prowlarr-mcp

An MCP server for Prowlarr.

Setup

cd prowlarr-mcp
uv sync
cp .env.example .env

Set PROWLARR_API_KEY in .env. The API key is available in Prowlarr under Settings → General → Security.

Configuration:

Related MCP server: MCP *arr Server

Run

uv run prowlarr-mcp

The container image also runs the MCP server over stdio:

docker run --rm -i \
  -e PROWLARR_URL=http://prowlarr.example:9696 \
  -e PROWLARR_API_KEY \
  ghcr.io/amphineko/prowlarr-mcp:latest

Keep stdin attached with -i; the server does not expose a network port.

Example Codex/OpenCode-style stdio configuration:

{
  "command": "uv",
  "args": [
    "--directory",
    "/path/to/prowlarr-mcp",
    "run",
    "prowlarr-mcp"
  ]
}

Tools

list_indexers lists configured indexers and their safe, search-relevant capabilities. It omits disabled indexers by default; pass enabled_only=false to include them. Each result includes supported search types and category IDs, without provider configuration fields or credentials.

list_categories returns Prowlarr's hierarchical search category taxonomy. Use these category IDs with search_releases. Category ID 0 is valid in Prowlarr's taxonomy and is accepted by the search tool.

list_download_clients lists configured download clients and omits disabled clients by default. It returns only submission-relevant fields and numeric category IDs; provider configuration, client category names, hosts, and credentials are excluded.

grab_release submits a release returned by search_releases to a configured download client. Pass the release's indexer_id and guid, plus an optional download_client_id from list_download_clients. Omitting the client ID lets Prowlarr select its configured default. Search results are cached by Prowlarr for about 30 minutes; search again if submission reports that the release has expired from the cache.

get_health returns Prowlarr's current health checks with their severity, message, source, and optional help URL. get_indexer_status returns failure and retry timing only for currently blocked indexers; resolve its numeric IDs with list_indexers.

search_releases accepts:

• query: text query; an empty string requests recent releases.

• search_type: search, tvsearch, movie, music, or book.

• indexer_ids: optional Prowlarr indexer IDs.

• categories: optional Newznab category IDs.

• limit: number of results, default 20 and capped by configuration.

• offset: non-negative result offset.

The response is intentionally smaller than Prowlarr's full ReleaseResource, but retains indexer_id and guid for a future download-submission workflow. Prowlarr may apply limit independently to several indexers, so the MCP server also enforces it on the combined response. truncated means that the MCP server discarded part of the response it received; it is not a has_more pagination indicator and cannot prove whether Prowlarr has additional results.

Error handling

For Prowlarr 4xx responses, the server reports bounded, sanitized details from recognized JSON error formats. It ignores stack traces, diagnostic content, trace IDs, URLs, filesystem paths, API keys, and unknown response shapes. Authentication errors, non-JSON bodies, and 5xx responses use generic messages with an HTTP status code.

Roadmap

• v0.1: Search releases through configured Prowlarr indexers.

• v0.2: Discover search and download capabilities, and submit a selected release to a configured download client.

• v0.2.1: Inspect Prowlarr health and indexer status.

• Inspect Prowlarr search history.

Testing with the MCP client

The repository includes a generic stdio client for launching the server and calling one tool:

uv run src/prowlarr_mcp/scripts/mcp_client.py \
  --command "uv run prowlarr-mcp" \
  --method "search_releases" \
  --arguments '{"query": "yani neko"}'

Use --cwd when the server command must run from a different directory, and --timeout to override the default 60-second tool-call timeout. The script prints structured tool output as JSON and exits non-zero for invalid input, connection failures, or MCP tool errors.

Development

uv run ruff format --check .
uv run ruff check .
uv run pyrefly check
uv run python -m unittest discover -s tests