Questions and answers
What you want to know before you switch.
Anyone who hands a collection to a new program has questions. The answers are here, including the ones that say “no”. Where something needs more room, the answer points to the page that explains it.
The basics.
What is nexcrate?
An app that searches for, loads and sorts movies, series, anime and music. It asks your indexers, hands the right release to your download client, checks what arrives and files it, named, into your folders. What Radarr, Sonarr and Lidarr did side by side is one program here, with one interface, one calendar and one queue. It runs as a Docker container on your own server.
What does nexcrate cost?
Nothing. nexcrate is free software under the AGPL-3.0, there is no paid tier and no account with the project. You need a machine that runs Docker and a free TMDB token. What your indexers or your Usenet provider cost is between you and them.
Is there a hosted nexcrate I can just sign up to?
No. There is no hosted service, no account with us and no place where data from your home could end up. If you do not run a server of your own, nexcrate is of no use to you.
Does nexcrate come with indexers, access or sources?
No. nexcrate searches the indexers you enter and loads with the download clients you set up. How you get indexers and access is up to you. Prowlarr can help, and nexcrate can take every indexer from it and keep them up to date.
How mature is nexcrate?
It is still young, and its version number starts with 0. That is why switching is built so that you can look at it without risk: read only first, then take over, and a takeover can be taken back. Make backups first in any case, in nexcrate and in the programs you are replacing.
Which languages does the interface speak?
German and English, switchable at the top right. Light and dark too. There are no other languages.
Versions and profiles.
What is a version?
One edition of the same title, such as Full HD and 4K. You create versions once per kind of media, and every movie and every series can have any of them or not. Each version has its own profile, its own default folder, its own naming and its own waiting time. The library shows on every title which version is there, which is wanted and which could be better. More on the Versions page.
Why not simply run two Radarr instances?
You can, and many people do. The price is two libraries, two queues and two sets of profiles, and neither program knows what the other already has. In nexcrate the version is part of the title. A search decides for each version on its own, and you see in one place what is missing.
Can I keep German and original language as two versions?
Yes. A version is a name with its own profile and folder. What sets two versions apart is up to the profile, and language is one of the questions the profile assistant asks. If several languages are required, it asks whether they must be in the same release.
Do I have to know the TRaSH Guides to build a profile?
No. The assistant asks which resolution you want, what counts until that exists, which source, which audio tracks and how big a file may be. From your answers it builds the whole profile with the rules of the TRaSH Guides: qualities, custom formats, scores and sizes. “Detailed” also asks about sound, picture, special cuts and streaming services. If you want to set every number yourself, expert mode is as free as Radarr and Sonarr.
How do I find out why nexcrate takes or rejects a release?
On every search. For each version it shows which release it would take, and for every other one why not, for example “Quality not allowed” or “Too small”. Under “Settings › Versions” you can also type a release name under “Check a release” and see, for each version, whether it fits and why, with no search at all.
Do the TRaSH rules stay up to date?
A state of the rules is built into the image, so nexcrate needs no internet for it. Once a day it checks whether the TRaSH Guides have a newer one and tells you on the “About nexcrate” page. A newer state is only adopted when you press the button, so that no profile shifts quietly. The daily check can be switched off there.
Switching.
Do I have to move or rename files?
No. The takeover only changes who keeps track of the titles. Nothing is moved, renamed or deleted, and next to every title nexcrate puts a small file called release.nex. nexcrate takes the library, profiles, indexers and download clients from Radarr, Sonarr and Lidarr. The steps are on the Switching page.
Can I look at nexcrate before it loads anything?
Yes, that is the trial run. As long as you do not take a connection over, Radarr stays in charge. nexcrate reads it again every 15 minutes, Lidarr every hour, and shows your library, but loads nothing for those titles. It changes nothing in Radarr. You can look for as long as you like.
What if I do not like the takeover?
A connection that was taken over stays in the list, and “Undo takeover” puts the bookkeeping back. nexcrate reads the instance again and removes the release.nex files it wrote. Your files stay where they are. What nexcrate has loaded since the takeover, Radarr does not know about, and an API key that was deleted has to be entered again.
What happens to Seerr, Recyclarr, Bazarr and Prowlarr?
Programs that hang on Radarr’s or Sonarr’s API stay behind, among them Seerr, Recyclarr and Home Assistant’s Arr integrations. The exception is Bazarr, which nexcrate answers like Radarr and Sonarr, still as a beta. Prowlarr stays: nexcrate takes the indexers from it and keeps them up to date, from Prowlarr 1.8.6 on and without an entry in Prowlarr.
And Nexview and nexbeat?
Both switch from ARR mode to NEX mode and then request from nexcrate. For Nexview that happens from version 1.0.0, for movies and series together, with an assistant that insists on a backup first. nexbeat works with exactly one program, Lidarr or nexcrate. Both are in part 2 of the Switching page.
Running it.
What does the machine need?
Docker with Compose on Intel, AMD or 64-bit ARM, and a local disk for the data folder. nexcrate runs in one container with its database built in, so there is no second container and no database server. The project names no fixed minimum. The database belongs on a local disk, never on an SMB or NFS share, because SQLite can lose data there. The rest is under Self-hosting.
Where do my data and credentials live?
Everything lives in the data folder /data next to the compose file: the database, the key secret.key, the log and the backups. The credentials of your indexers and download clients are encrypted with that key. No download client ever sees an indexer key, because nexcrate fetches the NZB or torrent file itself and hands over only the file.
What leaves my server?
Your server makes these requests, not your browser. Titles, pictures and dates come from TMDB, scene numbering from TheXEM, music and covers from MusicBrainz and the Cover Art Archive, fingerprints of music files go to AcoustID, and the IMDb ratings arrive as a daily file from IMDb. The album lists from ListenBrainz are off until you switch them on. Once a day nexcrate asks GitHub for the newest release and for a newer state of the TRaSH Guides. On top of that come the indexers, download clients and media servers you enter yourself. TheXEM, MusicBrainz, AcoustID, ListenBrainz, the IMDb ratings and the check at GitHub can be switched off. More on the Privacy page.
How do I back nexcrate up?
Under “Settings › System › Backups”. Out of the box nexcrate copies its database weekly at night, before every change to the structure of the database, and on request. “Download” turns a copy into an encrypted ZIP with the database, the key and the state of the TRaSH Guides, protected by a password you choose. On a new server you start from “Start from a backup”.
How do I update nexcrate?
With docker compose pull and docker compose up -d. If the new version changes the structure of the database, nexcrate makes a backup first, which appears in the list as “Before change”. nexcrate never updates itself. It only tells you when a newer version has appeared on GitHub.
Can I reach nexcrate when I am away from home?
Wherever you can reach your server. On your own network that works at once. From outside you need a reverse proxy with https, or a VPN into your home network, which is the safer choice. Behind a proxy that ends TLS you have to tell nexcrate about the proxy, through FORWARDED_ALLOW_IPS. The list is under Self-hosting.
Who can sign in, and is there a second factor?
There is exactly one account, the operator’s, and nobody can create another. The account can also sign in through authentik, Microsoft Entra ID, Keycloak, Authelia or Pocket ID, including several providers side by side. For each provider exactly one linked identity opens nexcrate, and every other is turned away. Signing in with a password can get a second factor on request, with an authenticator app and eight recovery codes. That is in the chapter Sign-in.
Which programs does nexcrate work with?
It loads with SABnzbd and NZBGet for Usenet and with qBittorrent, Transmission and Deluge for torrents. Plex, Jellyfin and Emby learn after each filing which folder has changed. Notifications go to ntfy, Gotify, Telegram, Discord, a webhook, Apprise or by e-mail. Other programs talk to nexcrate through the API at /api/v1, see API.
Limits.
Why does music have only one version?
Movies and series have as many versions as you create. Music has exactly one so far, with one profile. Keeping an album as FLAC and as MP3 at the same time is therefore not possible yet. Several Lidarr instances cannot be spread over several music versions either.
Is there a request page for family and friends?
No. nexcrate has a single account. Nexview in front of it takes requests from family and friends, and nexbeat takes music requests. Both talk to nexcrate through the same API that is open to anyone.
Does nexcrate speak the Radarr and Sonarr API?
No, only its own. Programs that dock onto Radarr or Sonarr, such as Seerr or Recyclarr, do not talk to nexcrate. The exception is Bazarr: nexcrate answers it like Radarr and Sonarr, live and still as a beta. Every version is an entry of its own in Bazarr, and the subtitles Bazarr writes move with the video. An update of Bazarr can break the connection until nexcrate catches up.
Does nexcrate manage my indexers, does it replace Prowlarr?
No. Prowlarr manages the indexers, and nexcrate takes them from there and keeps them up to date. Without Prowlarr you enter every indexer yourself as Newznab or Torznab. Torrent sites usually come through Prowlarr or Jackett, which offer one Torznab address per site.
Are there lists that add titles by themselves?
No. Under “Discover” there are lists of 20 movies, series or albums each that are not in your library yet: new, popular, well rated, classics. A title is only added when you click its card. “Not interested” hides a title for good.