Search Configuration¶

Configure automated search and request integration for Torrentarr.

Overview¶

Torrentarr can automatically trigger searches in your Arr instances for:

Missing media
Quality upgrades
User requests from Overseerr/Ombi
Failed downloads (re-search after blacklisting)

Automated Search¶

Enable Missing Media Search¶

Configure Torrentarr to periodically search for missing content:

[Radarr-Movies]
Name = "Radarr-Main"
SearchMissing = true
SearchPeriodDays = 7  # Search every 7 days

This will automatically search for:

Movies marked as "Wanted" in Radarr
TV episodes marked as "Monitored" in Sonarr
Albums marked as "Monitored" in Lidarr

Search Intervals¶

Control how often Torrentarr searches:

[Radarr-Movies]
SearchPeriodDays = 1   # Daily (aggressive)

[Radarr-Movies]
SearchPeriodDays = 7   # Weekly (recommended)

[Radarr-Movies]
SearchPeriodDays = 30  # Monthly (conservative)

Recommendations: - Daily - For new/popular content - Weekly - Balanced approach - Monthly - For established libraries

Request Integration¶

Supported Request Systems¶

System	Type	Torrentarr Support
Overseerr	Full request management	✅ Native API polling
Ombi	Full request management	✅ Native API polling
Requestrr	Discord chatbot	✅ Via Overseerr or Ombi

Requestrr Users

Requestrr is a Discord chatbot. Connect it to Overseerr or Ombi, then Torrentarr will process requests through its existing integration.

Request Priority¶

Prioritize searches for user requests:

[Radarr-Movies]
PrioritizeRequests = true  # Search requests first
RequestSearchDelay = 60    # Wait 1 minute after request

Quality Upgrades¶

Enable Upgrade Searches¶

Search for better quality releases:

[Radarr-Movies]
SearchUpgrades = true
UpgradePeriodDays = 14  # Search for upgrades every 2 weeks

Upgrade Criteria¶

Configure what qualifies as an upgrade:

[Radarr-Movies]
# Only upgrade if:
MinimumQualityGain = "1080p"  # At least 1080p
CustomFormatScore = 100        # CF score improvement

Failed Download Re-search¶

Automatic Re-search¶

When a download fails, automatically search again:

[Radarr-Movies]
AutoResearchFailed = true
ResearchDelay = 300        # Wait 5 minutes before re-searching
MaxResearchAttempts = 3    # Try up to 3 times

Blacklist Behavior¶

Configure blacklisting of failed releases:

[Radarr-Movies]
BlacklistFailed = true      # Blacklist failed torrents
BlacklistMinSize = 104857600  # Only blacklist if > 100MB

Search Limits¶

Rate Limiting¶

Prevent overwhelming your indexers:

[Settings]
MaxSearchesPerHour = 60    # Limit to 60 searches/hour
SearchDelaySeconds = 10    # Wait 10s between searches

Concurrent Searches¶

Limit parallel searches:

[Settings]
MaxConcurrentSearches = 5  # Max 5 simultaneous searches

Search Modes¶

Radarr Search Modes¶

Standard - Normal movie search
Interactive - Allow manual selection
RSS - Grab from RSS feeds

[Radarr-Movies]
SearchMode = "Standard"  # or "Interactive" or "RSS"

Sonarr Search Modes¶

The WebUI Search Mode dropdown offers four choices:

Selection	`SearchBySeries` value	Behavior
Smart (default)	`"smart"`	Use series, then season searches when more than half of in-scope aired episodes need searching, with at least two eligible episodes; otherwise search episodes.
Series	`"series"`	Search each affected series once, splitting into permitted seasons when needed to exclude specials.
Season	`"season"`	Search each affected season once, without requiring a majority.
Episode	`"episode"`	Search individual episodes.

[Sonarr-TV.EntrySearch]
SearchBySeries = "smart"  # "series", "season", or "episode"
AlsoSearchSpecials = false

Legacy true / "true" values select Series, and false / "false" select Episode. Saving uses the named mode. Smart counts configured missing, quality, custom-format, and upgrade needs across all years; the current search pass must contain a candidate to trigger a search.

Specials require AlsoSearchSpecials = true and at least one monitored special in that series. Once permitted, Unmonitored = true may include its other unmonitored specials. This gate applies to every mode and blocklist retries, including specials that a series command would search implicitly. Unmonitored episodes use explicit episode searches.

See Sonarr search configuration for details. Broad searches may also upgrade other permitted episodes according to Sonarr's profiles.

Advanced Search Options¶

Custom Format Requirements¶

Only search if custom format requirements can be met:

[Radarr-Movies]
RequireCustomFormat = true
MinimumCustomFormatScore = 100

Release Restrictions¶

Filter searches by release properties:

[Radarr-Movies]
PreferredWords = ["PROPER", "REPACK"]
ForbiddenWords = ["CAM", "TS"]
MinSeeders = 5  # Require at least 5 seeders

Search Triggers¶

Torrentarr triggers searches in these scenarios:

Scheduled - Based on SearchPeriodDays
On Request - When new Overseerr/Ombi request
On Failure - After torrent fails/is blacklisted
Manual - Via WebUI or API
On Import - If configured to search for upgrades

Monitoring Searches¶

Search Logs¶

Monitor search activity in logs:

# Check search activity
grep "search" ~/config/logs/Radarr-Main.log

Search History¶

Torrentarr tracks search history in the database:

SELECT * FROM searches ORDER BY created_at DESC LIMIT 10;

Troubleshooting¶

Too Many Searches¶

Problem: Torrentarr is searching too frequently

Solutions:

# Increase search interval
SearchPeriodDays = 14

# Reduce concurrent searches
MaxConcurrentSearches = 2

# Add delay between searches
SearchDelaySeconds = 30

No Search Results¶

Problem: Searches return no results

Solutions: - Check indexer configuration in Arr instance - Verify indexers are accessible - Review search criteria (too restrictive?) - Check Arr logs for errors

Request Integration Not Working¶

Problem: Overseerr/Ombi requests not triggering searches

Solutions: - Verify API key is correct - Check Overseerr/Ombi is accessible - Ensure CheckInterval is reasonable - Review logs for connection errors

Best Practices¶

Search Frequency¶

New Libraries - Search more frequently (daily)
Established Libraries - Search less often (weekly/monthly)
Request-Driven - Enable Overseerr/Ombi integration

Resource Management¶

Limit concurrent searches to avoid overload
Add delays between searches
Use reasonable check intervals
Monitor indexer hit limits

Quality Over Quantity¶

Set minimum quality requirements
Use custom format scoring
Blacklist problematic releases
Prioritize quality upgrades

Configuration Examples¶

Aggressive Search (New Library)¶

[Radarr-Movies]
Name = "Radarr-New"
SearchMissing = true
SearchPeriodDays = 1        # Daily
SearchUpgrades = true
UpgradePeriodDays = 3       # Upgrade search every 3 days
PrioritizeRequests = true

Conservative Search (Established Library)¶

[Radarr-Movies]
Name = "Radarr-Established"
SearchMissing = true
SearchPeriodDays = 30       # Monthly
SearchUpgrades = false      # No automatic upgrades
MaxSearchesPerHour = 10     # Limited searches

Request-Focused Configuration¶

[Settings.Overseerr]
Enabled = true
URI = "http://overseerr:5055"
APIKey = "overseerr-api-key"
CheckInterval = 180  # Check every 3 minutes

[Radarr-Movies]
PrioritizeRequests = true
RequestSearchDelay = 30     # Quick response
SearchMissing = false       # Only search requests

Future Features¶

Planned enhancements for search configuration:

Webhook support for custom triggers
Advanced scheduling (cron-like)
Search quota management
A/B testing for search strategies
Machine learning-based search optimization

Note: Overseerr and Ombi integration are planned features. Check the latest release notes for availability.