Complete Arr Stack: Automating Your Media Library

The Arr suite has revolutionized home media management. Radarr, Sonarr, Lidarr, and friends work together to automatically find, download, and organize your media. Here's how to set up the complete stack.

What's in the Arr Suite?

The "Arr" applications handle different media types:

Application	Purpose
Radarr	Movies
Sonarr	TV Shows
Lidarr	Music
Bookshelf	Books/Audiobooks
Prowlarr	Indexer management
Seerr	Request management
qBittorrent	Download client
JFA-Go	Jellyfin account management

The Media Flow

Here's how everything connects:

1. User requests media through Seerr
2. Request goes to Radarr/Sonarr
3. Arr app queries indexers via Prowlarr
4. Best release is sent to qBittorrent
5. Completed download is imported and renamed
6. Jellyfin picks up the new media

Docker Compose Setup

Here's a simplified version of our full stack:

docker-compose.yml

services:
  radarr:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/radarr:latest
    container_name: radarr
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=America/New_York
    volumes:
      - radarr_config:/config
      - /data:/data
    ports:
      - "7878:7878"
    restart: unless-stopped

  sonarr:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/sonarr:latest
    container_name: sonarr
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=America/New_York
    volumes:
      - sonarr_config:/config
      - /data:/data
    ports:
      - "8989:8989"
    restart: unless-stopped

  prowlarr:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/prowlarr:latest
    container_name: prowlarr
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=America/New_York
    volumes:
      - prowlarr_config:/config
    ports:
      - "9696:9696"
    restart: unless-stopped

  seerr:
    image: ghcr.io/seerr-team/seerr:latest
    container_name: seerr
    init: true
    environment:
      - TZ=America/New_York
    volumes:
      - seerr_data:/app/config
    ports:
      - "5055:5055"
    healthcheck:
      test: wget --no-verbose --tries=1 --spider http://localhost:5055/api/v1/status || exit 1
      start_period: 20s
      timeout: 3s
      interval: 15s
      retries: 3
    restart: unless-stopped

  qbittorrent:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/qbittorrent:latest
    container_name: qbittorrent
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=America/New_York
      - WEBUI_PORT=8080
    volumes:
      - qbit_config:/config
      - /data/downloads:/data/downloads
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  radarr_config:
  sonarr_config:
  prowlarr_config:
  seerr_data:
  qbit_config:

Critical: Folder Structure

This is where most people go wrong. Use a unified structure:

/data

▼downloads

▼torrents

movies

tv

▼usenet

movies

tv

▼media

movies

tv

music

recycleFor deleted files

Why this matters: When Radarr/Sonarr imports a download, it can create a hardlink instead of copying. Same file, two paths, instant import with zero disk space used.

VPN Integration

warning

Always use a VPN with torrenting applications! Check out our VPN setup guide.

Use the binhex/qbittorrentvpn image for built-in VPN:

qbittorrent:
  image: binhex/arch-qbittorrentvpn
  environment:
    - VPN_ENABLED=yes
    - VPN_PROV=custom
    - VPN_CLIENT=openvpn

Quality Profiles

Configure quality profiles in Radarr/Sonarr:

Recommended for movies:

• Minimum: 5GB
• Preferred: 10-15GB
• Maximum: 40GB
• Format: Bluray-2160p > Bluray-1080p > WEB-DL

Recommended for TV:

• Minimum: 1GB per episode
• Preferred: 2-4GB per episode
• Format: HDTV-2160p > Bluray-1080p > WEB-DL

Recyclarr for Automation

Use Recyclarr to sync quality profiles from TRaSH Guides:

docker run --rm -v recyclarr_config:/config ghcr.io/recyclarr/recyclarr sync

This keeps your profiles up-to-date with community best practices.

Flaresolverr for Cloudflare

Some indexers use Cloudflare protection. Add Flaresolverr:

flaresolverr:
  image: ghcr.io/flaresolverr/flaresolverr:latest
  container_name: flaresolverr
  environment:
    - TZ=America/New_York
  ports:
    - "8191:8191"
  restart: unless-stopped

Configure in Prowlarr under Settings → Indexers → Add (FlareSolverr).

Learn More

For the complete production-ready setup:

• Full Stack Docker Compose
• Radarr Configuration
• VPN Setup with qBittorrent

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What does your Arr stack look like? Share your setup on Discord!