Compressarr

Because size matters.

compressarr.tv · Wiki (full setup guide)

A complete, end-to-end batch video conversion workflow - from the moment a file lands in a watched folder to the moment you're notified it's done, with nothing manual in between. Compressarr watches your folders, transcodes new video through HandBrakeCLI, automatically files the result into an organized TV Show/Movie library, cleans up after itself, optionally tells Sonarr/Radarr the item no longer needs monitoring, and finishes with a standalone report plus a desktop notification. v2 is a complete rewrite of the original PowerShell tool as a web-first app - a system-tray-only background process with its entire UI (settings, lanes, monitoring, history, reports) in your browser, reachable from any device on your LAN. Both the original PowerShell version and v2 trace back to VidMonHB, Paul Wasserman's original take on this same idea.

Compressarr is designed to sit between apps like Radarr and Sonarr and your media server. Instead of pointing an *arr app straight at your media library, point it at one of Compressarr's watched folders - once it grabs a file and drops it there, Compressarr picks it up, compresses it, and moves the finished result into your library's destination folder. That way only clean, already-processed files ever reach your media server, keeping your library organized and at its best quality while using a fraction of the space.

The complete workflow

Watch folder → Detect TV/Movie → Convert (HandBrake) → File into library
   → Clean up source → Unmonitor in Sonarr/Radarr → Report + toast

1. Watch - each lane's Input folder is scanned for new video files, either once on demand (Run Once / Run Now) or continuously while monitoring is on.
2. Detect - every file is auto-classified as a TV episode or a Movie from its filename, no separate lanes needed for each.
3. Convert - HandBrakeCLI transcodes it using that content type's configured preset, with live progress (percent, fps, ETA) streamed into the Monitor page as it runs.
4. File it - the converted file, plus any companion files (subtitles, .nfo, artwork), is routed into an organized Show Name\Season NN\ or Movie Title\ folder.
5. Clean up - the original is deleted/recycled/kept per your setting, and now-empty source folders (including a TV show's own folder once its last file is converted) are removed from the source folder, leaving you with a clean workspace.
6. Notify Sonarr/Radarr (optional) - the matching episode/movie is marked as unmonitored so it isn't re-grabbed.
7. Report - a standalone HTML report is generated, and a Windows toast notification confirms the run is complete - click it to open the report, whether or not Compressarr is still running.

[!NOTE] Compressarr contains no AI or machine learning at runtime. Movie/TV detection, file matching, and renaming all run on plain, inspectable regex pattern matching - the same deterministic logic every time, nothing generative involved.

What it does

Compressarr watches an open-ended set of content lanes you define yourself - add, remove, rename, and enable/disable them from the Lanes page, each with its own Input/Output folders and TV/Movie presets.

Within each lane, TV Shows vs Movies is auto-detected per file: a filename carrying a season/episode marker (S01E01, 1x01, etc.) is treated as a TV episode, everything else as a Movie. That detected type picks which preset applies (a lane's TV preset or Movie preset) and, if "Move converted files" is enabled, which destination it's filed into afterward - TV episodes go to Show Name\Season NN\ under the lane's TV base path; Movies get their own per-title subfolder under the Movie base path.

Whatever else belongs to a converted file - subtitles, .nfo files, artwork sharing its name - moves along with it immediately, even if other not-yet-processed videos still share that same source folder. Once every video in a folder has been converted (or otherwise cleared), the now-empty folder itself is removed too.

Processing is sequential - one file at a time, no parallel HandBrakeCLI jobs. If a run is interrupted, relaunching resumes from the unprocessed files.

FileBot pre-processing (optional)

If you don't run Sonarr/Radarr, filenames dropped into a watch folder often aren't clean enough for reliable TV/Movie detection on their own. Settings > File Name Processing can optionally shell out to the free FileBot tool to rename and organize files - looked up against TheTVDB/TheMovieDB - right before Compressarr scans a lane's Input folder. TV and Movies each get their own enable toggle and Arguments, so one content type's naming rules never affect the other; a TV episode-numbering picker (S01E01 vs 1x01) fills in FileBot's format string for you. A file FileBot couldn't confidently rename shows an amber "Unmatched" badge in the Monitor queue instead of failing silently.

Monitoring

The Monitor page is the control surface for continuous operation: Start Monitoring begins watching every enabled lane on a configurable interval, with a live countdown to the next pass. Run Now skips the rest of that countdown and starts immediately. Abort kills whatever HandBrakeCLI process is currently running and stops monitoring outright - as opposed to Stop Monitoring, which lets the file currently converting finish normally and then stops before starting the next one (both the page and the tray icon reflect a stop the moment it's requested, from either surface). The In Queue section lists every file still waiting across all enabled lanes - lane, size, and preset - so you can see what's coming up without waiting for the current file to finish. A file's place in the queue is locked in the moment Compressarr first sees it - new arrivals always join at the end, and only you can move one afterward (nothing else, including presets, skips, or later arrivals, ever reshuffles it). Drag a queued file to reorder it within its lane, or use its menu to skip it, remove it from the queue, or override its preset for just that one file. The recent-log panel and CPU usage update live while a pass runs.

The media shown is representational test data only, not the actual film - your own results (speed, file size, savings) will vary based on your source files, hardware, and preset.

Reports and notifications

At the end of a run, Compressarr writes a standalone HTML report covering per-lane results (each file's type, preset, and Sonarr/Radarr outcome), disk savings, any errors, and rolling Today/This Month/This Year history. The Open report after run setting (Always/On Error/Never) controls whether it opens automatically - independent of that setting, a Windows toast notification also confirms completion and opens the report when clicked. Each report is labeled with a running run number (Run #237: ...) - a persistent, cumulative count of runs that actually processed at least one file. The History page also lists every report still within your configured retention window, with columns for files, before/after size, and percent saved. Every report also has a close button in the upper-right corner - most useful when running as an installed app (PWA), which has no browser chrome of its own to close a tab with.

Beyond the toast, the Notifications page can send a message to Discord, Slack, Telegram, Pushover, ntfy, Gotify, Notifiarr, IFTTT, or a custom webhook (which also covers Zapier, Make, n8n, Node-RED, and Home Assistant) - add as many channels as you want, each with its own Trigger (always / only on error or warning / never) and a Test button. On top of that per-run trigger, every channel (and the toast) can also send an independent daily and/or weekly digest - a periodic summary ("Compressed N files, reducing original size from X GB to Y GB, saving Z% of original size") instead of, or alongside, a message after every single run - with its own Test/Save/Clear controls right on the row so you can verify it without waiting for the schedule.

The media shown is representational test data only, not the actual film - your own results (speed, file size, savings) will vary based on your source files, hardware, and preset.

---

Installation

1. Pick which installer you want from the Releases page - both install and behave identically, the only difference is whether the .NET runtime comes bundled:

   • Compressarr-Setup-x.x.x.exe (smaller download) - requires the .NET 10 ASP.NET Core Runtime (x64) to already be installed. Direct download: aspnetcore-runtime-10.0.11-win-x64.exe (this single installer includes the base .NET Runtime it depends on too - nothing else is needed, and you likely already have it if you run other ASP.NET Core-based apps or services).

     If a newer .NET 10.0.x patch has since been released, the direct link above still works fine (Compressarr just needs 10.0.x, any patch), but for the latest you can instead go to the general runtime page - that page lists three similarly-named downloads, though, so pick carefully: .NET Desktop Runtime, ASP.NET Core Runtime, and .NET Runtime. Compressarr needs the ASP.NET Core Runtime specifically, since it hosts its own web UI. The Desktop Runtime looks like the obvious pick for a desktop app, but it doesn't include what Compressarr actually needs - Compressarr will refuse to start with a "You must install or update .NET" message if that's the one you grab instead.

   • Compressarr-Setup-x.x.x-Full.exe (larger download) - includes its own copy of the .NET runtime, so there's nothing to install first. Use this one if you'd rather not deal with the runtime step above.

2. Run it and follow the installer. It installs to Program Files, adds a Start Menu shortcut (and an optional desktop icon), and registers a normal Windows uninstaller.

   A note on Windows SmartScreen: Compressarr is signed with a real publisher certificate, but Windows' reputation system also weighs how many machines have already run the exact file you downloaded - so a freshly published release can still occasionally show a SmartScreen prompt the first few days after release, before its reputation has had time to build. This is expected, not a sign anything is wrong - the same situation every independently-published Windows tool goes through, including ones you may already trust and run daily (Sonarr, Radarr, and the rest of the *arr ecosystem included). If SmartScreen shows "Windows protected your PC," click , then . Every release is also scanned with as part of publishing it - the scan link is at the bottom of that release's notes on the page, if you'd like to check it independently.

---

Configuring Compressarr

Everything is configured from the browser - there's no desktop settings window. Every field on these pages has a small ? next to it with a tooltip explaining what it does.

Settings page

Field	What it's for
HandBrakeCLI path	Path to HandBrakeCLI.exe - Check/Install finds or downloads it
presets.json path	Path to HandBrake's presets.json - Install/Merge Presets adds Compressarr's own, Reload picks up changes made to the file without restarting Compressarr
Extra CLI options	Additional flags passed straight through to every HandBrakeCLI conversion
FileBot Enabled	Turns on the optional FileBot pre-processing pass described above
FileBot path	Path to filebot.exe
Process movies / Movie Arguments	Per-type enable toggle and FileBot CLI arguments for Movies
Process TV shows / TV episode numbering / TV Arguments	Per-type enable toggle, S01E01-vs-1x01 numbering picker, and FileBot CLI arguments for TV
Video extensions	Comma-separated file extensions to scan for (default: mkv, avi, mp4, mpg, ts, m4v)
Minimum size	Skip files smaller than this - useful for ignoring samples/junk (choose KB/MB/GB)
Max files per run	Caps how many files are picked up in one pass (0 = no limit)
Write output to same folder as input	Convert in place instead of using each lane's Output folder
Move converted files into show/movie folders	Turns on the TV/Movie filing step described above
Clear title metadata	Strips the embedded title tag (via TagLib-Sharp) so a media server reads the filename instead of stale/incorrect metadata - on by default
Original file after convert	Maintain, Delete, or Recycle the source file once conversion succeeds
Companion file extensions	Which sibling file extensions (subtitles, .nfo, artwork, etc.) move along with a converted file
Unmatched companion file handling	Maintain, Delete, or Recycle a companion file whose extension isn't on that list
On destination collision	Overwrite (default), Skip, or Rename, when a file already exists at the destination
Log folder / Report folder	Where run logs, the history CSV, and HTML reports are written
Log/report retention (days)

Sonarr/Radarr integration: after a file finishes converting successfully, Compressarr can tell whichever app tracks it to stop monitoring that specific episode or movie, so it isn't re-grabbed later. Matching is done entirely through the app's own /api/v3/parse endpoint - Compressarr hands it the original filename, and the app's own parser reports back which series/episode or movie it matches, if any. A miss is always treated as "leave it alone," never as a guess.

Install as app (Web UI section): the whole app is an installable PWA - useful on a phone or tablet, or for one-tap desktop access without a browser tab. This card shows whichever of three states actually applies: a real Install as app button (Chrome/Edge/Android), static "tap Share, then Add to Home Screen" instructions (iOS Safari has no installable prompt at all), or - if you're already running the installed app - instructions for uninstalling it from the browser's own app list, since no web page can trigger that directly.

Backups

Settings also has a Backups card that periodically zips up your full setup - settings, lanes, resume state, run counter, and history - to a local or network folder you choose, with configurable interval and retention, plus a Backup Now button for an on-demand backup and a list of existing backups you can restore from with one click.

Restoring from a backup

If your machine crashes or you're moving to a new build, Compressarr can restore your full setup from a backup .zip created by the Backups feature above.

1. Install and launch Compressarr on the new machine. This creates a fresh default configuration - no lanes, everything empty.
2. Get the backup .zip onto the new machine. Restore lists the contents of a folder, not a single file elsewhere, so place it somewhere Compressarr can see it: the default %CompressarrAppData%\Backups location, any local/external drive folder, or a UNC network share.
3. Open the web UI and go to Settings > Backups.
4. In the Folder field, point it at wherever you put the file - type the path (a UNC path like \\server\backupfolder works too) and click elsewhere, or use Browse... to navigate to it. This works even before you've saved any settings on the new machine.
5. The Existing backups table below refreshes automatically and should list your backup file (name, size, date).
6. Click Restore on that row and confirm the warning dialog.

Your settings, lanes, resume state, run counter, and history are restored from the backup.

Two things to know:

• HandBrake presets are not included in the backup (it's HandBrake's own file, stored outside Compressarr's data folder). If HandBrake is also freshly installed, use the Install/Merge Presets button on Settings (in the HandBrake card) to re-add Compressarr's presets to it.
• Use Backup Now on Settings at any time to take a fresh backup before decommissioning a machine, rather than relying only on the automatic schedule.

Notifications page

Get a message wherever you already look - Discord, Slack, your phone, a self-hosted push server, or any automation platform - when a run finishes. Every channel is optional and off by default; add as many as you want, of as many different types as you want (two Discord servers, a Slack workspace, and a phone push, all at once).

Desktop toast notifications: a Windows toast confirming completion and opening the report when clicked. Off by default (useful on a desktop machine, not needed for a headless/server install) - toggle it on the Notifications page.

Notification channels: click Add Channel, pick a service from the dropdown, and fill in its fields - every field has a ? bubble next to it explaining what it needs and, where relevant, where to find it. Each channel has:

Field	What it's for
Trigger	Always, On error or warning, or Never (kept configured but disabled without deleting it)
Name	A friendly label to tell channels of the same type apart, e.g. two different Discord servers
Test	Sends a test message using whatever's currently typed in, even if not yet saved
Save / Remove	Persist or delete this channel

Daily/weekly digests: independent of Trigger above, every channel - and the desktop toast - can also send a periodic summary instead of, or alongside, a message after every single run. Right on each channel's own row:

Field	What it's for
Daily / Weekly	Independent on/off toggles - enable one, both, or neither
at (time)	What time each one fires, local time - Daily and Weekly each have their own
on (day)	Which day of the week Weekly fires
Test	Sends a real digest right now, using today's actual numbers, once per digest type currently checked - bypasses the schedule entirely
Save	Same as the channel's own Save button
Clear	Unchecks both Daily and Weekly without saving

A digest reads: "Compressed 12 files, reducing original size from 45.3 GB to 21.1 GB, saving 53.4% of original size." Want digest-only for a channel? Set its Trigger to Never and enable Daily and/or Weekly - the two are independent, so any combination works.

Message Format: controls the Title/message text sent to Discord, Slack, Telegram, Pushover, ntfy, Gotify, and Notifiarr when a run completes (it doesn't affect the desktop toast above, or the Generic Webhook's raw JSON payload, though the Title/Body text it produces does also flow into IFTTT's value1/value2 and the Generic Webhook's own title/message fields alongside their other structured data). Pick a Style:

Style	Example
Minimal	12 file(s), 24.1 GB saved.
Standard	12 file(s) processed, 24.1 GB saved (53.4%) in 42 min.
Detailed	12 file(s) processed in 42 min.45.3 GB -> 21.1 GB (53.4% smaller)Errors: 0 - Warnings: 0
Custom	Write your own Title and Body templates using the same tokens below

Every style shares one Title line: Compressarr run #{run_number} - {outcome}. A live Preview on the page shows exactly what the current style/template will produce, using real numbers from your history. Custom templates use {token} placeholders - an unrecognized token is left as literal text rather than breaking the message:

Token	Value
{run_number}	The sequential run number
{files}	Files processed this run
{saved_gb} / {saved_pct}	Space saved, in GB / as a percent
{before_gb} / {after_gb}	Total size before/after, in GB
{duration}	How long the run took
{outcome}	Success / Warning / Error
{error_count} / {warning_count}	Counts for this run
{retries_succeeded}	Files recovered via automatic retry this run
{report_path}	Local path to this run's HTML report
{today_files} / {today_saved_gb}	Rollup for today so far
{month_files} / {month_saved_gb}	Rollup for this calendar month so far
{year_files} / {year_saved_gb}	Rollup for this calendar year so far
{file_list}	This run's filenames, one per line - see below

{file_list} is deliberately left out of Minimal/Standard/Detailed and every other token's data - it's the one token that can put a media filename in front of wherever a Custom template sends it, so it only ever appears in a message if you type it into a Custom template yourself.

What data is sent: every channel receives the run number, an aggregate summary (e.g. "12 file(s) processed, 4.2 GB saved"), and the outcome (success/warning/error) - never filenames, media titles, folder paths, or anything else from your configuration. The one exception is the local path to the HTML report file, which only the Generic Webhook and IFTTT channels include - worth knowing before pointing either at a third-party service, since a path like C:\Users\you\AppData\Roaming\Compressarr\Reports\... leaves your machine as plain text. Every other channel type (Discord, Slack, Telegram, Pushover, ntfy, Gotify, Notifiarr) never sends the report path at all. A digest isn't tied to any single run, so it never includes a report path either way, regardless of channel type.

The other exception is filenames themselves, but only if you opt in: a Custom template that uses {file_list} sends whatever filenames it renders to that channel's destination. No built-in style does this, and a digest can't use Custom templates at all, so this only ever happens if you've deliberately added {file_list} to a channel's own Custom Title/Body.

Supported services

Service	What it needs
Generic Webhook	A URL, HTTP method, and optional custom headers
Discord	A channel webhook URL
Slack	An incoming webhook URL
Telegram	A bot token and chat ID
Pushover	An application token and user key
ntfy	A server URL (defaults to the public ntfy.sh) and topic
Gotify	Your self-hosted server URL and an application token
Notifiarr	Your Notifiarr API key and a Discord channel ID
IFTTT	An event name and your Webhooks key

Generic Webhook (Zapier, Make, n8n, Node-RED, Home Assistant)

Posts a JSON body (title, outcome, file count, space saved, duration, report path) to any URL you give it, with an HTTP method and custom headers of your choosing. This single channel type also fully covers Zapier ("Webhooks by Zapier"), Make ("Webhooks" module), n8n (Webhook node), Node-RED (http in node), and Home Assistant (a webhook automation trigger) - all of them accept an arbitrary POST with no required shape, so just point this at whichever platform's own webhook URL.

Discord

In Discord, go to a channel's Edit Channel > Integrations > Webhooks, create one, and paste its URL into the Webhook URL field. Compressarr posts a color-coded embed (green/yellow/red for success/warning/error) with file count, space saved, and duration.

Slack

Create an Incoming Webhook for your workspace at api.slack.com/apps and paste its URL in. Messages use Slack's mrkdwn formatting with a status emoji.

Telegram

Message @BotFather on Telegram to create a bot and get its Bot Token. For the Chat ID, message @userinfobot to find your own, or check your bot's getUpdates response for a group/channel ID. Messages are sent as plain text.

Pushover

Create an Application at pushover.net/apps/build for the Application API Token, and find your User Key on your Pushover dashboard.

ntfy

Works with the public ntfy.sh instance out of the box - just pick a Topic (any string; make it unique and hard to guess, since anyone who knows it can subscribe to it too). If you self-host ntfy, change the Server URL to point at your own instance. An optional Access Token supports protected topics.

Gotify

Gotify is self-hosted only (no public hosted service) - point Server URL at your own instance, and create an Application in Gotify's web UI (Apps tab) for the Application Token.

Notifiarr

Built for the *arr ecosystem: relays into whichever Discord channel your Notifiarr integration is configured to post to. Find your API Key on your Notifiarr account page under My Account > API Key. For the Discord Channel ID, enable Developer Mode in Discord (User Settings > Advanced), then right-click the target channel and Copy Channel ID.

IFTTT

Create an applet with a Receive a web request trigger and give it an Event Name (used in the Event Name field here). Find your Webhooks Key at ifttt.com/maker_webhooks under Documentation - it's the string after /use/ in your personal URL. Compressarr sends title/body/report path as IFTTT's value1/value2/value3 ingredients for use in your applet's action.

Lanes page

Add, remove, rename, and enable/disable lanes freely - there's no fixed limit. Each lane has:

Field	What it's for
Enabled	Turns this lane's processing on/off without clearing its configured paths
Input	Where Compressarr looks for source video files for this lane
Output	Where HandBrake writes the converted file initially
TV preset / Movie preset	HandBrake preset used for each detected content type - autocompletes from your presets.json
TV base path / Movie base path	Final destination once a file's type has been detected, if Move converted files is on

Every path field has a Browse... button that opens a server-side folder picker, since a browser's native file picker can't see the server's filesystem. Save All Lanes saves every lane on the page in one click.

How files move through a lane

Output is a transient staging spot, not a final destination - it's just where HandBrake writes the converted file the moment encoding finishes. If Move converted files into show/movie folders is on, the file (and any companion subtitles/.nfo/artwork) is picked up from there and relocated into the lane's TV/Movie base path; if that setting is off, everything just stays wherever Output put it.

D:\Media\Input\                              (before a run)
├── Breaking Bad S01E01.mkv
├── Breaking Bad S01E01.eng.srt
├── Breaking Bad S01E02.mkv
├── Breaking Bad S01E02.eng.srt
├── Caddyshack (1980).mkv
└── Caddyshack (1980).nfo

        │  HandBrake converts each file with the lane's TV/Movie
        │  preset, writing the result to Output - then, since Move
        │  converted files is on, each one is relocated below.
        ▼

D:\Media\TV\                                 (this lane's TV base path)
└── Breaking Bad\
    └── Season 01\
        ├── Breaking Bad S01E01.mkv
        ├── Breaking Bad S01E01.eng.srt
        ├── Breaking Bad S01E02.mkv
        └── Breaking Bad S01E02.eng.srt

D:\Media\Movies\                             (this lane's Movie base path)
└── Caddyshack (1980)\
    ├── Caddyshack (1980).mkv
    └── Caddyshack (1980).nfo

D:\Media\Input\                              (after - now empty, ready
                                               for the next batch)

Originals are deleted, recycled, or kept per Original file after convert; if a source subfolder ends up with nothing left to convert, it's removed too - including a TV show's own folder once its last episode has been converted.

Custom presets

Compressarr ships with two of its own HandBrake presets, installed via Install/Merge Presets on the Settings page - they're what the sample lanes above use for TV preset / Movie preset.

Compressarr SD-HD - for standard and HD sources. Encodes to H.265 (x265, 10-bit, Main10 profile) at a constant quality slider of 24, using the "veryfast" encoder preset with two-pass encoding (turbo first pass). Audio is mixed down to E-AC3 (Dolby Digital Plus) at 512 kbps, supporting up to 7.1 channels. Also auto-crops black bars, keeps English subtitles, and preserves chapter markers.

Compressarr UHD AV1 - for 4K/UHD sources. Encodes to AV1 (SVT-AV1, 10-bit, Main profile) at a constant quality slider of 30, encoder preset 4 (tuned for PSNR), with two-pass encoding (turbo first pass). Audio tracks are copied through as-is where possible, falling back to E-AC3 at 640 kbps otherwise. Same auto-crop, English subtitles, and chapter markers as above.

In testing, both presets have achieved size reductions of 80% or more, depending heavily on the source file's original bitrate, resolution, and codec - an already efficiently-encoded source will see smaller savings than a large, lightly-compressed one.

Saving and running

• Save Settings / Save (per lane) write changes back to the config without running anything.
• Run Once (Settings page) runs a single pass immediately with whatever's currently saved.
• Start Monitoring / Stop Monitoring / Run Now / Abort (Monitor page) control continuous operation - see Monitoring above.

---

Running it

Compressarr has no command-line interface - it's a tray-only background app. Right-click the tray icon for:

• Open Web UI - opens the browser to Compressarr's own address
• Start Monitoring / Stop Monitoring - mirrors the Monitor page's buttons; either surface reflects the other's state
• Exit - shuts down the web server and closes Compressarr

If Enable Monitoring at Startup is on (Settings page), monitoring begins automatically as soon as Compressarr launches - useful together with Start with Windows for a fully hands-off setup.

Configuration file reference

Config is JSON, stored per-user at %AppData%\Compressarr\compressarr.settings.json rather than next to the install folder, so upgrades never overwrite your settings. Paths may contain %ENVVAR% tokens (e.g. %ProgramFiles%, plus Compressarr's own %CompressarrAppData%), expanded at the point of use. This shows the shipped defaults - lanes start empty; add your own from the Lanes page.

{
  "HandBrake": {
    "CliPath": "%ProgramFiles%\\HandBrake\\HandBrakeCLI.exe",
    "PresetsPath": "%appdata%\\HandBrake\\presets.json",
    "Options": ""
  },
  "FileBot": {
    "Enabled": false,
    "CliPath": "%ProgramFiles%\\FileBot\\filebot.exe",
    "TvEnabled": true,
    "TvArgs": "",
    "MovieEnabled": true,
    "MovieArgs": ""
  },
  "Lanes": [],
  "Processing": {
    "VidTypes": ["mkv", "avi", "mp4", "mpg", "ts", "m4v"],
    "OutSameAsIn": false,
    "DeleteAfterConvert": "Recycle",
    "MoveFiles": true,
    "ClearTitleMetadata": true,
    "Limit": 0,
    "MinSizeBytes": 0,
    "CompanionExtensions": ["srt", "nfo", "jpg", "jpeg", "png", "tbn", "ass", "ssa", "idx", "sub", "vtt"],
    "UnmatchedCompanionAction": "Recycle",
    "OnDestinationCollision": "Overwrite"
  },
  "Logging": { "LogFilePath": "%CompressarrAppData%\\Logs", "RetentionDays": 30 },
  "PostExec": { "Cmd": "", "Args": "" },
  "Report": { "ReportPath": "%CompressarrAppData%\\Reports", "OpenAfterRun": "OnError" },
  "Repeat": { "Count": 0, "Monitor": false, "PollIntervalSeconds": 60, "QueueEtaFormat": "Duration" },
  "Startup": { "CountdownSeconds": 10, "RunAtLogin": false },
  "Arrs": {
    "Sonarr": { "Enabled": false, "Url": "", "ApiKey": "" },
    "Radarr": { "Enabled": false, "Url": "", "ApiKey": "" }
  },
  "Web": { "Port": 1212 },
  "Backup": {
    "FolderPath": "%CompressarrAppData%\\Backups",
    "IntervalDays": 7,
    "RetentionDays": 28
  },
  "Notifications": {
    "ToastEnabled": false,
    "ToastDigestDailyEnabled": false,
    "ToastDigestWeeklyEnabled": false,
    "ToastDigestDailyTime": "09:00",
    "ToastDigestWeeklyTime": "09:00",
    "ToastDigestWeeklyDay": "Monday",
    "Channels": []
  }
}

QueueEtaFormat is "DateTime" or "Duration" - see the Settings table above. Each entry in Notifications.Channels also carries its own DigestDailyEnabled/DigestWeeklyEnabled/ DigestDailyTime/DigestWeeklyTime/DigestWeeklyDay, same shape as the toast fields above, alongside its Type/Trigger/Settings - added from the Notifications page, not hand-edited here.

The output file extension is derived from whichever preset was selected, rather than being hardcoded.

Project layout

src/
  Compressarr.Core/       Conversion engine, config, reporting, HandBrake/Sonarr/Radarr clients -
                           platform-agnostic, no UI dependencies
  Compressarr.Web/         Minimal-API endpoints + wwwroot (the entire browser UI: vanilla JS/HTML/CSS)
  Compressarr.Desktop/     Tray-only host - Avalonia TrayIcon, Windows toast notifications, composition root
installer/
  Compressarr.iss           Inno Setup script - builds both installer variants (regular and
                             bundled "Full") from one script via an ISPP /DFULL define
tests/
  Compressarr.Core.Tests/   xUnit tests for Core
CHANGELOG.md               Release history

TagLib-Sharp (metadata handling)

Compressarr uses TagLib-Sharp to strip the embedded title tag from converted files, so a media server reads the filename instead of a stale/incorrect title baked into the file's metadata. This is controlled by the Clear title metadata setting on the Settings page (on by default).

• What it is: an open-source, cross-platform .NET library for reading and writing media file tags.

Disclaimer

Compressarr is intended for personal use only, with media files you legally own or otherwise have the right to compress and manage. You are solely responsible for ensuring your use complies with applicable copyright law and any licensing terms attached to your media. This tool is provided as-is, with no warranty of any kind - use it at your own risk.

License

Compressarr is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0.

Copyright (C) 2026 Mark Wasserman

The components Compressarr is built with, and their licenses, are listed in THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.txt; both files are installed with the program and linked from its About page. HandBrake is not part of Compressarr - if you download it from inside it, it stays under its own license.