Prowlarr Sync

Prowlarr can manage indexers centrally and sync them to downstream Servarr apps (Sonarr, Radarr). This is the recommended approach for multi-service setups.

How It Works

1. You configure indexers in Prowlarr only
2. Prowlarr’s application sync pushes indexers to Sonarr and Radarr
3. Sonarr/Radarr sidecars set prowlarrSync: true to skip indexer management

This prevents conflicts between PrepArr’s sidecar reconciliation and Prowlarr’s sync.

Setup

Prowlarr Config

Configure indexers and application sync targets in prowlarr-config.json:

{
  "indexers": [
    {
      "name": "NZBgeek",
      "implementation": "Newznab",
      "implementationName": "Newznab",
      "configContract": "NewznabSettings",
      "fields": [
        { "name": "baseUrl", "value": "https://api.nzbgeek.info" },
        { "name": "apiKey", "value": "your-nzbgeek-api-key" },
        { "name": "categories", "value": [5000, 5040] }
      ],
      "enable": true,
      "appProfileId": 1
    }
  ],
  "applications": [
    {
      "name": "Sonarr",
      "implementation": "Sonarr",
      "implementationName": "Sonarr",
      "configContract": "SonarrSettings",
      "fields": [
        { "name": "prowlarrUrl", "value": "http://prowlarr:9696" },
        { "name": "baseUrl", "value": "http://sonarr:8989" },
        { "name": "apiKey", "value": "sonarr-api-key" }
      ],
      "syncLevel": "fullSync",
      "appProfileId": 1
    }
  ]
}

Sonarr/Radarr Config

Set prowlarrSync: true and omit the indexers array:

{
  "prowlarrSync": true,
  "rootFolders": [...],
  "qualityProfiles": [...],
  "downloadClients": [...]
}

Sync Levels

Value	Behavior
addOnly	Prowlarr adds new indexers but doesn’t remove or update existing ones
fullSync	Prowlarr fully manages indexers — adds, updates, and removes as needed

fullSync is recommended for a fully automated setup.

API Key Flow

Prowlarr needs the API key of each target application to sync indexers. These API keys are either:

• Set explicitly in your config with the apiKey field
• Auto-generated by PrepArr during init and available in config.xml

If using auto-generated keys, you’ll need to retrieve them after the init container runs and update your Prowlarr config accordingly.

Troubleshooting

Indexers Not Appearing in Sonarr/Radarr

1. Check Prowlarr application config has the correct baseUrl and apiKey
2. Verify Prowlarr can reach the target app:

   curl -H "X-Api-Key: prowlarr-key" http://prowlarr:9696/api/v1/applications

3. Trigger a manual sync:

   curl -X POST -H "X-Api-Key: prowlarr-key" http://prowlarr:9696/api/v1/applications/sync

Indexers Being Removed by Sidecar

If the Sonarr/Radarr sidecar removes Prowlarr-synced indexers, check that prowlarrSync: true is set in the config. Without this flag, the sidecar treats the indexer list as authoritative and removes anything not in the config.