Lidarr Documentation
Lidarr automates the process of monitoring and downloading music. It integrates with popular download clients and uses indexers to search for and download albums automatically, making it easy to build and maintain an organized music library.
Overview
What Lidarr Does
Lidarr provides automated content management for music by:
- Automatic Searching: Monitors for new albums and searches configured indexers
- Quality Management: Downloads content based on your quality preferences (MP3, FLAC, etc.)
- Library Organization: Automatically organizes downloaded music in your media library
- Upgrade Management: Can upgrade existing music to better quality when available
- Download Client Integration: Works with popular download clients like qBittorrent, Deluge, etc.
How Huntarr Enhances Lidarr
Huntarr adds intelligent automation on top of Lidarr:
- Smart Search Timing: Prevents overwhelming indexers with too many requests
- Missing Album Detection: Identifies and prioritizes missing albums and tracks
- Upgrade Intelligence: Finds better quality versions of existing music
- Rate Limiting: Respects API limits to prevent bans or throttling
- Multi-Instance Support: Manage multiple Lidarr instances from one interface
Instance Configuration
Configure your Lidarr instances to connect Huntarr with your Lidarr installation(s).
Adding Your Lidarr Instance
To connect your existing Lidarr instance to Huntarr:
- Navigate to the Lidarr section in Huntarr
- Click "Add Lidarr Instance" if you don't have one configured
- Fill in your Lidarr connection details
- Test the connection to ensure Huntarr can communicate with Lidarr
Connection Settings
Configure these settings to connect Huntarr to your Lidarr instance:
| Setting | Description | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Friendly name for this Lidarr instance | Default, Music-FLAC, Podcasts | Useful when running multiple Lidarr instances |
| URL | Base URL for your Lidarr instance | http://10.0.0.10:8686 | Include protocol (http/https) and port |
| API Key | Lidarr API key for authentication | c15f98d8403e6df5b7c9a86e4f2b580 | Found in Lidarr Settings > General > Security |
| Enabled | Whether Huntarr should process this instance | On/Off toggle | Disable to temporarily stop processing |
Search Settings
Configure how Huntarr searches for missing music and upgrades in your Lidarr instance. These settings control Huntarr's behavior when processing your music library.
Missing Search Mode
Determines how Huntarr searches for missing music:
- Albums: Searches for complete albums. Recommended for most music collections
- Tracks: Searches for individual tracks. Useful for compilation albums or singles
- Artists: Searches at the artist level for discographies
Upgrade Mode
Controls how Huntarr handles quality upgrades:
- Albums: Upgrades entire albums when better quality becomes available
- Tracks: Upgrades individual tracks for better quality
- Artists: Upgrades at the artist level for consistent quality across discography
Search Limits
Control how many items Huntarr processes per cycle to avoid overwhelming your indexers:
| Setting | Description | Recommended | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Missing Search | Number of missing albums/tracks to search per cycle | 2-4 | Set to 0 to disable missing searches |
| Upgrade Search | Number of items to upgrade per cycle | 1-2 | Set to 0 to disable upgrade searches |
| Sleep Duration | Time in seconds between processing cycles | 1800 (30 min) | Music indexers often have stricter limits |
| API Cap - Hourly | Maximum API requests per hour | 200 or less | Music indexers typically have lower limits |
Additional Options
Fine-tune Huntarr's behavior with these additional settings:
Monitored Only
When enabled, Huntarr will only search for music that is marked as "Monitored" in Lidarr. This prevents searches for artists or albums you've intentionally unmonitored.
Skip Future Releases
When enabled, Huntarr will skip albums with future release dates. This prevents unnecessary searches for content that hasn't been released yet.
Quality Profiles
Respects Lidarr's quality profile settings. Huntarr will only search for music that meets your configured quality requirements (MP3, FLAC, etc.).
Artist Monitoring
When enabled, Huntarr will respect your artist monitoring settings in Lidarr, only searching for albums from artists you're actively monitoring.
Swaparr Integration
Enable Swaparr monitoring for this Lidarr instance to automatically clean up stalled downloads.
When to Enable Swaparr
- You frequently have stalled music downloads
- Your download queue gets clogged with failed album downloads
- You want hands-off automation for your music library
- You use public trackers where quality varies
- You download large album collections that sometimes fail
When to Be Cautious
- You use private music trackers with strict ratio requirements
- You prefer manual control over your music downloads
- You have very slow internet where downloads take a long time
- You're building ratio on specific music torrents
- You collect rare or hard-to-find music that shouldn't be removed
Troubleshooting
Common Issues
Connection Failed
If Huntarr can't connect to your Lidarr instance:
- Verify the URL is correct and includes the protocol (http/https)
- Check that the port number is correct (default: 8686)
- Ensure the API key is copied correctly from Lidarr Settings > General > Security
- Confirm Lidarr is running and accessible from Huntarr's network
- Check firewall settings if Huntarr and Lidarr are on different machines
No Missing Music Found
If Huntarr reports no missing music but you know there are gaps:
- Ensure "Monitored Only" is configured correctly for your needs
- Check that artists and albums are marked as "Monitored" in Lidarr
- Verify "Skip Future Releases" isn't preventing searches for available content
- Review your quality profile settings in both Lidarr and Huntarr
Music Indexer Rate Limiting
If you're getting rate limited by music indexers:
- Reduce the "API Cap - Hourly" setting significantly (try 100-200)
- Increase the "Sleep Duration" to 30+ minutes between cycles
- Lower the "Missing Search" and "Upgrade Search" limits to 1-2
- Music indexers are typically more restrictive than movie/TV indexers
Metadata Issues
If Huntarr isn't finding the right music:
- Verify your metadata provider settings in Lidarr (MusicBrainz, etc.)
- Check that album and artist names are correctly matched
- Review release group settings for proper album identification
- Consider adjusting search criteria for international releases
Quality and Format Issues
If Huntarr isn't finding the right audio quality:
- Verify your quality profiles support the formats you want (FLAC, MP3, etc.)
- Check that your indexers have the quality levels you're seeking
- Review cutoff settings to ensure upgrades are allowed
- Consider separate instances for different quality requirements