Unpackerr

Automatic archive extraction for your *arr stack

Unpackerr - Automated Archive Extraction

Unpackerr monitors your download queues in Radarr, Sonarr, Lidarr, and Readarr, automatically extracting compressed downloads and cleaning up extracted files after successful import. Essential for users who download content in RAR or other archive formats.

What is Unpackerr?

Unpackerr is a lightweight daemon that watches your *arr application queues for completed downloads containing archives. Key features include:

Installation

Install from the Dashboard

Open App Dashboard → Package Management (/dashboard?mode=packages), find Unpackerr in the catalog (browse the Automation category or search), and click Install. The dashboard streams the install log live and Unpackerr appears in your Application Control panel when it finishes. Reinstall, Update, and Remove are available from the same panel.

What you see is gated by your account: admins manage any user’s apps; regular users manage their own. See App Management for the full flow.

The installer adds the official Golift repository, installs the latest Unpackerr release, auto-detects your installed *arr applications and wires up their API connections, and registers a systemd service.

Install from the CLI (automation)

The CLI runs the same scripts as the Dashboard and is suited to automation and scripting:

qb install unpackerr -u username
qb reinstall unpackerr -u username
qb update unpackerr -u username
qb remove unpackerr -u username
qb help unpackerr

Full flag reference: CLI Reference.

Supported Integrations

QuickBox Pro automatically configures Unpackerr with your installed *arr applications:

Enhanced Features

Unpackerr on QuickBox Pro includes several advanced features:

Service Management

Unpackerr runs as a systemd service for reliable operation:

Check Service Status

systemctl status unpackerr@username

Restart Service

systemctl restart unpackerr@username

View Live Logs

journalctl -u unpackerr@username -f

View Application Logs

# Application log
tail -f /home/username/.config/Unpackerr/logs/unpackerr.log

Configuration

Configuration File Location

After installation, configure Unpackerr by editing:

nano /home/username/.config/Unpackerr/unpackerr.conf

Key Configuration Options

## Logging Configuration
log_file = "/home/username/.config/Unpackerr/logs/unpackerr.log"
log_files = 10
log_file_mb = 10
 
## Polling Settings
# How often to poll `*arr` apps (recommend 1m-5m)
interval = "2m"
 
# Delay before starting extraction after download completes
start_delay = "1m"
 
# Delay before retrying failed extractions
retry_delay = "5m"
 
## Extraction Settings
# Number of parallel extractions (1 is recommended)
parallel = 1
 
# File permissions for extracted files
file_mode = "0644"
dir_mode = "0755"

*arr Application Configuration

Each *arr application section in the config supports these options:

[[radarr]]
  url = "http://127.0.0.1:7878/username/radarr"
  api_key = "your-api-key-here"
  # Protocols to monitor: "torrent", "usenet", or "torrent,usenet"
  protocols = "torrent"
  # Time to wait before deleting extracted files after import
  delete_delay = "5m"
  # Delete original download folder after import (use with caution for torrents)
  delete_orig = false

How It Works

Extraction Workflow

1. Monitor - Unpackerr polls your *arr apps at the configured interval
2. Detect - Identifies completed downloads with extractable archives
3. Wait - Respects start_delay to ensure download is fully complete
4. Extract - Decompresses archives to the same location
5. Import - Your *arr app detects and imports the extracted files
6. Cleanup - After delete_delay, extracted files are removed

Webhook Notifications

Configure webhooks to receive notifications for:

• Queued - Extraction queued
• Started - Extraction in progress
• Finished - Extraction complete
• Deleted - Extracted files cleaned up
• Failed - Extraction errors

[[webhook]]
  url = "https://discord.com/api/webhooks/your-webhook-url"
  name = "Discord"
  events = [0]  # 0 = all events

Directory Structure

Unpackerr files are organized as follows:

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Unpackerr not extracting files:

# Check service status
systemctl status unpackerr@username
 
# View recent logs for errors
journalctl -u unpackerr@username -n 100
 
# Enable debug mode in config
# Set: debug = true
# Then restart the service

API connection errors:

# Verify `*arr` app is running
systemctl status radarr@username
 
# Check API key is correct in unpackerr.conf
grep api_key /home/username/.config/Unpackerr/unpackerr.conf
 
# Test API connectivity manually
curl -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_KEY" http://127.0.0.1:7878/api/v3/system/status

Permission errors:

# Check file ownership
ls -la /home/username/.config/Unpackerr/
 
# Fix permissions if needed
chown -R username:username /home/username/.config/Unpackerr/
 
# Or reinstall
qb reinstall unpackerr -u username

Extracted files not being imported:

• Ensure your *arr app’s download path matches Unpackerr’s monitored path
• Check that delete_delay is long enough for import to complete
• Verify the extracted file format is supported by your *arr app

Best Practices

Additional Resources

Related Applications