--- title: Indexer searches by media category description: Connect Prowlarr to SeerrNG for manual category-aware indexer searches and understand how approved requests reach media managers. --- # Indexer searches by media category Administrators can connect one Prowlarr instance under **Settings > Services > Prowlarr indexers**. SeerrNG then provides **Indexer Search** for users with **Manage Requests** permission. The page searches Prowlarr directly across movies, TV, music, ebooks, audiobooks, comics, magazines, retro ROMs, modern ROMs, and PC games. This is a manual search for inspecting available releases. SeerrNG does not grab a result, send it to a download client, or add it to a media library from this page. An approved request still goes to its configured media manager or software provider, which owns acquisition, import, and progress tracking. | SeerrNG category | Title discovery in SeerrNG | Manual Prowlarr search | Approved request acquisition | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Movies | TMDB | Configured movie category IDs | Radarr | | TV | TMDB | Configured TV category IDs | Sonarr | | Music | MusicBrainz and music metadata sources | Configured audio category IDs | Lidarr | | Ebooks | Open Library, Bookshelf catalogs, and book metadata providers | Configured ebook/book category IDs | BookshelfNG, Chaptarr, or another configured book service | | Audiobooks | Book metadata catalogs and configured Bookshelf catalogs | Configured audiobook/audio category IDs | BookshelfNG, Chaptarr, or another configured book service | | Comics | ComicVine | Configured comic/book category IDs | Mylar3 or API-compatible Issuarr, Kapowarr, or BackIssue using its configured sources | | Magazines | Google Books public catalog or titles tracked by LazyLibrarian | Configured magazine/book category IDs | LazyLibrarian | | Retro and Modern ROMs | IGDB through the selected catalog provider (QuestarrNG by default, or ROMarrNG), matched to ROMarrNG systems | Configured console/game category IDs | ROMarrNG | | PC games | IGDB through QuestarrNG | Configured PC/game category IDs | QuestarrNG | ## Configure Prowlarr 1. Open **Settings > Services > Prowlarr indexers** as an administrator. 2. Enter the Prowlarr hostname, port, optional base path, SSL setting, and API key. The API key stays on the SeerrNG server and is masked after saving. 3. Select **Test connection and inspect coverage**. SeerrNG checks its Prowlarr management API connection, then tests each enabled searchable indexer with at most four concurrent checks. The results separate a management API failure from an individual feed failure, including HTTP status and any Prowlarr cooldown dates, before showing category coverage. These checks contact the configured providers but do not grab or download releases. 4. Review **Category filters** and save. Defaults use the standard movie, TV, audio, book, console-generation, and PC-game categories. Prowlarr's broad Audio category can include audiobooks; select narrower music categories if you want to keep those results separate. The broad PC category can also include non-game software; select PC/Games for a narrower search. Your Prowlarr indexers can report custom category IDs, which appear after a successful connection test. Use **Add detected matches** to select custom categories whose advertised names clearly match a medium, then review and save the mappings. Ambiguous category names are left for you to map manually. The **Retro ROMs**, **Modern ROMs**, and **PC games** filters start with generation-specific standard console categories and the broad PC category. Prowlarr's standard console list ends at PS4 and Xbox One; newer systems such as PS5, Switch 2, and Xbox Series may use custom categories. After testing the connection, add the matching categories shown by Prowlarr to the relevant SeerrNG filter. SeerrNG does not infer a console generation from a game's title. Coverage counts are an estimate based on the categories each enabled indexer advertises. A nonzero count does not guarantee that an indexer returns results for a particular title or that a media manager can import a release. A zero count means the selected category IDs do not match any enabled searchable indexer in the current inventory. If an indexer reports `401 Unauthorized`, SeerrNG reached Prowlarr but that indexer's feed request was refused. Check the indexer's credentials in Prowlarr, then repeat the diagnostic. A management API `401` means the saved Prowlarr API key or address is wrong, so SeerrNG cannot read the indexer list. ## Search indexers Users with **Manage Requests** open **Indexer Search** from the navigation, select a media category, enter at least two search characters, and choose **Search indexers**. Results show release title, source indexer, protocol, size, seeders and leechers when provided, publish date, and indexer categories. When Prowlarr supplies a safe HTTP or HTTPS details link, users can open it in a new tab. Sensitive query parameters are removed from that link. Movie, TV, music, and book searches use Prowlarr's corresponding format-aware search types; comics, magazines, ROMs, and PC games use category-filtered general search. **Search Prowlarr** actions on supported media detail pages open this page with the title and category filled in. Book details preserve the selected ebook or audiobook format. These shortcuts are available to users with **Manage Requests** permission. Searches are limited to 50 results per page and 12 searches per minute per client IP. **Load more results** requests another page. Search results are informational; SeerrNG does not expose download or magnet URLs from the search API. ## Keep request acquisition separate Prowlarr can also sync compatible indexers to supported applications. That sync is useful to Radarr, Sonarr, Lidarr, and whichever book or comic services accept the relevant Prowlarr integration. After syncing, check the destination application's indexer and search settings. Some providers do not support Prowlarr or use direct-download sources instead. For a SeerrNG request, the configured media manager or software provider continues to perform its own search, grab, import, and tracking. Prowlarr's manual search page does not alter request state or hand a result to a download client. See the setup guides for [books and audiobooks](./bookshelf-backend.md), [comics](./comics-backend.md), [magazines](./magazines-backend.md), and [ROMs and PC games](./software-acquisition.md). Prowlarr documents its supported application integrations and category-based indexer management in the [Prowlarr README](https://github.com/Prowlarr/Prowlarr) and [quick-start guide](https://github.com/Servarr/Wiki/blob/master/prowlarr/quick-start-guide.md).