Jellyfin + Radarr/Sonarr + TorBox
Legal Responsibility
This guide demonstrates technical integration between cloud storage services and media server software. Users are solely responsible for ensuring that all content accessed, stored, or streamed through this setup is legally obtained and complies with applicable copyright laws and the terms of service of TorBox and other third-party services. ElfHosted provides hosting infrastructure only and does not provide, curate, or facilitate access to copyrighted content. See our Acceptable Use Policy for details.
This guide describes how to configure Jellyfin with TorBox cloud storage integration and content acquisition managed by Radarr and Sonarr, using CatBox's lazy-materialize shim and symlinks for efficient library organization.
CatBox is the only safe path for TorBox + large Jellyfin libraries
TorBox's policy prohibits automated tools from artificially keeping items in a user's library beyond 30 days. A media server like Jellyfin constantly probes its library (codec / resolution / runtime metadata, thumbnail generation, intro detection, transcoding decisions) and any probe that touches raw TorBox content quietly extends the item's retention, the exact "automated retention" pattern TorBox's policy forbids. CatBox solves this with a virtual library design (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 stack described below is available in our personal media stacks on the TorBox-bundled tiers, with $1, 7-day trials available on the entry bundles.
Get your $1, 7-day free trial!
Requirements
- TorBox account and API key (TorBox Essential or Pro). Some ElfHosted bundles include this.
- An ElfHosted personal media stack configured with Jellyfin, TorBox, CatBox, and Radarr / Sonarr.
How does it work?
Here's a diagram (it's not as complicated as it looks!), followed by some explanations:
- The user adds items to lists (TMDB list, MDBList, Trakt, etc.), which feed into a request manager (such as Seerr, or its predecessors Overseerr / Jellyseerr) or directly into Radarr / Sonarr
- Or, the user adds items directly to Radarr / Sonarr, or via their request manager
- Radarr / Sonarr search Prowlarr for releases matching your size, quality, and language preferences
- When an appropriate release is identified, Radarr / Sonarr submit it to CatBox via its qBittorrent-compatible API. Nothing is added to your TorBox account at this point. CatBox virtualizes the item: a symlink in your library points into a virtual WebDAV path. When the media server later probes the file for codec / resolution / runtime metadata, CatBox serves synthetic or crowdsourced probe data, so the probe completes without ever re-fetching from TorBox.
- Radarr / Sonarr import the (virtual) file from CatBox's symlink tree into the intended root folder. Jellyfin's realtime filesystem monitoring picks up the new symlink and adds the item to your library automatically.
- When you press play, Jellyfin reads the symlink, which resolves to a virtual path under
/storage/torbox/.... CatBox materializes the item: adds it to your TorBox account, fetches a presigned URL, and proxies the stream. - The bytes flow from TorBox through CatBox's WebDAV proxy to Jellyfin to your client.
- After playback, CatBox removes the item from your TorBox account. The symlink and library entry remain (so the item still appears in your library), but TorBox no longer holds the item against your account. Your TorBox cache retention reflects only what you actually play, never your full library.
The result: your media server sees a complete library of any size, with full metadata for every item. TorBox only ever holds items you have actively played recently, well within the 30-day cache retention policy.
How to set it up
- Subscribe to a Jellyfin / Arrs / TorBox configured personal media stack. Several ElfHosted bundles include a TorBox subscription (see the TorBox guide for the bundled-plan list).
- If you're using your own (BYO) TorBox account rather than a bundled one, copy your TorBox API key from your TorBox account page.
- Open CatBox from your ElfHosted apps dashboard, go to
/ui/settings, paste your TorBox API key, and save. The key is hot-swapped with no restart needed.
Setup Jellyfin Libraries (symlinks)
1. From your ElfHosted dashboard, launch Jellyfin
2. When prompted by the wizard, click "Next"
3. Choose a username and password, and click Next
4. Add a media library
5. Select the "Movies" option.
6. Add a folder
7. Click "/storage/symlinks"
8. Click "movies"
9. Click "OK"
10. Add another folder...
11. Click "/storage/symlinks"
12. Click "movies-4k"
13. Click "OK"
14. Ensure you have 2 folders in /storage/symlinks/...
15. Scroll down, ensure Trickplay and Chapter Images are all disabled (these will impact your debrid bandwidth)
16. Click "OK"
17. Add a second media library
18. Select the "Shows" option.
19. Add a folder
20. Click "/storage/symlinks"
21. Click "series"
22. Click "OK"
23. Add a second folder
24. Click "/storage/symlinks"
25. Click "series-4k"
26. Click "OK"
27. Again, do not enable Trickplay or Chapter Images
28. Click "OK"
29. Click Next
30. Pick your preferred language, click "Next"
31. Click Next again (you'll always have remote access, regardless)
32. Click "Finish"
33. Enter the credentials you chose, and click "Sign In"
Connect Arrs to Jellyfin
When Radarr / Sonarr have added content to your library, they'll need to "reach out" to Jellyfin (using an API key) to request that it scan and update your libraries, so that the content can be streamed.
1. In Jellyfin, click on the Account icon
2. Click "Dashboard"
3. Click "API Keys"
4. Click the + button to add a new API key
5. Name your key (I used "Arrs"), and click OK
6. Copy your API key to the clipboard
7. Click "Settings"
8. In your Arr, click on Settings -> Connect
9. Pick Emby / Jellyfin
10. Name the connection Jellyfin
11. Un-check On Application Update (optional)
12. Press [[cmd]] + [[v]]
13. Set the following values, and click Test, then Save\ \ Host: jellyfin\ API Key : <paste from clipboard>
14. The connection is added!
15. Repeat this process for every instance of Radarr / Sonarr (the same API key can be used)
Setup CatBox
On a fresh ElfHosted Arrs deployment (or after an ElfBot reset) on a TorBox-bundled stack, CatBox is already configured as the qBittorrent-compatible download client in each Arr, no manual setup required.
For existing deployments, add CatBox manually with these connection details:
- Host:
catbox - Port:
8080 - Use SSL: off
- Username / password: any values (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(these are the exact category names CatBox expects, and downstream tooling reads them as top-level directories in the symlink tree)
To verify CatBox is healthy, open it from your apps dashboard. The dashboard shows the materialize / de-materialize queue, your TorBox cache hit rate, and how much of your library is currently virtualized vs. materialized.
Cached-only vs uncached releases
By default, CatBox only accepts releases that are already in TorBox's global cache. This gives instant playback. To opt in to uncached fetches (useful for private-tracker users or less-common content), toggle the setting in CatBox's UI. CatBox queues uncached fetches behind playback so cache hits never starve.
Success!
That's it. Add content via Radarr / Sonarr (manually, via your request manager, or via list imports), and within a minute or two it should appear in your Jellyfin library, ready to stream. Press play and CatBox materializes the item on demand.
Why this is the safe path
TorBox's policy prohibits automated tools from keeping items cached beyond 30 days, and a media server's natural probing behaviour (thumbnails, codec checks, intro detection) would otherwise re-touch and extend retention on every item in your library. CatBox's virtual-library + synthetic / crowdsourced probe-data design means your media server gets accurate metadata without ever re-touching items in TorBox. Your account reflects only what you have actively watched.
How do I get help?
- For general use of the individual tools, refer to each app's upstream site
- For specific support re your ElfHosted configuration, see the ElfHosted support options
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