Exclusions
The Exclusions list lets you permanently prevent specific titles from being searched by Nudgarr. Excluded titles are silently skipped in every future sweep — across all three pipelines and all instances.
How exclusions work
Exclusions are matched by title (case-insensitive, exact string match). When a sweep runs, Nudgarr removes any item whose title appears on the exclusions list before the cooldown check, queue check, or search selection. Excluded items are never counted against the run's maximum — they are removed from consideration entirely.
Exclusions are global — they apply across all instances and both Radarr and Sonarr.
Adding exclusions
Open the History tab, find the title you want to exclude, and click the exclusion icon in that row. The title is immediately added to the exclusions list.
Viewing exclusions
On the History tab, click the Exclusions pill filter to show only exclusions. Each row shows the title, source (Manual or Auto), and when it was excluded. Click Remove on any row to restore the title to eligibility.
Clearing exclusions in bulk
The Clear Exclusions button at the bottom right of the History tab offers three options:
| Option | What it clears |
|---|---|
| Clear Auto | Removes all auto-excluded entries only. Manual exclusions are not affected. |
| Clear Manual | Removes all manually added exclusions only. Auto-exclusions are not affected. |
| Clear All | Removes all exclusions regardless of source. |
The confirm button is disabled until an option is selected.
What exclusions are for
Exclusions are useful for titles you have a deliberate reason not to improve or acquire:
- Content you own physically and do not want a digital copy of
- Items with no reliable indexer releases — repeatedly searching wastes slots
- Content you have decided is not worth the quality upgrade at this time
- Items that repeatedly trigger false positives in your indexer results
Exclusions are not the right tool for temporarily pausing a title — that is what the cooldown handles naturally. If you just searched something and do not want it re-searched soon, the cooldown already prevents that without an explicit exclusion.
Exclusions and Sonarr show-level management
For Sonarr, excluding a title removes that specific episode from future searches. Other episodes in the same show are unaffected.
Storage
Exclusions are stored in the SQLite database at /config/nudgarr.db. They are persisted across restarts and container upgrades.
Auto-Exclusion
Auto-exclusion lets Nudgarr exclude titles automatically after a configured number of searches with no confirmed import. This prevents Nudgarr from searching endlessly for content that consistently produces no result.
How it works
After each import check cycle, Nudgarr evaluates all titles that meet the following four conditions:
- Search count is at or above the configured threshold for that app
- No confirmed import on record
- Not currently in the download queue
- Not already excluded
If all four conditions are met, the title is written to the exclusions table with source=auto and a notification fires if Auto-Exclusion notifications are enabled.
The queue check (condition 3) protects against excluding items that were just grabbed and are still downloading.
Timing note: Auto-exclusion runs inside the import check loop, not during the sweep. A title will not be evaluated until the import check interval elapses after the sweep that pushed it over the threshold. See FAQ & Troubleshooting for details.
Configuring auto-exclusion
Auto-exclusion is configured independently for Radarr (movies) and Sonarr (shows) in the Advanced tab under Auto-Exclusion.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Exclude After X Searches (Radarr) | Auto-exclude a movie after this many searches with no confirmed import. 0 disables auto-exclusion for movies. |
| Unexclude After X Days (Radarr) | Automatically remove a movie from auto-exclusions after this many days. 0 means it stays excluded until manually removed. |
| Exclude After X Searches (Sonarr) | Same as above for shows. |
| Unexclude After X Days (Sonarr) | Same as above for shows. |
Setting a threshold to 0 greys out the corresponding Unexclude Days field.
Auto-unexclude
If Unexclude Days is set above 0, Nudgarr runs an auto-unexclude pass at the start of each sweep. Any auto-excluded title older than the configured threshold is removed from the exclusions table and its search count is reset to 0, making it eligible for searching again immediately in that sweep.
Auto-unexclude only affects entries with source=auto. Manual exclusions are never touched.
Source distinction
The Exclusions view on the History tab shows a Source column. Auto-excluded entries show an amber Auto badge. Manual exclusions show a muted Manual badge.
Status bar badge
The desktop status bar shows a count of unacknowledged auto-exclusions. Clicking it navigates to the History tab with the exclusions filter active and clears the badge.
Disabled popup
If you save with a threshold changing from a non-zero value to 0 and auto-exclusions currently exist, a popup appears asking what to do with the existing entries. Keep leaves them in place. Clear removes all auto-exclusion rows immediately.
Multi-instance setups
Auto-exclusion thresholds are global settings — the same threshold applies across all instances. Exclusions are matched by title and apply everywhere, so a title excluded by one instance is excluded on all instances simultaneously.
In setups with multiple instances searching different quality tiers (for example a standard and a 4K Radarr), be aware that the more aggressive instance hitting its threshold will globally exclude a title, stopping the other instance from continuing to search. Set your global threshold conservatively enough that all instances have a reasonable opportunity to find a result before exclusion fires.
Auto-exclusion notifications
A Notify on Auto-Exclusion trigger is available in the Notifications tab. When enabled, a notification fires each time a title is auto-excluded, including the title, search count, and instance name.