Plex Session Monitoring

Automatically searches for upcoming episodes and seasons by monitoring what users are currently watching. When someone nears the end of a season, Pulsarr proactively downloads the next content.

Quick Setup

1. Navigate to Utilities → Plex Session Monitoring
2. Toggle Enable Session Monitoring to ON
3. Configure polling interval (default: 15 minutes)
4. Set episode threshold (default: 2 episodes remaining)
5. Optionally filter specific users
6. Click Save to activate monitoring

How It Works

1. Monitors active Plex sessions via polling (configurable interval)
2. Calculates remaining episodes in the current season
3. Triggers searches when users reach a threshold (e.g., 2 episodes remaining)
4. Handles next seasons automatically or via rolling monitoring

Rolling Monitoring

Progressive downloading strategy that starts minimal and expands based on viewing activity, with automatic cleanup when shows are abandoned:

• Pilot Rolling: Start with pilot only → expand to full season when watched → add seasons progressively
• First Season Rolling: Start with Season 1 → add Season 2 when nearing completion → continue expanding
• Auto-cleanup: Automatically reverts shows to original monitoring states when nobody is watching
• Best for: Testing user interest and managing storage efficiently

Configuration

Basic Settings

Setting	Description
Enable Session Monitoring	Toggle the feature on/off
Polling Interval	How often to check sessions (default: 15 minutes)
Episode Threshold	When to trigger searches (default: 2 episodes remaining)
Filter Users	Optionally monitor only specific users

Cleanup Settings

Setting	Description
Automatic Reset	Reset abandoned shows after inactivity period
Progressive Cleanup	Remove previous seasons as users advance (respects other user activity)
Inactivity Reset Days	Days before content considered inactive (default: 7)

Status & Actions

Action	Description
View Active	Shows all rolling monitored content with master records and user tracking
View Inactive	Shows content not watched within inactivity period
Reset	Reverts show to original monitoring state (master records only)
Delete	Removes from monitoring, keeps current content
Check Sessions	Manually trigger monitoring without waiting for poll
Reset All Inactive	Bulk reset all inactive shows

Setup in Sonarr

Rolling monitoring options appear in:

• Sonarr Instance Settings: Set default rolling behavior for all content
• Content Router Rules: Apply rolling monitoring to specific content based on conditions

tip

Rolling monitoring options only appear when Session Monitoring is enabled.

Best Practices

• Start with conservative thresholds (2-3 episodes remaining)
• Use user filtering to monitor specific groups
• Enable progressive cleanup to manage storage efficiently
• Adjust polling intervals based on viewing patterns

Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
Sessions not detected	Verify Plex connection; check polling interval; ensure users watching content
Searches not triggering	Verify series exists in Sonarr with metadata; check threshold config; review logs
Rolling monitoring issues	Ensure feature enabled; confirm content added with rolling options; check Sonarr modifications

API Reference

See the Session Monitoring API documentation for detailed endpoint information.

Attribution

Inspired by prefetcharr by p-hueber.