Sonarr Guide: Automate TV Show Downloads on Your Seedbox

What Sonarr Does

Sonarr is a TV show automation tool. You tell it what shows you watch, and it handles the rest:

1. Monitors RSS feeds and indexers for new episodes
2. Picks the best release based on your quality preferences
3. Sends it to your download client (rTorrent, qBittorrent, Deluge)
4. Renames and moves the file to your library folder
5. Plex or Jellyfin picks it up automatically

No more manually searching for episodes. New episodes appear in your library within minutes of airing.

Setup on Bytesized

Install Sonarr from the Bytesized Panel (one click). It comes pre-configured to work with your download client and shares the same storage mount as Plex/Jellyfin.

Connect to Prowlarr

Prowlarr manages your indexers. Once configured, your indexers automatically appear in Sonarr — no need to add them individually.

Add Your First Show

1. Click Add New in Sonarr
2. Search by name
3. Choose root folder: /data/TV Shows/
4. Select quality profile (HD-1080p for most users)
5. Click Add

Sonarr starts monitoring immediately. If you want existing seasons too, toggle Search for missing episodes.

Quality Profiles

For optimal profiles, use TRaSH Guides with Recyclarr to automate quality scoring.

Key Features

Calendar

Visual calendar showing upcoming episodes across all your monitored shows. Plan your viewing week at a glance.

Season Packs

Sonarr can grab full season packs when they're better quality or smaller than individual episodes. Configure under Settings → Media Management.

Anime Mode

Toggle Series Type → Anime when adding anime series. This enables absolute numbering and anime-specific release matching. See our anime guide for the full setup.

Upgrade Logic

When a better quality release appears (e.g., Bluray replaces WEB-DL), Sonarr can automatically upgrade. The old file is replaced — no duplicates cluttering your library.

Custom Formats

Score releases based on attributes: preferred release groups, audio codecs, streaming service (AMZN, NF), and more. See the TRaSH Guides guide.

Integration with Plex/Jellyfin

Sonarr notifies Plex or Jellyfin when a new file is imported. Under Settings → Connect, add your media server. New episodes appear in your library within seconds of completion.

Common Issues

Episodes not matching? Check your indexers in Prowlarr. Ensure the show's TVDB ID is correct in Sonarr.

Downloads stuck? Check your download client connection under Settings → Download Clients. On Bytesized, the connection details are pre-configured.

Wrong episodes downloaded? Tighten your quality profile and add custom formats to prefer trusted release groups.

Bytesized + Sonarr

One-click install, pre-connected to your download client, shared storage with Plex/Jellyfin. The way it should work. 15+ years of hosting, 4.8/5 Trustpilot from 230+ reviews.

What's Next?

• Radarr for movies
• The complete Arr stack
• TRaSH quality profiles
• Browse plans