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Tutorial: Your First Sync

This tutorial 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

You don't need to understand YAML structure or dig into template files. Recyclarr provides ready-to-use configuration templates that mirror the TRaSH Guides exactly.

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​

Create a docker-compose.yml file:

services:
  recyclarr:
    image: ghcr.io/recyclarr/recyclarr
    container_name: recyclarr
    user: 1000:1000
    volumes:
      - ./config:/config
    environment:
      TZ: America/Santiago

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-v4       │ hd-bluray-web   │
│ web-2160p-v4       │ uhd-bluray-web  │
│ anime-sonarr-v4    │ remux-web-1080p │
│ ...                │ remux-web-2160p │
│                    │ anime-radarr    │
│                    │ ...             │
└────────────────────┴─────────────────┘

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:

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

This creates config/recyclarr.yml with everything pre-configured. Open it and update two lines:

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

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 35 New Custom Formats
[INF] Total of 35 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 12/7/2025 6:07:14 PM

Step 5: Verify in Radarr​

Check these locations in Radarr 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 templates to your existing config file.

First, see what include templates are available:

docker compose run --rm recyclarr config list templates --includes

Then edit your recyclarr.yml to add them. 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

    include:
      # Quality sizes (only needed once)
      - template: radarr-quality-definition-movie

      # HD Bluray + WEB (1080p)
      - template: radarr-quality-profile-hd-bluray-web
      - template: radarr-custom-formats-hd-bluray-web

      # UHD Bluray + WEB (4K)
      - template: radarr-quality-profile-uhd-bluray-web
      - template: radarr-custom-formats-uhd-bluray-web

      # Remux + WEB 1080p
      - template: radarr-quality-profile-remux-web-1080p
      - template: radarr-custom-formats-remux-web-1080p

      # Remux + WEB 2160p
      - template: radarr-quality-profile-remux-web-2160p
      - template: radarr-custom-formats-remux-web-2160p
The pattern

For each quality profile you want:

  1. Add the quality-profile template (creates the profile)
  2. Add the matching custom-formats template (adds CF scores to that profile)

The quality-definition template only needs to be included once.

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

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

    include:
      # ... your templates

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​