Advanced Content Routing

Build custom routing rules using AND/OR logic to direct content to the appropriate Sonarr/Radarr instances with specific configurations.

Quick Setup

1. Navigate to Content Router in the Pulsarr interface
2. Click Add Rule to create a new routing rule
3. Configure conditions using AND/OR logic (e.g., "IF genre contains 'Anime' AND year > 2020")
4. Select target instance and configure overrides (quality profile, root folder)
5. Optionally set rule to require approval or bypass quotas
6. Set priority (only matters when multiple rules target the same instance - highest wins)
7. Save and test by adding content that matches your rule

Routing Conditions

Build rules using any combination of these fields with AND/OR logic:

Field	Description	Example
Genre	Content genre categories	genre contains "Anime"
User	User ID or username	user equals "KidsAccount"
Year	Release year	year > 2000
Certification	Content rating	certification in ["PG", "PG-13"]
Original Language	Source language	language equals "Japanese"
Season	Season number (Sonarr only)	season > 3
IMDb Rating	IMDb score with optional vote count	imdbRating > 7.0
RT Critic Rating	Rotten Tomatoes critic score (0-100)	rtCriticRating > 80
RT Audience Rating	Rotten Tomatoes audience score (0-100)	rtAudienceRating > 70
TMDB Rating	TMDB score (0-10)	tmdbRating > 6.5
Streaming Service	Available streaming platforms	streamingService contains "Netflix"

Automatic Anime Detection

Pulsarr automatically detects anime by checking TVDB/TMDB/IMDb IDs against the anime-lists database, updated weekly. This adds "anime" to content genres automatically, enabling rules like genre contains "Anime" without manual tagging.

Rule Actions

Each rule can configure special behaviors:

Action	Description
Require Approval	Force content matching this rule to require admin approval
Bypass Quotas	Allow content to skip user quota limits
Approval Reason	Custom message shown when approval is required

Instance Overrides

Override default instance settings when routing:

Sonarr

Setting	Description
Quality Profile	Override default quality profile
Root Folder	Route to specific folder path
Tags	Apply specific tags for organization
Search on Add	Automatically search when added
Series Type	Override series type (standard, anime, daily)
Season Monitoring	Override monitoring strategy (see below)

Season Monitoring Options:

Option	Description
all	All Seasons
future	Future Seasons
missing	Missing Episodes
existing	Existing Episodes
firstSeason	First Season
lastSeason	Last Season
latestSeason	Latest Season
pilot	Pilot Only
pilotRolling	Pilot Rolling (auto-expand with session monitoring)
firstSeasonRolling	First Season Rolling (auto-expand with session monitoring)
recent	Recent Episodes
monitorSpecials	Monitor Specials
unmonitorSpecials	Unmonitor Specials
none	None
skip	Skip

Radarr

Setting	Description
Quality Profile	Override default quality profile
Root Folder	Route to specific folder path
Tags	Apply specific tags for organization
Search on Add	Automatically search when added
Monitor	Monitor type (movieOnly, movieAndCollection, none)

Multi-Instance Routing

Rules can send content to multiple instances simultaneously:

Anime Rule 1 → Anime-Sonarr-HD (priority 100)
Anime Rule 2 → Anime-Sonarr-4K (priority 90)

Both rules fire for anime content, sending to both instances with their respective configurations.

Priority Behavior

Priorities only matter when multiple rules target the same instance. The highest priority rule wins and applies its settings. Rules targeting different instances all execute independently.

For multi-instance synchronization features, see Multi-Instance Support.

Rule Processing

When content is added to a watchlist:

1. All routing rules are evaluated in priority order
2. Content is sent to all matching instances
3. For multiple rules targeting the same instance, highest priority wins

Example Rules

Anime to dedicated instance:

IF genre contains "Anime"
THEN route to "Anime-Sonarr" with "HD-1080p" profile

Kids content with approval:

IF user equals "KidsAccount"
THEN route to "Family-Sonarr" in "/kids" folder
AND require approval

High-rated movies only:

IF imdbRating > 7.5 AND rtCriticRating > 75
THEN route to "Premium-Radarr" with "4K" profile

Long-running series require approval:

IF season > 5
THEN route to default instance
AND require approval with reason "Long-running series"

Best Practices

• Start with simple rules before adding complexity
• Test rules by adding matching content and checking logs
• Document your routing strategy for team collaboration

Troubleshooting

Rules not matching:

• Verify condition fields match available metadata (check TMDB/TVDB)
• Review genre spelling and casing
• Check logs to see rule evaluation

Content routing to wrong instance:

• Review rule priorities (highest wins for same instance)
• Check for overlapping rules
• Verify target instance is configured and online

Anime not detected:

• Anime database updates weekly (Sundays at 3 AM)
• Verify content has TVDB/TMDB/IMDb external IDs
• Check logs for anime detection results

Overrides not applying:

• Confirm rule is matching (check logs)
• Verify override values exist on target instance
• Check rule priority vs conflicting rules

API Reference

See the Content Router API documentation for managing routing rules programmatically.