---
title: "Sonarr Custom Formats — Quality Profile Scoping and 'Any' Bypass"
aliases: [sonarr-custom-formats, sonarr-quality-profile, sonarr-any-profile]
tags: [sonarr, media-stack, homelab, torrent, custom-formats]
sources:
  - "daily/2026-04-29.md"
created: 2026-04-29
updated: 2026-04-29
---

# Sonarr Custom Formats — Quality Profile Scoping and "Any" Bypass

Sonarr Custom Formats apply score-based ranking to downloaded releases. A critical scoping rule: Custom Format scores are only evaluated within the Quality Profile that is explicitly assigned to a series. If that profile is "Any", Custom Format scores are completely ignored — Sonarr treats "Any" as "accept everything regardless of format scoring".

## Key Points

- **Custom Formats only score within the assigned Quality Profile** — a format with +500 points has zero effect if the series uses "Any"
- **"Any" profile bypasses all Custom Format scores** — it is a catch-all that ignores language and quality preferences
- **Always assign an explicit profile when language or quality matters** — use "Russian 1080p", "HD - 720p/1080p", or a custom named profile
- **Season packs behave normally** — Sonarr attaches the same torrent to all episodes in a season; 26 identical queue entries for a 26-episode season is expected
- **RuTracker releases may lack `[rus]` in the filename** even for Russian audio rips — verify audio tracks in Jellyfin after download

## Details

### How Custom Format Scoping Works

Custom Formats define patterns (release name regex, indexer flags, language tags) and assign a score. Sonarr uses these scores to rank competing releases inside a Quality Profile's cutoff/upgrade logic.

The scoring pipeline is:

1. A release matches a Quality Profile's quality tiers (e.g., "HDTV-1080p", "Bluray-1080p")
2. Among qualifying releases, Custom Format scores break ties and drive upgrades
3. **If the profile is "Any"**, step 1 accepts all qualities and step 2 is skipped — Custom Format scores are not consulted

This means a Custom Format like "Russian Audio (+500)" can be active and correctly configured, yet have zero effect on series set to "Any".

### Practical Example

Setup: Custom Format id=1, name "Russian Audio", score +500, active in profiles "Russian 1080p" and "HD - 720p/1080p".

- Series A → profile "Russian 1080p" → Custom Format scores evaluated → Russian audio releases preferred
- Series B → profile "Any" → Custom Format scores ignored → first available release grabbed regardless of audio

### Season Pack Queue Behavior

When Sonarr grabs a season pack torrent (e.g., `ShowName.S01.Complete`), it creates one queue entry per episode in that season — all pointing to the same torrent. A 26-episode season produces 26 identical queue rows. This is normal; Sonarr will extract individual episodes from the single download.

### RuTracker Audio Verification

RuTracker releases for Russian-dubbed content often omit `[rus]` or `[RUS]` from the filename. The Custom Format match may fail at the filename-pattern stage. After download completes, open the episode in Jellyfin → check the audio stream list to confirm Russian audio is present.

## Related Concepts

- [[wiki/concepts/prowlarr-flaresolverr-limitation]] — Prowlarr indexer issues including RuTracker; FlareSolverr bypass
- [[wiki/concepts/prowlarr-flaresolverr-get-only]] — FlareSolverr GET-only limitation; SQLite cookie injection for RuTracker login
- [[wiki/concepts/jellyfin-tmdb-thetvdb-plugin]] — Jellyfin plugin config; episode naming; Prowlarr search-only role
- [[wiki/homelab/_index]] — media stack: Radarr, Sonarr, Prowlarr, qBittorrent

## Sources

- [[daily/2026-04-29.md]] — Sonarr Custom Format "Any" bypass discovered; Russian audio Custom Format (id=1, +500) active in two profiles but not "Any"; season pack 26-queue-entry behavior confirmed normal; RuTracker filename lacks [rus] tag
