---
type: reference
title: Readarr
description: Readarr ebook/audiobook manager in the *arr stack on FrankBook-Pro — retired upstream, pinned image, parked qB download client.
tags: [readarr, arr-stack, frankbook-pro]
timestamp: 2026-09-03T00:00:00Z
---

# Readarr

> **RETIRED UPSTREAM (May 2026).** The Servarr Team retired Readarr: its
> metadata became unusable and the community migration to Open Library stalled.
> There is no upstream development. Alternatives: the Bookshelf community fork,
> or the Calibre content server. This instance still runs on a pinned image
> tag; see below.

Readarr manages ebooks and audiobooks in the *arr stack. The stack runs on
**FrankBook-Pro** (the Mac mini) as quadlet units inside its podman machine —
not on Dankserver. It organizes books into the Calibre library that
[[Calibre-Web]] serves.

**Host:** FrankBook-Pro (podman machine) — **Access:** direct port `8787` (no reverse-proxy vhost; the *arr stack is exempt by construction from the Anubis guard chain) — **Docs:** https://wiki.servarr.com/readarr

## Facts

| Item | Value |
|------|-------|
| Image | `lscr.io/linuxserver/readarr:amd64-1.0.980` — **pinned tag** (LSIO ships no untagged `latest` for readarr; the tag was pinned after a manifest probe) |
| Port | 8787 (host) → 8787 (container) |
| Env | `PUID=0`, `PGID=0`, `TZ=America/Los_Angeles`, `UMASK_SET=022` |
| Config root | `/Volumes/COMPLETE/readarr-data:/config` |
| Min RAM | 256 MB |
| Metadata | Goodreads / StoryGraph (provider status at retirement) |

## Deployment (current)

Quadlet unit `readarr.container` from this repo (`frankbook-pro/readarr/quadlet/`)
is installed inside the podman machine at
`/home/core/.config/containers/systemd/readarr.service` by the frankbook-pro
handler in `scripts/deploy-remote.sh`. Unit shape:

```ini
[Container]
ContainerName=readarr
Image=lscr.io/linuxserver/readarr:amd64-1.0.980
Environment=PUID=0
Environment=PGID=0
Environment=TZ=America/Los_Angeles
Environment=UMASK_SET=022
Volume=/Volumes/COMPLETE/readarr-data:/config
PublishPort=8787:8787

[Service]
TimeoutStartSec=900
Restart=always
```

## Configuration

1. Add Prowlarr as the indexer source (torrent indexers with book content;
   the Byrutor row feeds Readarr — see [[Prowlarr]]).
2. The qBittorrent download client is **parked**: Readarr's abandoned client
   fails auth against newer qB Web-API versions (see [[qBittorrent]] for the
   4.6.7 pin rationale); re-enable only after the image changes. Until then,
   books are imported manually or via Calibre tooling.
3. Set author profile (format preference: epub, mobi, etc.).
4. Set quality profile for audiobooks (320 kbps MP3, 128 kbps, lossless).
5. Set the root folder to the books root under the COMPLETE volume.

## Gotchas

- Readarr is abandoned upstream (retired May 2026; last line was 0.4.x before
  the final tags). The pinned `amd64-1.0.980` tag exists precisely because
  `:latest` does not exist for this image on LSIO.
- Calibre integration is folder-based, not API-based. Readarr drops files into
  the books root which [[Calibre-Web]] serves.
- Not all indexers carry all formats (epub, mobi, pdf). Goodreads/StoryGraph
  metadata helps match editions while those providers still respond.

## See Also

- [[ARR-Stack]] — full *arr stack documentation
- [[Calibre-Web]] — ebook web frontend that serves Readarr downloads