Questarr

June 23, 2026 · View on GitHub

Version: 1.0
Date: 2026-06-07
Author: Doezer Audience: Project owner, AI coding agents, open source contributors
Horizon: 6 months (Q3–Q4 2026)

1. Problem Statement

There is no automated, self-hosted tool to connect torrent/usenet indexers and download clients specifically for video games. Tools like Sonarr and Radarr solve this for TV and movies; Questarr fills the same gap for games.

Without Questarr, a user who wants to automatically download a newly released game must manually search indexers, copy magnet/NZB links, and paste them into a download client — repeatedly, for every game, every update. Questarr eliminates that loop.

2. Vision

Questarr is the *Arr-ecosystem equivalent for video games. It gives self-hosters a single, browser-based dashboard to discover, track, download, and organize their game library — automatically.

The long-term vision is to be the connective tissue of the self-hosted gaming stack: integrated with indexers, download clients, external libraries (Steam, GOG), media management tools (Playnite, RomM, Gameyfin), and release trackers (xREL), while staying lightweight enough to run on a NAS or home server.

3. Users & Personas

Primary — The Automated Downloader

A self-hoster who wants a set-it-and-forget-it pipeline. They add a game to their wishlist; Questarr searches indexers on a schedule, picks the best release, sends it to qBittorrent/SABnzbd/etc., monitors completion, and moves files to the right folder. They should rarely need to intervene.

Core job: Don't make me think about the download pipeline.

Secondary — The Library Centralizer

A collector who already owns games on Steam, GOG, or a local filesystem and wants a single place to track everything. They use Questarr as a unified library view and may use it to fill gaps (games not on storefronts) via download.

Core job: Show me everything I own in one place, regardless of source.

Tertiary — The Retro Gamer

A user who wants to automate ROM downloads for retro gaming, feeding tools like RomM or ES-DE that read from a local path.

Core job: Keep my ROM library up to date without manual searching.

4. What Exists Today

Questarr is a working, production-ready application. The features below are live in the current release.

Library Management

Add games manually, via IGDB search, or by importing from Steam wishlist
Game detail modal: cover art, metadata, user rating (0.5–10), hidden flag
Filter, sort, and search the library
Per-game status tracking (wanted, downloading, downloaded, etc.)
Platform detection (from release title, IGDB data, fallback to PC)

Discovery

IGDB-powered game discovery and metadata enrichment
Steam App ID resolution + PCGamingWiki integration
NexusMods trending mods per game

Search & Indexers

Torznab and Newznab indexer aggregation
Manual search with per-release download triggers
Release blacklisting
Preferred release groups setting

Download Client Integration

qBittorrent, Transmission, rTorrent, SABnzbd, NZBGet
Download status tracking and progress via WebSocket
Auto-delete completed downloads setting

Automation

Scheduled auto-search for wanted games
Download completion checks (cron)
xREL release monitoring with direct "add to library" from release list
RSS feed monitoring

Calendar

Release calendar for tracked games

Stats

Library and download statistics dashboard

Settings & Config

Per-user settings (preferred release groups, Steam sync)
Indexer and downloader configuration UI
System logs page

Infrastructure

JWT authentication (single-user)
SQLite database (Drizzle ORM)
Docker-first deployment
Socket.io real-time updates
SSRF-protected outbound fetch
React 18 SPA + Express REST API + TypeScript strict mode throughout

5. Six-Month Roadmap

Features are ordered by current priority. Each section includes the user value and the scope.

P0 — Post-Processing Pipeline (in progress)

Problem: After a download completes, files land wherever the download client puts them. Users currently manage file organization manually or with external scripts.

Feature: A configurable pipeline that runs after a download is marked complete:

Copy or move files to a user-defined destination path
Support variable tokens in paths (e.g. {game.title}, {platform})
Extract archives (.rar, .zip, nested subdirs)
Optional: run a custom post-processing script (hook)
Show post-processing status per download

Why now: This is the single most-requested feature. Without it, the "set it and forget it" promise is incomplete — users still have to manually move files.

P1 — Smart Game Backlog (Version-Aware Updates)

Problem: Once a game is downloaded, Questarr forgets about it. Users have no way to know when a newer version (patch, repack, upgrade) becomes available on indexers.

Feature:

Track the last downloaded version per game (parsed from release title)
On each scheduled search, compare new results against the stored version
Notify the user only when a strictly higher version is found (e.g. v1.0 → v1.1)
Option to auto-download upgrades

Why: Moves Questarr from "download once" to "keep library current" — the full *Arr experience.

P2 — Direct Download Support (Real-Debrid and similar)

Problem: Some users prefer direct download services (Real-Debrid, AllDebrid, etc.) over traditional torrent/usenet pipelines — no seeding required.

Feature:

New downloader type: "direct download / debrid service"
Resolve magnet links or torrent files through the debrid API into direct HTTP links
Trigger download to a local downloader or direct to server path
Surface in the existing downloader configuration UI

Why: Expands the user base to those who don't run a torrent client, and complements the existing pipeline without replacing it.

P3 — External Library Sync

Problem: Users own games on Steam, GOG, and other platforms. Questarr currently only imports from Steam wishlists, not the actual library.

Feature:

Import owned games from Steam library (via Steam API)
Import from GOG (if API available, otherwise file-based)
Filesystem scanner: detect games installed on a local path and add them to the library as "owned"
Mark synced games with their source; avoid duplicates across sources
Periodic background re-sync

Why: Serves the Library Centralizer persona and makes Questarr useful even for users who don't download anything.

P4 — Integrations with External Tools

Problem: Self-hosters already use tools like Playnite, Gameyfin, and RomM. Questarr should fit into those ecosystems rather than compete with them.

Planned integrations:

Playnite: Export library or sync game metadata/status
RomM: Tag ROMs with metadata from Questarr; trigger ROM downloads via Questarr pipeline
Gameyfin: Notify or sync when a new game is added/downloaded
Generic webhook: POST to a user-defined URL on events (game added, download complete, post-processing done) — enables any integration not explicitly supported

Why: Lowers switching cost and increases stickiness for users already in the self-hosted ecosystem.

P5 — Indexer Page Links

Problem: When a user wants more context about a specific release (description, NFO, comments), they have to manually navigate to the indexer.

Feature:

Store and display a direct link to the release page on the indexer
Surface as a "View on indexer" button in the download/search result UI

Why: Small lift, high user request frequency. Reduces tab-switching for power users who want to inspect releases before committing.

P6 — PostgreSQL Support (Re-introduction)

Problem: SQLite is limiting for users running Questarr in containerized or NAS environments where a shared DB or larger datasets are needed. PostgreSQL was previously supported and removed.

Feature:

Re-introduce PostgreSQL as an optional database backend
Maintain SQLite as the default (zero-config)
Abstract the Drizzle schema to work cleanly on both dialects
Document migration path from SQLite to PostgreSQL

Why: Enables production-grade deployments and unblocks potential multi-user or multi-instance scenarios.

Ongoing — Quality of Life, Design & UX

Not features but a standing priority for all 6 months. In line with the project philosophy: a well-maintained side project that is useful and pleasant to use beats a bloated one.

Mobile responsiveness: thumb-first navigation, touch-safe density, progressive disclosure on small screens
Notification system improvements (granular per-event control)
Search UX improvements (better result ranking, release group filtering)
Performance: reduce unnecessary re-renders, paginate heavy lists
Accessibility: aria-labels on all interactive elements, semantic HTML throughout
Visual polish: consistent spacing, cover art quality, status color clarity

6. Non-Goals (Explicit Out-of-Scope)

The following will not be built within this roadmap and are not planned:

Out of scope	Reason
Game launcher / desktop agent	Requires a persistent desktop process, OS-level integration, and significant platform-specific work. Out of scope for a server-side tool.
Game streaming server	Separate product class. Requires video encoding, session management, input streaming. Tools like Sunshine/Moonlight exist for this.
Storefront replacement	Users still go to Steam/GOG to play games. Questarr facilitates acquisition and organization, not the storefront experience.
Multi-user / multi-profile	Backend may support it architecturally, but UI, permission model, and per-user isolation are not planned. Single-user is the supported configuration.
Cloud-hosted SaaS version	Self-hosted only. No plans for Questarr-as-a-service.

7. Success Metrics

Growth

Docker Hub pulls: 200k at project start → 500k by end of roadmap (6 months)
GitHub stars: continued growth; no hard target, trend matters more than absolute number
GitHub issues / discussions: response to every issue or question (community health)

Quality

Zero regressions on post-processing pipeline at launch
Test coverage maintained or improved (no coverage cliff from new features)
No open P0/P1 bugs older than 30 days

Community

Pre-release testing by users for major features (post-processing, smart backlog)
Active engagement on Reddit posts and GitHub issues
Feature requests acknowledged within 48 hours

8. Technical Constraints & Principles

Docker-first: All features must work in a standard Docker container without host-level dependencies (except mapped volumes).
SQLite by default: New features must not require PostgreSQL to function. Postgres is additive.
Single-user: No multi-tenant data isolation required. JWT auth is sufficient for current scope.
TypeScript strict: No any, no untyped escape hatches introduced by new features.
SSRF protection: All outbound HTTP calls (new integrations, debrid APIs) must go through ssrf.ts validation.
Backward compatibility: Settings, config, and the database schema must migrate cleanly. No silent breaking changes.
Side-project pace: Features are shipped when they're ready. No artificial deadlines.

9. Open Questions

Question	Notes
Which debrid API to support first?	Real-Debrid has the largest user base in the community
GOG library import — API or file scan?	GOG's public API is limited; may need to read the GOG Galaxy DB file
Playnite integration shape	Plugin (runs in Playnite) vs. webhook-based (runs in Questarr)?
PostgreSQL migration tooling	Provide an official migration script or leave it to the user?