Seerr + Jellyfin: Build Your Own Netflix-Style Request System (2026 Setup Guide)

You built the perfect media server. Jellyfin is humming, Radarr and Sonarr are grabbing everything automatically… and your phone still buzzes every evening with "hey, can you add that new show?"

Seerr fixes that. It gives everyone on your server a slick, Netflix-style "browse and request" app. They search for a title, tap Request, and Seerr hands it to Radarr or Sonarr for you. When it lands in Jellyfin, they get a notification. You never have to touch it.

This guide walks through a complete Seerr + Jellyfin setup in 2026: Docker Compose, signing in with Jellyfin accounts, connecting Radarr and Sonarr, per-user request limits, notifications, and safe remote access. If you're still running Jellyseerr or Overseerr, there's a migration section too.

What Is Seerr? (And What Happened to Jellyseerr and Overseerr?)

For years there were two near-identical request apps:

• Overseerr – the original, built for Plex.
• Jellyseerr – a fork that added Jellyfin and Emby support.

In 2025 the two teams merged into a single project called Seerr, and the combined app shipped as Seerr v3. It includes everything from Overseerr plus all the Jellyfin/Emby features from Jellyseerr, under one codebase and one Docker image: ghcr.io/seerr-team/seerr.

What that means for you:

Old Jellyseerr guides still mostly apply, since the UI and settings are the same family. The names and the Docker image are what changed.

How Seerr Fits Into Your Media Stack

Seerr doesn't download anything itself. It's the front door to the automation you already have:

1. User searches for a movie in Seerr and taps Request.
2. Seerr checks permissions, then auto-approves the request or waits for an admin.
3. Radarr (movies) or Sonarr (TV) receives the request and searches your indexers via Prowlarr.
4. Your download client grabs it, and Radarr or Sonarr imports and renames it.
5. Jellyfin scans the new file, and Seerr marks it as Available and notifies the user.

If you don't have Radarr, Sonarr, and Prowlarr running yet, start with our Ultimate 2026 Media Stack guide, then come back here.

Requirements

• A working Jellyfin server (10.10 or newer; 10.11+ recommended).
• Radarr and/or Sonarr with at least one quality profile and root folder configured.
• Docker and Docker Compose on any Linux box, NAS, or mini PC. Seerr is light: roughly 200–400 MB of RAM and almost no CPU when idle.
• Your Jellyfin admin username and password, plus Radarr and Sonarr API keys (found under Settings → General in each app).

New to Docker? Our self-hosting with Docker guide covers the basics.

Step 1: Install Seerr with Docker Compose

Create a folder for Seerr's config and give it to UID 1000. The official image runs as the non-root node user, and this is the step people most often skip:

mkdir -p /opt/seerr/config
sudo chown -R 1000:1000 /opt/seerr/config

Now add Seerr to your compose.yaml. Ideally use the same file and network as Jellyfin and the Arrs so the containers can reach each other by name:

services:
  seerr:
    image: ghcr.io/seerr-team/seerr:latest
    container_name: seerr
    init: true                      # required – the image no longer ships its own init
    environment:
      - LOG_LEVEL=info
      - TZ=America/New_York         # your TZ database name
      - PORT=5055                   # optional
    ports:
      - 5055:5055
    volumes:
      - /opt/seerr/config:/app/config
    healthcheck:
      test: wget --no-verbose --tries=1 --spider http://localhost:5055/api/v1/settings/public || exit 1
      start_period: 20s
      timeout: 3s
      interval: 15s
      retries: 3
    security_opt:
      - no-new-privileges
    cap_drop:
      - ALL
    restart: unless-stopped

Start it:

docker compose up -d seerr
docker logs -f seerr

When the logs settle, open http://YOUR-SERVER-IP:5055 and the setup wizard will appear.

Tip: Pin a version tag (for example ghcr.io/seerr-team/seerr:v3) instead of latest if you'd rather update on your own schedule. Seerr publishes latest, major (v3), minor (v3.x) and exact version tags.

Step 2: Connect Seerr to Jellyfin

The first-run wizard asks which media server you use.

1. Choose Jellyfin.
2. Hostname or IP: if Seerr and Jellyfin share a Docker network, use the container name, such as jellyfin. Otherwise use the server's LAN IP. Avoid localhost, because inside a container that means Seerr itself.
3. Port: 8096 (or 8920 if you terminate HTTPS on Jellyfin itself).
4. URL Base: leave blank unless Jellyfin runs under a sub-path like /jellyfin.
5. Enter an email address plus your Jellyfin admin username and password. This account becomes the Seerr owner.
6. Click Sign In, then Sync Libraries, tick your Movies and Shows libraries, and hit Start Scan.

The scan matches everything already in Jellyfin, so Seerr knows what's Available and won't let people re-request it.

Set the external Jellyfin URL

Under Settings → Jellyfin, set the External URL to the address your users actually open, for example https://jellyfin.yourdomain.com. Seerr uses it for the Play on Jellyfin buttons and in notifications. Without it, users get links to an internal IP that won't work from their phones.

Step 3: Connect Radarr and Sonarr

Go to Settings → Services.

Add Radarr (movies)

1. Click Add Radarr Server.
2. Tick Default Server.
3. Hostname: radarr (container name) or the LAN IP. Port: 7878.
4. Paste the API key from Radarr (Settings → General).
5. Click Test. When it passes, the dropdowns fill in.
6. Pick a Quality Profile (for example HD-1080p), Root Folder (for example /data/media/movies) and Minimum Availability (Released is a sensible default).
7. Turn on Enable Scan so Seerr can see what Radarr already has.
8. Save.

Add Sonarr (TV)

Same process: hostname sonarr, port 8989, API key, quality profile, and root folder. Two extra settings matter:

• Series Type – leave Standard for normal shows; set an Anime profile and root folder if you split anime out.
• Season Folders – enable it so each season gets its own folder, which keeps Jellyfin happy.

Optional: separate 4K servers

If you keep 4K in its own Radarr and Sonarr instances, add them as extra servers and tick 4K Server. Users with the Request 4K permission then get a separate 4K button. Everyone else only sees standard requests, so your 4K library (and bandwidth) stays under control.

Step 4: Users, Permissions and Request Limits

This is what makes Seerr feel like a real service instead of a free-for-all.

Let people sign in with their Jellyfin account

Under Settings → Users, make sure Enable Jellyfin Sign-In is on. Then go to the Users page and click Import Jellyfin Users. Everyone keeps the same username and password they use for Jellyfin, so there's nothing new to remember.

If you'd rather invite people who don't have Jellyfin accounts yet, enable Local Sign-In and create users manually.

Set sensible default permissions

Settings → Users → Default Permissions applies to every new user. A good starting point for family and friends:

Add request limits (quotas)

Under Settings → Users, set a Global Movie Request Limit and Global Series Request Limit, for example 10 movies per 7 days and 3 series per 7 days. This one setting does more to protect your disk space than anything else. You can raise limits per user later from their profile.

Step 5: Notifications – Tell Users When It's Ready

The magic moment is a phone notification saying "Your request is now available." Seerr supports a long list of agents under Settings → Notifications, including:

• Email (SMTP)
• Discord and Slack webhooks
• Telegram
• ntfy, Gotify, Pushover and Pushbullet
• Web Push (browser and installed-PWA notifications, no extra app needed; requires HTTPS)
• Generic Webhook (send JSON anywhere, such as Home Assistant or n8n)

Easiest family setup: once Seerr is served over HTTPS (see Step 6), enable Web Push, then ask everyone to open Seerr on their phone and choose Add to Home Screen. Seerr behaves like a native app, and users can toggle which notifications they get from their own profile.

For you as admin: add a Discord or Telegram channel and enable Request Pending Approval and Request Failed, so you only hear about things that need attention.

Step 6: Secure Remote Access

Your users will want to request from anywhere, so put Seerr behind a reverse proxy with HTTPS. Don't just forward port 5055 on your router.

With Traefik, it's a few labels on the Seerr container:

    labels:
      - "traefik.enable=true"
      - "traefik.http.routers.seerr.rule=Host(`requests.yourdomain.com`)"
      - "traefik.http.routers.seerr.entrypoints=websecure"
      - "traefik.http.routers.seerr.tls.certresolver=letsencrypt"
      - "traefik.http.services.seerr.loadbalancer.server.port=5055"

The full Traefik setup is in our reverse proxy guide. If you'd rather not expose anything publicly, a VPN such as WireGuard or Tailscale works well too. See our home VPN guide.

Security checklist:

• Keep Local Sign-In off unless you need it, so Jellyfin stays your single source of accounts.
• Turn on Settings → Network → Enable Proxy Support when running behind a reverse proxy, so Seerr logs real client IPs.
• Use a strong password on the Jellyfin admin account. It's now the key to Seerr as well.

Migrating from Jellyseerr or Overseerr to Seerr

The Seerr team built the migration to run automatically on first start. Do it like this:

1. Back up your existing config folder (it contains db/ and settings.json):

   docker stop jellyseerr
   cp -a /opt/jellyseerr/config /opt/jellyseerr/config.backup
   

2. Fix ownership, since Seerr runs as UID 1000:

   sudo chown -R 1000:1000 /opt/jellyseerr/config
   

3. Edit your compose file:
   • Change the image to ghcr.io/seerr-team/seerr:latest.
   • Add init: true.
   • Remove any user: line (no longer needed).
   • Optionally rename the service and container to seerr.
4. docker compose up -d and watch docker logs -f seerr until the migration finishes.

Your users, requests, and settings carry over. If anything goes wrong, stop the container, restore the backup, and switch back to the old image.

Troubleshooting Common Seerr + Jellyfin Problems

"Unable to connect to Jellyfin" during setup Seerr is probably trying localhost. Use the Jellyfin container name (on the same Docker network) or the host's LAN IP. Check that curl http://jellyfin:8096/System/Info/Public works from another container on that network.

Container restarts with permission errors (EACCES) The config folder isn't owned by UID 1000. Run sudo chown -R 1000:1000 /opt/seerr/config and restart.

Requests stuck on "Requested" forever Seerr did its job; Radarr or Sonarr didn't find a release. Open Radarr or Sonarr and look at the item's Interactive Search and History. It's usually an indexer or quality-profile problem, not Seerr.

Content is in Jellyfin but Seerr still says "Requested" Run Settings → Jellyfin → Sync Libraries → Start Scan, or wait for the next scheduled scan. Also check that the title matched correctly in Jellyfin (wrong TMDB ID = no match).

"Play on Jellyfin" opens the wrong address Set the External URL under Settings → Jellyfin.

Users can't log in with Jellyfin credentials Confirm Enable Jellyfin Sign-In is on under Settings → Users, and that the user has been imported via Users → Import Jellyfin Users.

Bonus: Request Directly From Jellyfin

Want users to request without leaving Jellyfin? The Jellyfin Enhanced plugin can talk to Seerr, so search results inside Jellyfin show titles you don't have yet, with a Request button right there. We cover it, plus some gorgeous theming, in Make Jellyfin Look Better Than Netflix.

FAQ

Is Seerr free? Yes. Seerr is open source and free, with no premium tier.

Do I need Jellyseerr or Overseerr anymore? No. Seerr replaces both. New installs should use ghcr.io/seerr-team/seerr.

Does Seerr work with Plex and Emby too? Yes. Seerr supports Jellyfin, Emby, and Plex from the same image.

Can Seerr run on a Raspberry Pi or N100 mini PC? Easily. It uses a few hundred MB of RAM, and the image supports ARM64. An N100 mini PC can run Seerr, Jellyfin, and the whole Arr stack together.

Can users request individual seasons? Yes. When requesting a series, users pick specific seasons, and Seerr tells Sonarr to monitor only those.

Where does Seerr store its data? Everything lives in /app/config (SQLite by default; PostgreSQL is supported). Back up that folder and you've backed up Seerr.

The Bottom Line

Seerr is the missing piece that turns a Jellyfin server into something that feels like a streaming service. Your family gets a beautiful app to browse and request. You get approvals, quotas, and notifications, and you stop being everyone's personal download button.

Set it up once, import your Jellyfin users, add a couple of request limits, and enjoy the quiet.