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Advanced Content Routing

Pulsarr offers a powerful predicate-based routing system that intelligently directs content to the appropriate Sonarr/Radarr instances.

Migration Note

If you're upgrading from a version prior to 0.2.15, you may need to delete and recreate your content routes if you experience routing issues.

Overview​

The content routing system allows you to create complex rules that determine which Sonarr/Radarr instance should receive specific content based on multiple criteria. This enables you to organize your media library according to your preferences and setup.

Content Router Interface

The content routing interface allows you to create complex rules with visual condition builders and comprehensive configuration options.

Content Router Advanced Interface

The advanced interface provides detailed condition building and priority management for complex routing scenarios.

Key Features​

Conditional Logic​

The routing system supports complex decision trees with:

  • AND/OR Logic: Combine multiple conditions with logical operators
  • Nested Condition Groups: Create sophisticated rule hierarchies
  • Priority-based Processing: Assign weights to rules to control precedence

Multiple Criteria Types​

Route content based on a wide range of metadata attributes:

  • Genre: Send specific genres to dedicated instances (e.g., Anime → anime instance)
  • User: Route specific users' content to designated profiles/folders
  • Language: Direct content based on audio or subtitle language
  • Year: Segregate content by release year (e.g., pre-2000 movies → classics folder)
  • Certification: Organize by content rating (e.g., R-rated → separate folder)
  • Season: Control routing based on series length (e.g., shows with more than 5 seasons → lower quality profile)

Multi-Instance Routing​

Content can be sent to multiple instances simultaneously when different rules match, allowing for:

  • Duplicate Content: Maintain the same show/movie in multiple libraries
  • Quality Variations: Keep different quality versions in different instances
  • Different Root Folders: Store content in various locations based on your preferences

Creating Routing Rules​

Basic Rule Structure​

Each routing rule consists of:

  1. Conditions: The criteria that content must match
  2. Target Instance: The Sonarr/Radarr instance to receive matching content
  3. Instance Settings: Quality profile, root folder, etc. for the specific instance
  4. Priority: Determining which rule takes precedence when multiple match

Example Rule Creation​

Anime Rule Example​

To create a rule that routes anime content to a dedicated instance:

  1. Navigate to the Sonarr or Radarr configuration page
  2. Click "Add Rule" under Content Routing
  3. Set up conditions:
    • Select "Genre" as the condition type
    • Select "contains" as the operator
    • Enter "Anime" as the value
  4. Configure the target instance:
    • Select your anime-focused Sonarr instance
    • Choose an appropriate quality profile
    • Select the desired root folder
  5. Set a high priority to ensure anime content is always routed to this instance

User-based Rule Example​

To create a rule that routes a specific user's content to a dedicated folder:

  1. Navigate to the configuration page
  2. Click "Add Rule" under Content Routing
  3. Set up conditions:
    • Select "User" as the condition type
    • Select "equals" as the operator
    • Select the desired username
  4. Configure the target instance:
    • Select the appropriate instance
    • Choose the quality profile for this user
    • Select a specific root folder for this user's content
  5. Set the priority level for this rule

Rule Processing Flow​

When a new item is added to a watchlist, Pulsarr:

  1. Evaluates all content routing rules
  2. Identifies all matching rules
  3. For rules targeting different instances:
    • Sends the content to all matching instances
  4. For rules targeting the same instance:
    • Applies only the highest priority matching rule
    • Uses that rule's settings for quality profile, root folder, etc.

Advanced Example​

Here's a practical example of a complex routing setup:

Rule 1: IF genre contains "Anime" AND language equals "Japanese"
        THEN route to "Anime-Sonarr" with "HD-1080p" profile
        Priority: 100

Rule 2: IF genre contains "Anime" 
        THEN route to "Default-Sonarr" with "SD" profile
        Priority: 50

Rule 3: IF user equals "KidsAccount"
        THEN route to "Family-Sonarr" with "Family" profile
        Priority: 80

In this setup:

  • Japanese anime goes to a dedicated instance with high quality
  • Other anime goes to the default instance with lower quality
  • All content from the kids' account goes to a family-friendly instance

Troubleshooting​

If content isn't being routed as expected:

  1. Check Rule Priority: Ensure higher priority rules aren't overriding your rule
  2. Verify Conditions: Content metadata must match exactly as specified in the rule
  3. Instance Connectivity: Confirm that Pulsarr can communicate with all instances
  4. Review Logs: Check Pulsarr logs for any errors in rule processing
  5. Test with Simple Rules: Create basic rules to test functionality before adding complexity