A deployed Arr stack still needs you to add every title and click search. This guide removes that last bit of manual work: import lists add titles for you, quality profiles pick the best release automatically, and a notification refreshes your media server the instant a file lands.
The result is genuinely hands-off — add a movie to a watchlist on your phone, and it’s in your library, correctly named, minutes later. This works the same whether you run Plex or Jellyfin.
Task 1: Add titles automatically with import lists
An import list is a feed Radarr or Sonarr watches and adds titles from. Common sources:
| List type | Adds… | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Plex / Jellyfin Watchlist | Whatever you watchlist in the app | The main “I want this” trigger |
| Trakt list | A curated or personal Trakt list | Sharing a list across apps |
| IMDb / TMDb popular / top-rated | Trending or acclaimed titles | Filling out a library (use carefully) |
In Radarr → Settings → Import Lists → Add (and Sonarr), add your media server’s Watchlist list. Enable Automatic Add and, for the watchlist specifically, Search on Add so a watchlisted title downloads right away.
Some token-based watchlist integrations quietly return nothing. If a list shows “no results,” switch to the server’s official Watchlist RSS feed as the list source — it’s far more reliable and syncs every few minutes. For Sonarr, decide up front whether a watchlisted show should monitor the whole series or just season one.
Task 2: Contain the downloads (avoid the flood)
The number-one Arr mistake is a discovery list on monitor-all with auto-search — a “popular movies” list will happily queue hundreds of downloads overnight.
Set exactly one curated list (your watchlist) to actually trigger downloads. Set every discovery list (IMDb popular, TMDb top-rated, Trakt trending) to add-and-monitor only, no auto-search — or monitor: none so they populate a browsable catalog without grabbing anything. Trakt “popular” and “trending” lists on monitor-all are the classic source of a runaway queue.
The safe pattern:
- Watchlist list → auto-add + search (this is what downloads).
- Discovery lists → auto-add, no search, monitor none.
- Periodically unmonitor anything fileless you don’t actually want.
Task 3: Set quality profiles so it grabs the right release
A quality profile is your ruleset for which release to accept and which to prefer. It’s how you say “1080p Blu-ray preferred, 4K if available under this size, never a cam.” Radarr and Sonarr score every candidate against it and grab the best allowed match.
Rather than tuning from scratch, start from the community TRaSH Guides — tested profiles and custom formats (scoring rules for codecs, release groups, unwanted tags). A few high-value custom formats:
| Custom format | Typical score | Effect |
|---|---|---|
AV1 |
large negative | Reject a codec many clients can’t play |
Preferred codec (e.g. HEVC) |
positive | Nudge toward efficient, compatible files |
Low-quality / fake tags (CAM, AI-Upscaled) |
large negative | Reject junk and fakes outright |
Match the profile to your playback hardware, not just “highest quality.” If your setup needs files to Direct Play (see the Plex transcoding guide), score incompatible codecs negative so they’re never grabbed. Tools like Recyclarr can sync TRaSH profiles into your apps automatically.
Task 4: Refresh your media server on import
By default your media server rescans on a schedule, so a new download might not appear for an hour. Fix it with a notification so the Arr app tells the server to rescan the moment it imports.
In Radarr → Settings → Connect → Add (and Sonarr), add your media server (Plex or Jellyfin). Enter its host and port and an auth token, enable On Import / On Upgrade, and turn on Update Library. Now imports trigger an immediate, targeted rescan.
Radarr imports "Dune (2021)" -> /data/media/movies/Dune (2021)/
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Radarr fires the Connect notification to your media server
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Server rescans only the Movies library -> "Dune (2021)" appears in seconds
Task 5: Keep the download folder clean
Automation means files arrive unattended, so add a safety net. Neither the Arr apps nor the download client scan content — the Arr apps only import video and ignore executables, but junk and the occasional disguised file still land in the download folder. A scheduled scan that deletes executables and quarantines anything infected closes that gap — see the ClamAV scan-and-purge playbook.
Release names containing .exe, AI-Upscaled, RIFE, or 60fps are red flags — a fake or a re-encode, sometimes malware wearing a movie’s name. Blocklist them (Radarr/Sonarr can remove-and-blocklist a bad grab) so the app fetches a real release instead.
What’s next
That’s the full hands-off loop: watchlist a title, the stack grabs the best allowed release, files it, and your library refreshes — all automatically, all shielded behind a VPN. From here it’s just choosing your media server. If you haven’t picked one, the Plex and Jellyfin guides cover both; the Arr stack you just built feeds either identically.
Related posts:
- What Is the Arr Stack? — the concepts
- Deploy the Arr Stack with Docker Compose — the stack this guide automates
- ClamAV Download Scan + Auto-Purge — the download-folder safety net
- Plex Direct Play and Transcoding — match your quality profile to your playback hardware
- Organizing a Plex Library: Naming, Agents, and Metadata — clean naming for what the stack imports
- VPN-Shielded Torrent Stack — the shielded download client
Sources: TRaSH Guides, Servarr Wiki, Recyclarr.