How to Automate TV Show Downloads on SonicBit with Sonarr and Jackett: A Step-by-Step Guide

Imagine finishing work on a Friday, opening Plex, and finding every new episode from the past week already sitting there — properly named, organized into season folders, and ready to stream. No manual torrent hunting. No renaming files at 11 PM. Just your media library quietly taking care of itself.

That's the promise of automating TV show downloads, and on SonicBit it's surprisingly approachable. You don't need to touch a terminal or wrestle with Docker Compose files. You deploy two apps, connect them, and let the pipeline run.

In this tutorial, I'll walk you through the full setup: deploying Sonarr and Jackett on SonicBit, configuring indexers in Jackett, linking them to Sonarr, and setting up quality profiles so new episodes download and organize themselves automatically.

Prerequisites

Before diving in, make sure you have:

• A SonicBit account (any paid plan works, but I'd recommend the Vertex plan ($3.49/month) or Standard plan ($4.35/month) for the app slots and storage)
• A torrent downloader already deployed (qBittorrent or Deluge — both are one-click installs on SonicBit)
• At least 30 minutes for the full setup

If you haven't set up a download client yet, deploy qBittorrent first from the SonicBit dashboard. You'll need it running before Sonarr can do anything useful.

Why Sonarr + Jackett?

Before we start clicking, let's quickly clarify what each app does:

Jackett translates the messy, varied APIs of dozens of torrent sites into a single clean interface that Sonarr understands. Without it, Sonarr can only search a limited set of built-in indexers. With Jackett, you get access to hundreds of trackers — public and private.

Step 1: Deploy Jackett and Sonarr on SonicBit

Both apps are available as one-click deployments from the SonicBit dashboard.

Deploy Jackett

1. Log in to the SonicBit dashboard.
2. Navigate to the Apps section.
3. Find Jackett in the Utilities category (it's a light app, so it works on basic app slots).
4. Click Install and give it a moment to deploy.
5. Once it's ready, open the Jackett web interface from your app list.

!Jackett deployed in the SonicBit app list

Deploy Sonarr

1. Back in the Apps section, find Sonarr under the Media category.
2. Click Install — Sonarr is a medium-intensity app, so make sure you have a performance app slot available (the Vertex plan includes 2).
3. Wait for the deployment to complete, then open Sonarr.

!Sonarr available as a one-click install on SonicBit

If you're on the free plan, you'll only have one basic app slot, which won't be enough for this setup. The SonicBit pricing page breaks down exactly how many app slots each plan includes.

Step 2: Configure Jackett with Your Indexers

Now that Jackett is running, you need to add torrent trackers. Jackett supports hundreds of indexers, from public sites to private trackers that require login credentials.

Adding an Indexer in Jackett

1. In Jackett's web interface, click Add Indexer.
2. Browse or search for the tracker you want to add. For example, if you're using a public tracker like 1337x or a private one like IPTorrents, search for it by name.
3. If the tracker requires authentication, enter your username and password (for private trackers, you'll typically need your passkey).
4. Click the Add button next to the indexer.
5. Repeat for any additional trackers you want to use.

Getting Your Torznab Feed URL

Once you've added indexers, you need the Torznab feed URL for each one. This is what Sonarr will use to search.

1. In Jackett, click Copy Torznab Feed next to the indexer you added.
2. This copies a URL that looks something like:

http://localhost:9117/api/v2.0/indexers/YOUR_INDEXER/results/torznab/

If you're running Jackett and Sonarr on the same SonicBit seedbox (which you are), you may need to use the internal hostname or IP that SonicBit assigns. On SonicBit, apps communicate internally, so use the app's internal URL — usually something like http://jackett:9117 — instead of localhost.

!Jackett indexer list with Torznab feed URLs

Step 3: Connect Jackett to Sonarr

With Jackett configured and your Torznab URL ready, switch over to Sonarr.

Adding a Torznab Indexer in Sonarr

1. In Sonarr, go to Settings → Indexers.
2. Click the + (plus) button to add a new indexer.
3. Select Torznab as the indexer type.
4. Fill in the fields:

Name: Anything descriptive (e.g., "1337x via Jackett")
URL: The Torznab feed URL from Jackett
API Key: Found in Jackett under "API Key" at the top of the indexer list
Categories: Typically 5000 (TV) — check Jackett's indexer page for exact category IDs

1. Click Test. If everything is connected, you'll see a green checkmark.
2. Click Save.

!Sonarr indexer settings with Torznab configuration

Repeat this process for every Jackett indexer you want Sonarr to search. Most users add 2–3 indexers for redundancy — if one tracker is down, Sonarr can still find episodes on another.

Step 4: Connect Your Download Client to Sonarr

Sonarr needs to talk to your torrent client to actually download episodes.

1. In Sonarr, go to Settings → Download Clients.
2. Click + and select your client type (qBittorrent or Deluge).
3. Enter the connection details:

Host: Your download client's internal hostname (e.g., "qBittorrent" on SonicBit)
Port: The web UI port (usually 8080 for qBittorrent, 8112 for Deluge)
Username: Your download client's web UI username
Password: Your download client's web UI password
Category: tv-sonarr (this helps keep downloads organized)

1. Click Test to verify the connection, then Save.

!Download client configured in Sonarr

Step 5: Set Up Quality Profiles

Quality profiles tell Sonarr what quality you want for different shows — and they control whether Sonarr will upgrade an existing episode when a better version appears.

Creating a Quality Profile

1. Go to Settings → Profiles.
2. Click + to create a new profile.
3. Give it a name like "HD Only" or "1080p Preferred".
4. Enable the qualities you want Sonarr to download. A sensible default:

1. Set Upgrade Until to the highest quality you want (e.g., Blu-ray 1080p).
2. Click Save.

!Quality profile settings in Sonarr

Step 6: Add Your First TV Show

Now the fun part — actually adding a show and watching the automation kick in.

1. In Sonarr, click Series → Add New.
2. Search for a currently airing show.
3. Select the correct result.
4. Configure:

• Path: Set to your TV shows directory (e.g., /tv/)
• Quality Profile: Select the profile you created
• Series Type: Standard for most shows, Anime for anime
• Monitor: Choose "All Episodes" or "Future Episodes" (I recommend Future Episodes to avoid backfilling entire series)
• Season Folders: Yes — this keeps things organized

1. Click Add.

!Adding a TV series to Sonarr

Once added, Sonarr will:

1. Check your indexers for any missing monitored episodes.
2. Send the torrent to your download client.
3. Monitor the download progress.
4. Move and rename the completed file into your TV folder.
5. Notify Plex (if connected) to rescan the library.

The first time you add a show, you'll see activity within a minute or two if an episode is airing or recently aired.

Step 7: Verify the Automation Works

Here's how to confirm everything is working end-to-end:

1. Add a show with an episode that aired recently.
2. Watch Sonarr's Activity → Queue page — you should see the episode enter the queue.
3. Check your download client — the torrent should appear with the category "tv-sonarr".
4. Once complete, check your TV folder — the file should be named like Show.Name.S01E05.1080p.WEB-DL.mkv inside a season folder.

tv/
└── Show Name/
    └── Season 01/
        └── Show.Name.S01E05.1080p.WEB-DL.mkv

That's the automation working: search → download → rename → organize. You never touched a torrent file manually.

What's Next?

With Sonarr and Jackett running, you have a solid foundation. Here are a few ways to extend it:

• Add Bazarr for automatic subtitle downloads. It integrates with Sonarr and fetches subtitles for every episode automatically.
• Add Prowlarr as an alternative to Jackett — it offers a more modern interface and built-in indexer management.
• Connect Plex to Sonarr so your media server rescans automatically when new episodes arrive.
• Set up Overseerr if you share your media server with family or friends — it lets them request TV shows and movies through a clean web interface.

If you want the full automation stack (Sonarr + Radarr + Bazarr + Prowlarr + Plex), the Vertex plan at $3.49/month gives you 6 app slots — enough for the complete setup.

Automating TV downloads is one of those things that feels like magic the first time it works. You add a show once, and every episode after that just shows up. No effort, no manual searching, no disorganized folders. Just your media library taking care of itself while you watch.

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