Prowlarr – General Configuration Guide

Prowlarr – General Configuration Guide

Purpose: Prowlarr is the indexer manager at the heart of your automated acquisition ecosystem. Its main role is to aggregate and manage all your Usenet and torrent indexers in a single interface, and then make them accessible to Sonarr, Radarr, and other download automation tools. This centralization allows your automation stack to scale efficiently, maintain “set it and forget it” operations, and avoid duplication or mismanagement of indexers.

Key Concepts

Indexers – Prowlarr communicates with both public and private indexers, including torrent and Usenet sources. These indexers provide the raw “feeds” of content that Sonarr, Radarr, and other apps will request for automated downloading.
Apps Integration – Prowlarr is designed to plug seamlessly into Sonarr, Radarr, Lidarr, Readarr, and similar tools. Once configured, it acts as a unified search source for all your automation apps.
API-First Approach – All interactions with Prowlarr can happen through its API, which means your automation apps don’t need to know the specifics of each indexer—just where to ask Prowlarr.

General Configuration Steps

1. Initial Setup

Network: Ensure the VM hosting Prowlarr has internet access and, if using a VPN, the correct NIC is assigned for routing.
Access: Set a static port or hostname to make Prowlarr reliably reachable by your automation apps. Default is typically <vm-ip>:9696.
Authentication: Enable admin login and configure a strong password to prevent unauthorized access if your VM is ever exposed to the network.

2. Adding Indexers

Use the built-in templates whenever possible for speed and reliability.
For private trackers, ensure you have valid API keys or login credentials.
Test each indexer after adding to confirm connectivity.
Categorize indexers by type (torrent vs Usenet) to make search filtering easier in connected apps.

3. Application Integration

Navigate to the “Apps” or “Connections” section in Prowlarr.
Add Sonarr, Radarr, or other apps using the API key and host details of each app.
Test the connection to ensure Prowlarr can communicate both ways.
Once connected, these apps will query Prowlarr instead of individual indexers.

4. General Settings to Consider

RSS Sync Interval: Controls how often Prowlarr refreshes indexer feeds. Too frequent can overload your indexers; too infrequent delays content availability.
Search Limits: Useful if you want to prevent your apps from performing massive searches simultaneously.
Quality Filters & Tags: While not required, adding global tags or filters can help downstream apps prioritize releases more intelligently.

5. Maintenance Tips

Periodically check indexer connectivity and replace dead or outdated sources.
Review logs for failed searches or API errors, as they can indicate misconfigurations or changes on the indexer side.
Keep Prowlarr updated to benefit from new indexer templates and bug fixes.

How Prowlarr Fits in the Automation Stack

App	Role with Prowlarr
Sonarr	Requests TV content searches through Prowlarr instead of hitting multiple indexers directly.
Radarr	Same as Sonarr, but for movies.
Jackett	Alternative for indexers not natively supported; Prowlarr can leverage Jackett indexers.
qbittorrent	Receives the final magnet/torrent links provided by Sonarr/Radarr after Prowlarr handles search and filtering.
Unmanic	Not directly connected, but benefits indirectly as processed content is downloaded via automation pipeline.

In short, Prowlarr centralizes indexer management so the rest of the automation ecosystem can operate seamlessly without constant intervention.

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This page is intentionally general to introduce the concepts and workflow. Detailed per-indexer configuration, authentication, or troubleshooting should be captured in dedicated guides for each indexer or app.

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