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Getting Started

This guide walks you through setting up Recyclarr to sync TRaSH Guide quality profiles to Radarr. By the end, you'll have a working quality profile with custom formats and proper media naming. No YAML expertise required.

Prerequisites​

  • Radarr is running and accessible (Sonarr setup is similar — just use sonarr templates)
  • You know where to find your API key (Settings → General → Security)

Step 1: Install Recyclarr​

Add the Recyclarr service to your existing docker-compose.yml file, or create a new one:

services:
  recyclarr:
    image: ghcr.io/recyclarr/recyclarr:8
    container_name: recyclarr
    user: 1000:1000
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - TZ=America/New_York
    volumes:
      - ./config:/config

For detailed installation options (networking, tags, native install), see the Installation Guide.

Step 2: Choose a Quality Profile​

Recyclarr provides ready-to-use templates that match TRaSH Guide quality profiles. List them with:

docker compose run --rm recyclarr config list templates

You'll see available templates:

┌───────────────────┬───────────────────┐
│ Sonarr            │ Radarr            │
├───────────────────┼───────────────────┤
│ web-1080p         │ hd-bluray-web     │
│ web-2160p         │ uhd-bluray-web    │
│ anime-remux-1080p │ remux-web-1080p   │
│ ...               │ remux-web-2160p   │
│                   │ anime-remux-1080p │
│                   │ ...               │
└───────────────────┴───────────────────┘

These correspond to profiles on the TRaSH Guides Radarr Quality Profiles page.

Step 3: Create Your Configuration​

Generate a config file from your chosen template. For example, to use the HD Bluray + WEB profile:

docker compose run --rm recyclarr config create --template hd-bluray-web

This creates config/configs/hd-bluray-web.yml with everything pre-configured. Open it and update base_url and api_key:

radarr:
  hd-bluray-web:
    base_url: http://radarr:7878  # Your Radarr URL
    api_key: your_api_key_here    # Radarr → Settings → General → API Key

Optionally, add this line if you want Recyclarr to delete custom formats it previously synced but are no longer in your configuration:

    delete_old_custom_formats: true

That's it. The template already includes the quality definition, quality profile, and custom formats from the TRaSH Guide.

Step 4: Run Your First Sync​

docker compose run --rm recyclarr sync

You should see output like:

===========================================
Processing Radarr Server: [hd-bluray-web]
===========================================

[INF] Created 34 New Custom Formats
[INF] Total of 34 custom formats were synced
[INF] Created 1 Profiles: ["HD Bluray + WEB"]
[INF] A total of 1 profiles were synced. 1 contain quality changes and 1 contain updated scores
[INF] Total of 14 sizes were synced for quality definition movie
[INF] Completed at 12/16/2025 10:55:42

Step 5: Verify the Sync​

Check these locations in the service to confirm the sync worked:

  • Settings → Profiles — Your new quality profile appears ("HD Bluray + WEB")
  • Settings → Custom Formats — New custom formats with scores assigned
  • Settings → Quality — Size ranges updated for each quality level

Adding More Profiles​

Want multiple quality profiles (e.g., both 1080p and 4K)? Add more guide-backed profiles to your existing config file.

Edit your hd-bluray-web.yml (or create a new config file) and add additional trash_id entries under quality_profiles. Here's an example with four profiles:

radarr:
  main:
    base_url: http://radarr:7878
    api_key: your_api_key_here
    delete_old_custom_formats: true

    quality_definition:
      type: movie

    quality_profiles:
      # HD Bluray + WEB (1080p)
      - trash_id: d1d67249d3890e49bc12e275d989a7e9  # HD Bluray + WEB
        reset_unmatched_scores:
          enabled: true

      # UHD Bluray + WEB (4K)
      - trash_id: 64fb5f9858489bdac2af690e27c8f42f  # UHD Bluray + WEB
        reset_unmatched_scores:
          enabled: true

      # Remux + WEB 1080p
      - trash_id: 9ca12ea80aa55ef916e3751f4b874151  # Remux + WEB 1080p
        reset_unmatched_scores:
          enabled: true

      # Remux + WEB 2160p
      - trash_id: fd161a61e3ab826d3a22d53f935696dd  # Remux + WEB 2160p
        reset_unmatched_scores:
          enabled: true

Each guide-backed profile pulls its quality profile settings and custom format scores directly from the TRaSH Guides, so a single trash_id is all you need per profile.

tip

Each template also includes commented-out custom_format_groups for optional CF groups like streaming services and movie versions. See the Quick Setup Templates page for the full template contents, or run recyclarr config create --template to generate a file with all available groups.

Run docker compose run --rm recyclarr sync again, and all profiles will be created.

Adding Media Naming​

To sync TRaSH Guide naming formats, first see what's available:

docker compose run --rm recyclarr list naming radarr

Then add a media_naming section to your config:

radarr:
  main:
    base_url: http://radarr:7878
    api_key: your_api_key_here

    quality_definition:
      type: movie

    quality_profiles:
      - trash_id: d1d67249d3890e49bc12e275d989a7e9  # HD Bluray + WEB
        reset_unmatched_scores:
          enabled: true

    # Results visible in: Radarr → Settings → Media Management
    media_naming:
      folder: plex-tmdb
      movie:
        rename: true
        standard: plex-tmdb

When to Customize​

The templates provide the full TRaSH Guide recommendation. For most users, that's everything you need.

You only need a custom_formats: section if you want to:

  • Override a score — Change the default score for a specific custom format
  • Add optional custom formats — Include CFs marked as "optional" in the TRaSH Guides

For customization examples, see the Configuration Examples page.

Next Steps​