User guide

Overview

The extension detects media titles on supported websites and lets you instantly send them to your Servarr applications (Sonarr, Radarr, Lidarr, Readarr) without copying and pasting. You can optionally inject a floating or anchored action icon on pages, add right-click context menu items, and customise appearance and behaviour.

All configuration is stored locally via the browser extension storage API. No telemetry, analytics, or remote configuration is performed.

Installation / loading

All browsers

Install from the official store for your browser:

• Chrome Web Store (Chrome, Brave and other Chromium browsers)
• Firefox Add-ons
• Microsoft Edge Add-ons

From released source — Chromium (Chrome / Edge / Brave)

1. Download or build the release ZIP for Chromium (MV3).
2. Go to chrome://extensions (or edge://extensions).
3. Enable Developer mode.
4. Click Load unpacked and select the build folder (or drag in the unzipped build directory).
5. Verify that the extension icon appears in the toolbar.

From released source — Firefox

1. Download the .xpi build for Firefox (MV2), or load a temporary add-on via about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox.
2. Click Load Temporary Add-on… and select any file in the Firefox build folder (e.g. manifest.json).
3. The add-on remains until the browser is closed (temporary mode) or permanently if installed from the store.

Quick start

1. Open the extension's options page (click the extension icon → settings, or right-click the toolbar icon → Options / Manage Extension).
2. On the Settings tab, add at least one Servarr instance (Sonarr / Radarr / Lidarr / Readarr). Provide:
   • Base URL (including protocol) — e.g. http://localhost:8989
   • API key (from the target application's UI) — optional, but required for auto population.
3. Toggle the instance ON so the extension will use it.
4. (Optional) Show Advanced settings and enable Auto populate from API to automatically determine version and selectors.
5. Visit a supported media site (e.g. IMDb, TMDb, Trakt). You should see inline action buttons or the injected icon (if enabled) allowing you to send items to Servarr.

If nothing appears, check the Debug tab and the troubleshooting section below.

Tabs & settings breakdown

Settings (basic)

Core instance configuration.

If Auto populate from API (advanced) is ON and an API key is set, advanced selector fields are fetched and filled automatically; otherwise defaults are used.

Advanced (inside Settings)

Advanced options are shown within the Settings tab. Toggle the Show advanced button to reveal or hide the advanced section for each site (it appears under the icon palette). Controls automatic selector and version detection.

The extension only performs version probing passively (non-blocking). If calls fail, defaults remain; basic functionality usually still works.

Integrations

Enable / disable icons and actions on specific third-party media websites — see the full integrations gallery for the current list and status of every site.

If a site toggle is enabled but no icons appear, the site layout may have changed (see troubleshooting).

Custom icons

Controls the injected page action icon's appearance and placement.

Behavioural logic:

• Disabling Use custom icon disables all subordinate toggles.
• Changing icon type (anchored vs floating) dynamically enables/disables certain offset unit controls to prevent invalid combos.
• Offsets are saved as [value][unit] (e.g. 32px / 15%).

Context menu

Adds right-click search / add entries. When enabled, selecting text (a title) on a page and right-clicking presents Servarr actions.

Debug

Diagnostics & logging.

Only enable while troubleshooting; logging adds minor overhead.

Permissions

Shows all permissions currently granted to the extension. You may need to re-grant permissions if you change your Servarr instance URLs.

Some permissions are mandatory. Any non-mandatory permissions can be revoked, but certain features may stop working.

Support

This tab contains helpful external links only — there are no settings to toggle here and nothing in this section changes the extension's behaviour.

How automatic population works

When Auto populate from API is ON and an API key is supplied, the extension will:

1. Issue a lightweight version/capabilities request to each enabled instance.
2. Derive required internal identifiers or selectors (e.g. API version differences) and store them.
3. Update advanced fields silently; manual edits are locked while active.

Failure handling: if the request fails (network / 401 / timeout) the extension falls back to defaults and continues operating. A badge (if displayed) may reflect a failure colour.

Disable auto population if:

• You use a reverse proxy rewriting paths unpredictably.
• Access requires VPN / network conditions that intermittently block API calls.
• You maintain custom forked Servarr builds with non-standard responses.

Status badges

Where shown, badges use colours to indicate:

• Green: API reachable and responsive.
• Yellow/amber: partial or slow response (heuristic fall-back).
• Red: failed probe (using defaults).

Badges are passive and never block interaction.

Using the injected icon

1. Enable Use custom icon in the Custom icons tab.
2. Choose Anchored for a fixed distance from the window edges; Floating for freer overlay behaviour (still positioned relative to window edges with offsets).
3. Adjust left/right, top/bottom and the numeric offsets until placement suits your layout.
4. Open a supported site page and verify the icon appears; click it to access quick actions.

If it overlaps site UI, reduce offsets or switch side/position.

Context menu workflow

• Highlight a movie/show/album/book title in the page body.
• Right-click and choose the relevant Servarr instance action.
• The extension opens the appropriate add/search route.

If no menu items appear, ensure the context menu feature is enabled and the instance is active.

Debugging & troubleshooting

Reset approach: use Reset settings on the Backup & restore tab of the options page to restore defaults (see backup / migration).

Privacy & data handling

• All settings are stored locally using browser.storage.
• API keys never leave your machine except when calling your own Servarr endpoints.
• No telemetry, analytics, or third-party tracking.
• Optional donation links open external payment pages (manual user action).

See the full privacy policy.

Backup / migration

Settings can be backed up, restored and reset from the Backup & restore tab on the extension's options page.

Backup

Click Download backup to export your current settings to a JSON file named servarr-autosearch-settings-<timestamp>.json. The file wraps your settings in a schema-versioned envelope (export date, extension version and schema version) so it can be validated when restored later.

Restore

1. Choose a previously saved backup file with the file picker.
2. (Optional) Click Preview changes to see exactly what will be added, removed or changed before applying anything. The preview updates if you toggle the merge/replace mode.
3. Choose the mode: by default the backup is merged into your current settings; tick Replace existing settings instead of merging to overwrite everything with the file's contents instead.
4. Click Restore and confirm. Settings apply immediately and all options tabs refresh — no reload required.

Notes:

• Both current (envelope) backups and legacy plain-JSON settings exports are accepted; legacy files import with a warning.
• Files are validated before import (settings structure must be intact); invalid files are rejected with the reason shown.
• A backup created by a newer version of the extension warns before importing; one from an older version is normalised on import.

Reset

Reset settings restores every setting to its default value (with a confirmation prompt). This cannot be undone, so take a backup first.

Migrating to another browser or profile

Download a backup in the source browser, then restore it from the options page in the target browser. This works across Chromium browsers and Firefox.

Frequently asked questions

Contributing & support

• Report bugs / request features via GitHub Issues — include console logs (enable debug first) and steps to reproduce.
• Pull requests welcome — see the developers page.
• For version history, additions, fixes and migration notes, see the changelog.

Glossary

Happy searching! 📡