must read it.

Avoid assuming every title will carry over. A tool can only hold titles it can identify, so check which titles are skipped and keep the source list as the real record. [1]

Avoid treating the tool as the only copy of the history. Keep the list you control as the archive, because it is the stable record the links are built from. [1]

Avoid skipping account and privacy checks. Review what information a tool asks for and what it can reach before sharing your list with it.

Frequently asked questions

How can Trakt migration users archive viewing history they control?

A Trakt migration user can copy watched titles into a list they own and edit, make that list public, and keep it as the record. Watcharr turns one public IMDb list into one Radarr link and one Sonarr link, and the links are built from the list's id, so the same list always gives the same two links. [1] [1]

Does Watcharr store the viewing history itself?

Watcharr reads the user's public IMDb list rather than keeping a separate copy of the history. If a read fails, the links keep serving the last list that loaded correctly. [1] The list the user owns stays the source record, so the user keeps control of the history.

Can Watcharr work without installing or making an account?

Yes for the hosted version, which needs nothing to install and no account. [1] The user pastes one public IMDb list and gets one Radarr link and one Sonarr link. [1] Anyone can paste, copy and browse from any screen in the web app. [1]

Does Watcharr keep the archive up to date?

If the user signs in, Watcharr re-reads the list about every 15 minutes and warns when a list fails three reads in a row. [1] Within Radarr and Sonarr, Radarr checks its link every 15 minutes and Sonarr every 5. [1] The list the user edits remains the record those links serve.

What should be checked before choosing an archiving tool for a Trakt migration?

Check how a tool holds a list of watched titles, what it does when a list cannot be read, and whether it keeps a working copy. Watcharr's code is available to read under the PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 licence, with older versions under MIT, and commercial use is not licensed and no commercial licence is for sale. [1] [1] Compare those details with how the history is kept before choosing.

Its code is available to read under the PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 licence; older versions remain under MIT. [1]

Try Watcharr

Sources

  1. Watcharr's own description of itself (the product of this site's publisher)

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