CatBox
CatBox is ElfHosted's TorBox-backed library shim. It sits between any qBittorrent-compatible client (Radarr, Sonarr, Lidarr, Readarr, Prowlarr, custom scripts) and TorBox, filling the same Arrs-stack role that Decypharr plays for Real-Debrid, but with an architecture designed specifically for TorBox's policies.
The architecture is what makes it different. Items submitted through the qBit API are virtual in your library: CatBox creates symlinks pointing into a virtual WebDAV tree, no actual TorBox add happens at this point. When your media server probes those files for metadata (codecs, resolution, runtime, subtitle tracks), CatBox serves synthetic or crowdsourced probe data so the probe completes without ever touching TorBox. Only when the user actually presses play does CatBox add the item to TorBox, fetch a presigned URL, and proxy the stream.
CatBox is the only safe way to use TorBox with Plex / Jellyfin / Emby large libraries
TorBox's policy prohibits automated tools from artificially keeping items in a user's library beyond 30 days. A media server (Plex / Jellyfin / Emby) constantly probes its library for codec / resolution / runtime metadata, thumbnail generation, intro detection, transcoding decisions, and so on. If those probes touch raw TorBox content, every probe re-asserts the item in TorBox and quietly extends its retention indefinitely, the exact "automated retention" pattern TorBox's policy forbids.
CatBox solves this with two design choices: a virtual library (items aren't added to TorBox until you press play) and pseudo / crowdsourced probe data (probes against virtual files return synthetic or community-captured metadata, never re-fetching from TorBox). The result: TorBox sees only what you actually watch, your library can be arbitrarily large, and your usage stays well within TorBox's policy.
Get a 7-day trial of ElfHosted CatBox! 
How do I access CatBox?
CatBox will be available from your dashboard (https://<username>.elfhosted.com>), or directly, at https://<username>-catbox.elfhosted.com
Cloud Storage Integration
This tool facilitates integration with cloud storage services. ElfHosted provides hosting infrastructure only. Users are responsible for their use of this service in compliance with applicable laws and third-party terms of service.
How does it work?
CatBox treats TorBox as on-demand storage rather than a download destination, with two key pieces:
Virtual library
- Submission: Radarr / Sonarr search indexers, find a release, and submit the magnet /
.torrentto CatBox via the qBittorrent API. - Virtualization: CatBox records the release in its catalog and creates a symlink under
/storage/symlinks/downloads/<category>/...pointing to a virtual path under/storage/torbox/.... Nothing is added to your TorBox account at this point. - Library import: Radarr / Sonarr "see" the file via the symlink, import it into the root folder, and notify your media server.
Pseudo / crowdsourced probe data
- Media-server probing: when Plex / Jellyfin / Emby scans the new file (or re-scans for thumbnails, intro detection, codec checks, transcoding profile decisions), CatBox serves synthetic headers for the file format and resolution, plus opportunistic probe data captured from previous real-playback events across the platform. The media server gets accurate metadata. TorBox is not touched.
- Background availability check: CatBox polls TorBox's cache so the library accurately reflects what's playable right now. Items that drop out of TorBox's global cache are flagged as unavailable.
On-demand materialization
- Playback (the materialize step): when you press play, CatBox adds the item to your TorBox account, fetches a presigned URL, and proxies the stream. The bytes flow from TorBox through CatBox's WebDAV proxy to your media server to your client.
- Cleanup: after playback ends, CatBox removes the item from your TorBox account. The symlink and library entry remain; the next playback re-materializes. TorBox's view of your account reflects only items you've recently played, never your full library.
The result: your media server sees a complete library of any size, with full metadata for every item, but TorBox only ever sees the small subset of items you actually press play on. This is what keeps usage compliant with TorBox's 30-day cache retention policy.
How to use it
Configure your TorBox API key
CatBox needs your TorBox API key, which it stores per-tenant in its SQLite catalog. Set it via the CatBox UI:
- Open CatBox from your apps dashboard.
- Navigate to
/ui/settings. - Paste your TorBox API key (get it from your TorBox account page) and save.
The key is hot-swapped on save with no restart required.
Configure Arrs
A fresh ElfHosted Arrs deployment (or the result of an ElfBot reset) on a TorBox-bundled stack is pre-configured for CatBox, no manual setup needed.
For existing deployments, add CatBox as a qBittorrent download client in Radarr / Sonarr / Lidarr / Readarr:
- Host:
catbox - Port:
8080 - Use SSL: off
- Username: any identifier (recorded as the source name in CatBox's "Connected clients" UI)
- Password: any string (CatBox doesn't authenticate at this layer; SSO upstream is the real auth)
- Category: must match the Arr name — one of
radarr,sonarr,radarr4k,sonarr4k,sonarranime(this becomes the top-level directory in the symlink tree, and downstream tooling expects these exact names)
Search TorBox's cache via Prowlarr
CatBox also exposes a Torznab search endpoint, so Prowlarr can query TorBox's cache directly during release search. This means Radarr / Sonarr will see cached-on-TorBox releases as first-class search results rather than having to discover them via other indexers and submit blind.
Add CatBox as a Generic Torznab indexer in Prowlarr:
- URL:
http://catbox:8080/torznab - API: (leave empty)
Then sync Prowlarr to Radarr / Sonarr. The CatBox indexer is pre-configured but disabled by default in newly provisioned Prowlarr instances; enable it to start using it.
Cached-only vs uncached releases
By default, CatBox only accepts releases already in TorBox's global cache (using TorBox's add_only_if_cached flag). This keeps your usage entirely within TorBox's existing cache, so CatBox never asks TorBox to fetch new content on your behalf, and no item is added to TorBox just to populate your library.
A user-toggleable setting in CatBox's UI opts in to uncached fetches, useful for private-tracker users where seed ratio matters or for less-common content that isn't already cached. When enabled, uncached fetches are queued separately so they don't interfere with playback.
What about TorBox + Plex / Emby / Jellyfin?
CatBox is the supported path for any TorBox-backed media-server stack. See:
For TorBox + Stremio (a different flow that doesn't need a virtual library because Stremio doesn't maintain a probed media-server library), see the TorBox guide.
CatBox also works with
How do I get support for CatBox?
- For general use of CatBox, refer to the official site or to one of the links in the resources section below.
- For specific support re your ElfHosted configuration / account, see the ElfHosted support options!
CatBox resources
Your content, your responsibility
ElfHosted provides CatBox as a hosted application — we do not supply content, accounts, or third-party credentials. You are responsible for ensuring that your use of this app complies with applicable laws and our Acceptable Use Policy. If you have questions about what is or isn't permitted, please reach out — we're happy to help.
What users say..
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I am new here, but today I learned realized that Elfhosted is one of the best free and open source software communities I've seen, and FOSS communities have been at the center of my life since the 90s (Perl, PHP, Symfony, Drupal, Ethereum, etc.). Great open software built by great people who care = great community, and that is something special.
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I’ve been using this service for a while now, and honestly, it’s a game-changer compared to anything else I’ve tried for managing my media library. The support is fantastic—super quick, and if the staff aren’t around (which rarely happens), the community steps up right away. I can’t imagine going back to any other platform.
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(responding to a Reddit thread re the cost of ElfHosted vs mainstream streaming / self-hosting):
I didn't know that the goal of this project was to compete with large companies running/renting entire DCs. I was under the impression that the goal of this project was to manage the updating of almost selfhosted applications on a shared platform with other users. Basically, be my sysadmin for me.
That being said, paying for services is the 'easy button'. There is a real world cost incurred for the time saved. Time is money. Time is the most valuable currency that exists. Once time is spent, it's forever lost, one cannot retrieve it again (yet). In my mind, there are 3 options for use of time with respect to: mainstream, selfhosting, elfhosted.
mainstream - my time is valuable and I don't want curated content and I don't care what content that I have the ability to consume. I only like what's popular.
elfhosted - my time is valuable, I want my own curated content without being forced to browse past the same damn entry 500 times just to find out that I can't watch the movie I want because it's not available in my current location or was removed last week from mainstream providers.
selfhost - I care about costs and I have nothing but time to waste or I want to learn about the backend of the systems involved. I'll pay for my own VPS/homelab, electricity, manage the OS, manage app updates, figure out how to make the apps talk nice to each other, create my own beautiful frontend.
I know how much my time is worth, does that reddit poster know how much their time is worth? Without knowing what you are worth, you can't make effective capital expenditures with respect to the time it will take to recoup the capital.
I know I don't need elfhosted at all for my use case. I choose to stay with elfhosted because it's my 'easy button'. It's an efficient capital expense for the amount of time it saves me managing my own hardware, apps and saves me electricity costs. I'm also in a situation where I don't have upload bandwidth from my home to serve HD content to myself remotely. If I lived back in a city, I would still be here. My time is worth $$/hr.
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@tjelite (Discord)
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