Oraclarr

Ask your media stack what's going on, in plain language.

A locally-run MCP server that lets an LLM client (Claude Code, Claude Desktop) diagnose a self-hosted *arr media stack. It only reads by default. Writes are opt-in and need a token.

What it does

Oraclarr gives a language model one place to answer the operational "why" questions that normally mean tabbing through six web UIs. It aggregates across your services and returns a single, structured answer without changing anything. One opt-in tool, start_job, can start a refresh, rescan, search or rename. See Writes.

Covered now: Sonarr, Radarr, Sportarr, Prowlarr, qBittorrent, Tdarr, Profilarr, Jellyfin, Cleanuparr, Netdata, TrueNAS and Docker, including multiple instances of the same type (a separate anime or 4K Sonarr/Radarr, say). Every tool fans out across all the instances you define and reports each one separately.

Related MCP server: arrstack-mcp

In practice

Once connected, you just ask. Oraclarr picks the right tool and answers:

Tools

Read-only by default, and outcome-oriented rather than one-per-endpoint, which keeps the model accurate. Only start_job writes, and only when you switch writes on:

Install

Two ways to run it. Pick one:

• 🐳 Docker (recommended). A small always-on container next to your arr stack. Works with Dockge, Portainer, Unraid and plain docker compose.

• 🐍 Python (uv). Runs directly on your machine with no container. Handy for local development, or if you don't use Docker.

Either way, every setting is an environment variable that starts with ORACLARR_. With Docker that means one .env file next to the compose file, and Dockge and Portainer show both in their editors. Start from .env.example. Configuration lists every variable. Your .env is never committed.

Option A: Docker (recommended)

Oraclarr runs as a long-running container that serves MCP over HTTP at http://<host>:7979/mcp. You need two files in one folder: docker-compose.yml and .env.

Using a stack manager (Dockge, Portainer, etc.): create a new stack, paste the compose below into the editor, and paste your settings into the stack's .env. Hit deploy. Portainer saves the variables from its web editor as stack.env, so in Portainer change the compose line to env_file: stack.env.

Using the command line:

cp docker-compose.example.yml docker-compose.yml
cp .env.example .env    # then fill in your URLs and keys
docker compose up -d

This is the whole compose file. You don't edit it when you add or remove a service; that happens in .env:

services:
  oraclarr:
    image: ghcr.io/bdog720/oraclarr-mcp:latest
    container_name: oraclarr
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "7979:7979"           # left side is the host port; change it if 7979 is taken
    env_file: .env

Want container state and logs too (get_containers)? Use docker-compose.full.example.yml instead. It adds the read-only Docker socket proxy, the one sidecar that has to live in the same stack. Containers explains it.

Then connect your client: one command for Claude Code, a small JSON block for Claude Desktop, Cursor, Codex, VS Code, Gemini CLI or Windsurf.

Option B: Python (uv)

Run Oraclarr directly, no Docker. Requires Python 3.12+ and uv.

The package is on PyPI as oraclarr-mcp. It speaks MCP over stdio, so your client starts the process and passes the settings in its env block:

"oraclarr": {
  "command": "uvx",
  "args": ["oraclarr-mcp"],
  "env": {
    "ORACLARR_SONARR_URL": "http://192.168.1.10:8989",
    "ORACLARR_SONARR_API_KEY": "your-key",
    "ORACLARR_RADARR_URL": "http://192.168.1.10:7878",
    "ORACLARR_RADARR_API_KEY": "your-key"
  }
}

From a clone (for development): put the same ORACLARR_* lines in a .env in the repo folder (it's read at startup), then:

uv sync
uv run python -m oraclarr_mcp

In a client config, use "command": "uv", "args": ["run", "python", "-m", "oraclarr_mcp"] and a "cwd" pointing at the repo.

Configuration

Each service is an instance with a name you choose. Its settings are variables named ORACLARR_<NAME>_<FIELD>, and an instance exists as soon as its _URL is set:

ORACLARR_SONARR_URL=http://192.168.1.10:8989
ORACLARR_SONARR_API_KEY=your-key

ORACLARR_SONARR_ANIME_TYPE=sonarr           # a second Sonarr, named sonarr-anime
ORACLARR_SONARR_ANIME_URL=http://192.168.1.10:8990
ORACLARR_SONARR_ANIME_API_KEY=your-key

ORACLARR_QBITTORRENT_URL=http://192.168.1.10:8080
ORACLARR_QBITTORRENT_USERNAME=admin
ORACLARR_QBITTORRENT_PASSWORD=your-password

Underscores in the name become dashes in the instance name, so SONARR_ANIME shows up as sonarr-anime. Blank values count as unset, so you can keep lines for services you don't run. A misspelled ORACLARR_ variable stops the container with a message that names it, instead of failing quietly later.

Jellyfin needs an API key (Dashboard → API Keys). Cleanuparr needs its account API key (Settings → Account → API Key). TrueNAS, Netdata and Docker each have a short setup guide, linked below.

Server settings are optional:

Every tool call has a time budget. If an instance doesn't answer in time, it comes back as status: "timeout" and the other instances still return their data. List results carry only the useful fields and stop at each tool's limit; when there is more, truncated and total say so. API keys and passwords show up as *** in responses and log lines.

Guides

• Connecting a client: Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Codex CLI, VS Code, Gemini CLI and Windsurf, the token header, and why not to use a cloud connector.

• Host metrics: the TrueNAS read-only user and the Netdata container for get_host.

• Containers: the Docker socket proxy for get_containers, and what it lets through.

• Writes: the two switches, the token, the two-step plan flow, and the audit log.

• The config file: using config.yaml instead of (or as well as) .env, and migrating off it.

• Upgrading: what to change when you cross a particular version.

Roadmap

Oraclarr is built in phases. It is read-only by default, and write capability arrives behind explicit safety gates. The architecture (typed clients + outcome tools + config-selectable toolsets) is designed to extend to other self-hosted suites beyond *arr, too.

• ✅ Phase 1: read-only diagnostics. Sonarr, Radarr, Sportarr, Prowlarr, qBittorrent, Tdarr, Profilarr, Jellyfin, Cleanuparr, TrueNAS, Netdata, Docker.

• 🔜 Phase 2: more services, still read-only. Seerr, Gluetun, Unpackerr, ntfy. The architecture also opens up to non-*arr stacks.

• 🚧 Phase 3: safe write actions. Started in 2.0.0 with start_job (refresh, rescan, search, rename and Jellyfin scans), gated behind two switches, a token, dry-run previews and an audit log. Retry and request approval come later.

• 🔭 Phase 4: destructive actions. Delete media, blocklist, stack control and Cleanuparr changes, behind an explicit confirmation and allowlist.

Have a service you'd like covered? Open an issue.

💬 Feedback & Issues

Found a bug or have a feature request? Please open an issue on GitHub.

🤝 Contributing

Issues and PRs welcome. The codebase is TDD throughout:

uv run pytest        # tests (respx-mocked, no live services needed)
uv run ruff check .  # lint

Adding a service follows a small recipe (new client → register by type → extend a tool → write the test). See the project layout under src/oraclarr_mcp/.

📄 License

Apache License 2.0. See LICENSE.

💖 Support the Project

If Oraclarr saves you from tabbing through six web UIs to work out why something didn't download, consider buying me a coffee.