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Readarr Configuration

This guide covers how to configure Readarr instances in Torrentarr for book (and audiobook) library management. Readarr is author → book only — there is no track layer like Lidarr.

Quick Start

Every Readarr instance requires a dedicated section whose name starts with Readarr-.

[Readarr-Books]
Managed = true
URI = "http://localhost:8787"
APIKey = "your-readarr-api-key"
Category = "readarr-books"
SkipTLSVerify = false
ReSearch = true
ImportMode = "Auto"
RssSyncTimer = 1
RefreshDownloadsTimer = 1
ArrErrorCodesToBlocklist = [
  "Not an upgrade for existing book file(s)",
  "Unable to determine if file is a sample"
]

[Readarr-Books.Torrent]
FileExtensionAllowlist = ['.epub', '.kepub', '.mobi', '.azw', '.azw3', '.pdf', '.cbz', '.cbr', '.flac', '.ape', '.wavpack', '.wav', '.alac', '.mp2', '.mp3', '.wma', '.m4a', '.m4p', '.m4b', '.aac', '.mp4a', '.ogg', '.oga', '.vorbis', '.!qB', '.parts']

[Readarr-Books.EntrySearch]
SearchMissing = true
SearchByYear = true

Category Mismatch

Category must match the category configured on Readarr's qBittorrent download client.

Naming Convention

  • ✅ Readarr-Books
  • ✅ Readarr-Audiobooks
  • ❌ Books (missing prefix)

How Readarr differs from Lidarr

Lidarr Readarr
Artist / album / track Author / book (no tracks)
AlbumSearch BookSearch
DownloadedAlbumsScan DownloadedBooksScan
SearchByYear off SearchByYear on (book year)
Temp quality profile on artist Temp quality profile on author
No Ombi/Overseerr Same — request integrations are Radarr/Sonarr only
Default allowlist is audio Default allowlist is ebook and audiobook

File extensions

New Readarr instances default to ebook + audiobook extensions (including .m4b, .flac, .mp3). Older ebook-only default lists are expanded on load. Custom allowlists are never rewritten.

Ebook and comic files (.epub, .pdf, .cbz, …) skip ffprobe so they are not marked invalid.

WebUI save must keep audiobook extensions; do not replace a Readarr allowlist with the video defaults.

SearchByYear is enabled for Readarr (unlike Lidarr). Missing-book search, quality upgrades, and custom-format unmet search follow the same [….EntrySearch] keys as other Arr types.

Ombi and Overseerr blocks are omitted for Readarr.

WebUI

The Readarr tab lists authors with expandable books. Open in Readarr uses /web/arr/<category>/open/author/<id>.

Catalog API:

  • GET /web/readarr/<category>/authors
  • GET /web/readarr/<category>/author/<id>
  • GET /web/readarr/<category>/author/<id>/thumbnail