arr-tui/SPECS.md

arr-tui — Specification

A terminal UI to search for movies and series, add them to Radarr / Sonarr, and watch the downloads progress in SABnzbd.

• Language: Go
• TUI library: tview (on top of tcell)
• License: MIT
• Module: git.stinnesbeck.com/nils/arr-tui
• Status: M9 done

1. Goals

1. Search for movies (Radarr) and series (Sonarr) from one place.
2. Add a result to Radarr/Sonarr with sensible defaults (quality profile, root folder, monitored) and trigger a search so it gets downloaded.
3. Show the SABnzbd queue and history with live progress.
4. Be fast and keyboard-driven; usable over SSH.

Non-goals (for now)

• Managing indexers, download clients, or Radarr/Sonarr settings.
• Replacing the Radarr/Sonarr web UIs for library management.
• Torrent clients (SABnzbd / Usenet only).
• Multi-user / auth beyond API keys.

2. How the pieces fit together

            ┌────────────┐   lookup / add / release search   ┌──────────┐
            │            │ ────────────────────────────────▶ │  Radarr  │──┐
            │  arr-tui   │                                   └──────────┘  │ sends NZB
            │            │ ────────────────────────────────▶ ┌──────────┐  │
            │            │                                   │  Sonarr  │──┤
            └─────┬──────┘                                   └──────────┘  │
                  │  queue / history / pause / resume                      ▼
                  └────────────────────────────────────────▶ ┌──────────────┐
                                                             │   SABnzbd    │
                                                             └──────────────┘

Radarr/Sonarr are expected to already have SABnzbd configured as their download client. arr-tui talks to all three APIs directly; it does not send NZBs to SABnzbd itself, except possibly via the manual-release flow, which still goes through Radarr/Sonarr (see 4.3).

3. External APIs

Service	API	Auth	Endpoints used
Radarr	v3 REST (JSON)	X-Api-Key header	GET /api/v3/movie/lookup?term=, GET /api/v3/movie, POST /api/v3/movie, GET /api/v3/qualityprofile, GET /api/v3/rootfolder, GET /api/v3/queue, GET /api/v3/release?movieId=, POST /api/v3/release, POST /api/v3/command (MoviesSearch), GET /api/v3/system/status
Sonarr	v3 REST (JSON)	X-Api-Key header	GET /api/v3/series/lookup?term=, GET /api/v3/series, POST /api/v3/series, GET /api/v3/qualityprofile, GET /api/v3/rootfolder, GET /api/v3/queue, GET /api/v3/release?episodeId= / ?seriesId=&seasonNumber=, POST /api/v3/release, POST /api/v3/command (SeriesSearch, SeasonSearch, EpisodeSearch), GET /api/v3/system/status
SABnzbd	/api?mode=...&output=json	apikey query param	mode=queue, mode=history, mode=pause / resume, mode=queue&name=delete, mode=version

Notes:

• Endpoint shapes should be verified against each instance's own Swagger / the official docs when implementing; Radarr and Sonarr occasionally change fields between versions.
• Lookup results include an id of 0 when the item is not yet in the library; a non-zero id means it is already added. We use this to show an "in library" badge.

4. Features

4.1 MVP (v0.1)

• Config: load URLs + API keys from a config file; fail with a clear message if missing or unreachable.
• Search: a Movies view (Radarr) and a Series view (Sonarr), each with a search box. Results list with title, year, rating, status, and an "in library" marker. Detail pane with overview, runtime, genres, network/studio.
• Add: from a result, open a small form: quality profile, root folder, monitored (yes/no), "search now" (yes/no); for series also monitor mode (all / future / first season / none). Submit calls POST /movie or POST /series with addOptions.searchForMovie / searchForMissingEpisodes.
• Interactive release search: for a movie (or a series' season/episode) in the library, list releases from indexers (GET /release) with title, indexer, size, quality, age, and rejection reasons; sort/filter; grab a chosen one (POST /release). Rejected releases can be grabbed only after an explicit confirmation. The list can be filtered by quality, codec (x265/x264/AV1), HDR/DV/SDR and language; releases carry no media info, so codec and HDR are read from the title, quality and custom formats (a release that does not name its codec never matches a codec filter).
• Downloads view: all downloads and queues in one place, auto-refreshing every few seconds:
  • SABnzbd queue (name, size, progress, ETA, speed) and history (completed / failed, with retry).
  • Radarr and Sonarr queues (status, warnings, import errors), so stuck imports are visible.
  • Global speed / pause state in the status bar. Pause/resume and delete a SABnzbd job.
• Status bar / help: the bottom bar lists the keys that work in the current view or panel; the top right shows the connection state of each service; ? opens the full key reference.
• Notifications and log (F5): feedback about actions (added, deleted, grabbed, failures) appears as popups in the bottom right that fade away (errors stay longer). Everything is also kept in the Log view; only connection changes of the background polling are logged, not every failed poll.

4.2 v0.2 (done, M8)

• Library view: movies (top) and series (below) with the details of the selected item on the right; Tab switches between the two lists. Filters (all, missing, downloaded, monitored, unmonitored), a file-property filter (F: quality 2160p/1080p/720p/SD, codec x265/x264/AV1, HDR/DV/SDR, audio language) and a text filter apply to both lists. Movie properties come from the movie list; series properties are read per series from GET /episodefile?seriesId= only while a property filter is active, cached while a series' file count and size stay the same, and a series matches when any of its files does. t toggles monitoring, s starts an automatic search, i/Enter opens the release search (movies) or the drill-down (series).
• Series drill-down: seasons and episodes, toggle monitoring per season/episode, trigger season/episode search and release search.

4.3 Later / ideas

• Calendar / upcoming view.
• Desktop/terminal notification when a download completes.
• Multiple instances per service (e.g. 4K Radarr).
• Poster preview via sixel / kitty graphics where supported.

5. UI Design (tview)

Layout sketch (Library view; the other views follow the same frame):

┌ arr-tui ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 1 Movies  2 Series  3 Downloads  4 Library  5 Log   ● Radarr ● Sonarr ● SAB │ ← tab bar + connection state
│ Library · Movies 12/40 · Series 5/9 · filter: missing                │
│ Filter: ______________________                                       │
├─ Movies ───────────────────────┬─ Details ─────────────────────────┤
│ ● Movie One (2021)   missing   │ Title (Year)                      │
│ ● Movie Two (2019)   ✓ WEB-DL  │ ★ 7.8 · 142 min · Sci-Fi          │
├─ Series ───────────────────────┤ Overview text wraps here...       │
│ ● Show One (2008)    12/62     │                                   │
│ ○ Show Two (2015)    10/10     │                                   │
├────────────────────────────────┴───────────────────────────────────┤
│ Tab movies/series · f filter · / text · t monitor · ? help · q quit │ ← key hints of the current view
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Popups for action feedback appear in the bottom right and fade away; the Log view (F5) keeps the history.

tview primitives: Pages (views and stacked overlays), Flex (layout), InputField (search), List/Table (results, queues, library), TextView (details, log), Form (add dialog), Modal (confirmations). Popups are drawn by a wrapper around the root primitive.

Keybindings (the status bar shows the ones that apply to the current view):

Key	Action
F1-F5	Switch view (Movies, Series, Downloads, Library, Log); also while typing, and from full-screen views. Dialogs block them.
Tab / Shift+Tab	Switch panel within the current view (never the view): search box / results, Downloads panels, Library lists
? / F9	Help (F9 also works while typing)
q / Ctrl+C	Quit
Esc	Close a dialog or a full-screen view
/	Movies, Series, Library: focus the search / text filter
Enter / a	Movies, Series: add the selected result (dialog: ↑↓ move, ←→ change dropdowns)
i	Movies, Series, Library: interactive release search (series: seasons and episodes)
F	Library and release list: filter by properties (quality, codec, HDR/DV, language)
f	Library: cycle the status filter; release list: hide rejected releases
t	Library, episodes: toggle monitored; Downloads history: retry a failed download
s	Library, episodes: automatic search; release list: cycle sort (best / size / age)
Enter / g	Release list: grab the selected release (rejected ones ask for confirmation)
Enter	Library: open; episodes: expand a season or search releases for an episode
p / d / b / r	Downloads: pause/resume SABnzbd, delete job / history entry / arr queue item, remove from arr queue + blocklist, refresh
r	Library, episodes: reload
G / c	Log: follow new entries / clear

6. Architecture

• All network I/O runs in goroutines; UI updates go through app.QueueUpdateDraw. Never block the UI thread.
• Debounced search (e.g. 300 ms) with request cancellation via context.Context.
• A single ticker drives SABnzbd/queue polling, only while the Downloads view (or the status bar) needs it.
• HTTP client per service with timeouts, and a typed error that the UI can show in the status bar rather than crashing.

Proposed layout:

arr-tui/
├── cmd/arr-tui/main.go        # entry point, wires config + UI
├── internal/
│   ├── config/                # load/validate config
│   ├── radarr/                # client + types
│   ├── sonarr/                # client + types
│   ├── sabnzbd/               # client + types
│   ├── arr/                   # shared bits (HTTP helper, quality profile, root folder types)
│   └── ui/                    # tview views: search, add form, downloads, status bar
├── SPECS.md
├── go.mod
└── README.md

Dependencies: github.com/rivo/tview, github.com/gdamore/tcell/v2. Prefer the standard library net/http and encoding/json for the API clients — no generated SDKs.

7. Configuration

Format: JSON. Location: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/arr-tui/config.json (fallback ~/.config/arr-tui/config.json), overridable with --config. Environment variables override file values (e.g. ARR_TUI_RADARR_APIKEY) so secrets don't have to live in the file. Parsed with the standard library encoding/json (unknown fields rejected to catch typos).

{
  "radarr": {
    "url": "http://localhost:7878",
    "apikey": "...",
    "default_quality_profile": "HD-1080p",
    "default_root_folder": "/movies"
  },
  "sonarr": {
    "url": "http://localhost:8989",
    "apikey": "...",
    "default_quality_profile": "HD-1080p",
    "default_root_folder": "/tv"
  },
  "sabnzbd": {
    "url": "http://localhost:8080",
    "apikey": "..."
  },
  "ui": {
    "refresh_seconds": 3
  }
}

The default quality profile / root folder fields are optional.

The file should be created with mode 0600; warn if it is more permissive. API keys are never logged.

8. Testing

• Unit tests for each client using httptest.Server with recorded JSON fixtures.
• Config parsing / validation tests.
• UI logic (formatting, state) kept out of tview widgets so it can be tested without a terminal.
• Manual testing against real Radarr/Sonarr/SABnzbd instances (dev/up.sh starts pinned Radarr/Sonarr/SABnzbd containers, see dev/README.md).

9. Milestones

• M0 — Project skeleton: go mod init, config loading, empty tview app with tabs and status bar.
• M1 — Radarr client: system status, lookup, quality profiles, root folders, add movie.
• M2 — Movie search + add flow in the UI.
• M3 — Sonarr client and series search + add flow.
• M4 — SABnzbd client and Downloads view (queue + history) with live updates and pause/resume/delete.
• M5 — Radarr/Sonarr queues merged into the Downloads view.
• M6 — Interactive release search (movies, then series seasons/episodes) and grab.
• M7 — Polish: help screen (?/F9), per-service connection indicators, README, Makefile release builds, --version.
• M8 — Library view (movies/series, filters, text filter, monitor toggle, automatic search) and series drill-down (seasons/episodes, monitoring, search, release search).
• M9 — Popup notifications, Log view (F5), context-sensitive key hints in the status bar.
• M10+ — ideas: calendar, completion notifications, delete from library, multiple instances.

10. Open Questions

Open: none.

Decided:

• Go module path: git.stinnesbeck.com/nils/arr-tui.
• One instance each of Radarr, Sonarr and SABnzbd (multi-instance is a later idea).
• Minimum Go version: latest stable.
• License: MIT (Nils Stinnesbeck). The tool will be published, so keep secrets out of the repo, include a config.example.json, and write a proper README.
• Config format: JSON.
• Interactive release search: in the MVP.
• Downloads view: shows SABnzbd and the Radarr/Sonarr queues from the start.