NZB Search

Search Newznab-compatible Usenet indexers for movies, TV shows, books, and other media. Find quality releases and add them to cart or download NZB files.

Supported Indexers

Indexer	Prefix	API Key Location	Cart Support
SceneNZBs (default)	@scenenzbs	pass api/scenenzbs	✅ API
NZBgeek	@nzbgeek	pass api/nzbgeek	❌ Web-only
NZBFinder	@nzbfinder	pass api/nzbfinder	❌ Not supported
NZBPlanet	@nzbplanet	pass api/nzbplanet	❌ Web-only

Workflow

1. Search - Query for content (movie, TV, book, etc.)
2. Filter & Rank - Prioritize by quality indicators
3. Present - Show top results with key details
4. Action - Download NZB (or add to cart for SceneNZBs)

Quick Start - Most Common Search Pattern

Use this pattern for any search (works reliably across all indexers):

cd ~/.claude/skills/nzb-search && \
./scripts/nzb-api.sh [@indexer] search "QUERY" "&cat=CATEGORY&limit=50&extended=1" | \
jq -r '[.channel.item] | flatten | .[]? | {
  title: .title,
  guid: .guid,
  size: (.size // (.attr[]? | select(."@attributes".name == "size") | ."@attributes".value) // .enclosure."@attributes".length),
  grabs: ((.attr[]? | select(."@attributes".name == "grabs") | ."@attributes".value) // "N/A"),
  pubDate: .pubDate
} | "\n\(.title)\n  Size: \(if .size then ((.size | tonumber) / 1073741824 * 100 | floor / 100 | tostring) + " GB" else "Unknown" end)\n  Grabs: \(.grabs)\n  Published: \(.pubDate)\n  GUID: \(.guid)"'

Common categories: 2000 (Movies), 5000 (TV), 6000 (XXX), 7000 (Books), 7120 (German ebooks)

Search Operations

All searches use scripts/nzb-api.sh. Prefix with @indexer to select indexer (default: scenenzbs).

IMPORTANT - JQ Parsing: The API returns different JSON structures depending on result count:

• Multiple results: .channel.item is an array
• Single result: .channel.item is an object (not an array)

Always use this pattern to handle both cases:

jq '[.channel.item] | flatten | .[]? | ...'

Do NOT use .channel.item[]? directly as it will fail on single results.

Indexer Selection

# Use default indexer (scenenzbs)
./scripts/nzb-api.sh search "inception"

# Use specific indexer
./scripts/nzb-api.sh @nzbgeek search "inception"
./scripts/nzb-api.sh @scenenzbs search "inception"
./scripts/nzb-api.sh @nzbfinder search "inception"
./scripts/nzb-api.sh @nzbplanet search "inception"

# Search ALL indexers at once (results include .indexer field)
./scripts/nzb-api.sh search_all "inception" "&cat=2000"

# List available indexers
./scripts/nzb-api.sh list_indexers

# Get indexer capabilities
./scripts/nzb-api.sh @nzbgeek caps

Reliable jq Parsing Patterns

ALWAYS use these tested patterns instead of improvising:

# 1. SIMPLE LIST - Just show titles and basic info
./scripts/nzb-api.sh search "query" "&cat=6000&limit=50&extended=1" | \
  jq -r '[.channel.item] | flatten | .[]? | {
    title: .title,
    guid: .guid,
    size: (.size // (.attr[]? | select(."@attributes".name == "size") | ."@attributes".value) // .enclosure."@attributes".length),
    grabs: ((.attr[]? | select(."@attributes".name == "grabs") | ."@attributes".value) // "N/A"),
    pubDate: .pubDate
  } | "\n\(.title)\n  Size: \(if .size then ((.size | tonumber) / 1073741824 * 100 | floor / 100 | tostring) + " GB" else "Unknown" end)\n  Grabs: \(.grabs)\n  Published: \(.pubDate)\n  GUID: \(.guid)"'

# 2. JSON OUTPUT - For further processing/sorting
./scripts/nzb-api.sh search "query" "&cat=6000&limit=50&extended=1" | \
  jq '[.channel.item] | flatten | .[]? | {
    title: .title,
    guid: .guid,
    size: (.size // (.attr[]? | select(."@attributes".name == "size") | ."@attributes".value) // .enclosure."@attributes".length | tonumber),
    grabs: ((.attr[]? | select(."@attributes".name == "grabs") | ."@attributes".value) // "0" | tonumber),
    pubDate: .pubDate
  }'

# 3. SORTED BY GRABS (most popular first)
./scripts/nzb-api.sh search "query" "&cat=6000&limit=50&extended=1" | \
  jq '[.channel.item] | flatten | .[]? | {
    title: .title,
    guid: .guid,
    size: (.size // (.attr[]? | select(."@attributes".name == "size") | ."@attributes".value) // .enclosure."@attributes".length | tonumber),
    grabs: ((.attr[]? | select(."@attributes".name == "grabs") | ."@attributes".value) // "0" | tonumber),
    pubDate: .pubDate
  }' | jq -s 'sort_by(-.grabs)'

Key points:

• Always use [.channel.item] | flatten | .[]? to handle single/multiple results
• Use // "default" for fallback values (grabs, size)
• Size can be in .size, .attr[], or .enclosure."@attributes".length - try all three
• Convert to GB: | tonumber / 1073741824 * 100 | floor / 100
• GUID is usually in .guid directly (NZBgeek) or .attr[] (SceneNZBs)

Movies

# By title
./scripts/nzb-api.sh movie "inception" "&cat=2000&limit=20&extended=1"

# By IMDb ID
./scripts/nzb-api.sh movie "0468569" "&extended=1"

# With quality filters and extended metadata
./scripts/nzb-api.sh search "inception" "&cat=2000&limit=20&extended=1"

# Search NZBgeek for movies
./scripts/nzb-api.sh @nzbgeek movie "inception"

TV Shows

# Specific episode
./scripts/nzb-api.sh tvsearch "spartacus" 1 3

# Season pack
./scripts/nzb-api.sh tvsearch "breaking bad" 2

# General TV search
./scripts/nzb-api.sh search "the wire" "&cat=5000&limit=15"

Books

# By author or title
./scripts/nzb-api.sh book "author:tolkien" "&limit=10"

# Direct search
./scripts/nzb-api.sh search "fantasy novels" "&cat=7000"

Quality Filtering

Priority indicators:

1. Grabs/stats - Higher = more popular/reliable
2. Resolution - Prefer 720p or 1080p (avoid 2160p/4K - unnecessarily large)
3. Subtitles - Check subs attribute for "english" when requested
4. Size - Reasonable for quality level

Finding Quality Releases

# Get extended metadata including grabs, resolution, subs
./scripts/nzb-api.sh search "movie name" "&cat=2000&limit=30&extended=1&sort=stats_desc" | \
  jq '[.channel.item] | flatten | .[]? | {
    title: .title,
    guid: .guid,
    size: (.size // (.attr[]? | select(."@attributes".name == "size") | ."@attributes".value) | tonumber),
    grabs: ((.attr[]? | select(."@attributes".name == "grabs") | ."@attributes".value) // "0"),
    resolution: ((.attr[]? | select(."@attributes".name == "resolution") | ."@attributes".value) // "unknown"),
    subs: ((.attr[]? | select(."@attributes".name == "subs") | ."@attributes".value) // "none")
  }'

Filter logic:

• Extract resolution from title if not in metadata (look for "720p", "1080p", "2160p")
• Prioritize 1080p, accept 720p
• Exclude 2160p/4K unless specifically requested
• When subtitles requested, filter by subs containing "english" or "en"
• Sort by grabs (popularity) among quality matches

Size Ranges (approximate)

• Movies 720p: 1-4 GB
• Movies 1080p: 2-8 GB
• TV episode 720p: 500 MB - 1.5 GB
• TV episode 1080p: 1-3 GB

Presenting Results

Show 3-5 top results with:

• Title (include resolution/quality indicators visible in title)
• Size (in GB, formatted)
• Grabs/popularity if available
• Subtitles info if relevant
• Indexer name (when using search_all or comparing across indexers)

Number results clearly for user selection.

Cart & Download Operations

Indexer Support Matrix

Operation	SceneNZBs	NZBgeek	NZBFinder	NZBPlanet
Search	✅ Newznab API	✅ Newznab API	✅ Newznab API	✅ Newznab API
Movie search	✅	✅	✅	✅
TV search	✅	✅	✅	✅
Book search	✅	✅	❌ Not supported	✅
Download NZB	✅ t=get&id=GUID	✅ t=get&id=GUID	✅ t=get&id=GUID	✅ t=get&id=GUID
Add to cart	✅ t=cartadd&id=GUID	❌ Web-only (session cookie)	❌ Not supported	❌ Web-only (session cookie)
Remove from cart	✅ t=cartdel&id=GUID	❌ Web-only	❌ Not supported	❌ Web-only
View cart	❌ Not implemented	❌ Web-only	❌ Not supported	❌ Web-only

NZBgeek Note: Cart operations require web session authentication with internal release IDs that aren't exposed via the Newznab API. For NZBgeek, use direct download instead of cart.

NZBPlanet Note: Cart operations require web session authentication (POST to /cart?add=ID with PHPSESSID cookie). The Newznab t=cartadd endpoint is documented but non-functional (returns error 300). For NZBPlanet, use direct download instead of cart.

NZBFinder Notes:

• Rate limit: Free tier is limited to 15 API calls per 24 hours. Use sparingly — prefer other indexers for exploratory searches.
• UHD downloads: Require a premium account. Non-UHD downloads work on free tier.
• No book search: t=book endpoint is not supported. Use general search with &cat=7000 as fallback.
• No cart: Use direct download (t=get) instead.

Download NZB (Works on All Indexers)

# Download to file (recommended for NZBgeek)
./scripts/nzb-api.sh download "guid-hash-here" "movie-name.nzb"

# From specific indexer
./scripts/nzb-api.sh @nzbgeek download "guid-hash-here" "movie-name.nzb"

# Returns: filename

Add to Cart (SceneNZBs Only)

# Add by GUID (uses default indexer - scenenzbs)
./scripts/nzb-api.sh cartadd "guid-hash-here"

# Response: {"@attributes": {"id": "internal-cart-id"}}

Remove from Cart (SceneNZBs Only)

./scripts/nzb-api.sh cartdel "guid-hash-here"

Examples

"Find Inception with English subtitles"

1. Search movies: ./scripts/nzb-api.sh search "inception" "&cat=2000&limit=20&extended=1&sort=stats_desc"
2. Filter for English subs, 720p/1080p, sort by grabs
3. Present top 3-5 results
4. Ask user which to add to cart or download

"Find The Hobbit book by Tolkien"

1. Search books: ./scripts/nzb-api.sh book "hobbit tolkien" "&limit=15"
2. Filter by author/title match
3. Present top 5 results with size/format
4. Add selected to cart

"Find latest episode of show X"

1. TV search: ./scripts/nzb-api.sh tvsearch "show x" [season] [ep]
2. Filter 720p/1080p by grabs
3. Present top 3
4. Download selected NZB

"Find German J.D. Robb ebooks"

1. Search with German category: ./scripts/nzb-api.sh search "j.d. robb" "&cat=7120&limit=50&extended=1"
2. Parse results and sort by book number or publication date
3. Present top results with German titles
4. Add selected to cart or download

"Search both indexers for rare content"

1. Search all: ./scripts/nzb-api.sh search_all "obscure movie 1985" "&cat=2000&limit=20"
2. Results include .indexer field showing source
3. Compare availability and quality across indexers
4. Use appropriate @indexer prefix for cart/download

Categories

Note: Categories are standardized by Newznab, but availability varies by indexer. Use caps to check what an indexer supports.

English Content

• 2000 = Movies
  • 2060 = 3D
  • 2050 = BluRay
  • 2040 = HD
  • 2030 = SD
  • 2045 = UHD
• 5000 = TV
  • 5040 = HD
  • 5030 = SD
  • 5045 = UHD
  • 5070 = Anime
  • 5080 = Documentary
  • 5060 = Sport
• 7000 = Books
  • 7020 = Ebook
  • 7030 = Comics
  • 7010 = Mags
• 3000 = Audio
  • 3030 = Audiobook
  • 3010 = MP3
  • 3040 = Lossless
  • 3020 = Video

German Content (DE) - SceneNZBs specific

• 7100 = Books - DE
  • 7120 = Ebook (use this for German ebooks!)
  • 7130 = Comics
  • 7110 = Mags
• 2100 = Movies - DE
  • 2140 = HD
  • 2150 = BluRay
  • 2145 = UHD
• 5100 = TV - DE
  • 5140 = HD
  • 5145 = UHD
  • 5170 = Anime
  • 5180 = Documentary
  • 5160 = Sport
• 3130 = Audiobook - DE

Spanish Content (ES) - SceneNZBs specific

• 2200 = Movies - ES
• 5200 = TV - ES
• 3230 = Audiobook - ES

Other Categories

• 1000 = Console (PS4, PS5, Xbox, Switch, etc.)
• 4000 = PC (Games, Software, Mobile)
• 6000 = XXX
• 8000 = Other

Important: When searching for German content, always use the DE-specific categories (7120 for ebooks, 2100 for movies, 5100 for TV, etc.) as regular categories (7000, 2000, 5000) contain primarily English content. Check indexer capabilities with caps as not all indexers have localized categories.

Additional Search Parameters

Append to search commands:

• &limit=N - max results (default varies, max 100)
• &maxage=N - posted within N days
• &minsize=1GB / &maxsize=10GB - size filters
• &sort=stats_desc - sort by popularity/grabs
• &extended=1 - include all metadata (grabs, resolution, subs, imdb, etc.)

Technical Notes

• URL Encoding: The script automatically URL-encodes all search queries, so spaces and special characters are handled correctly
• Single vs Multiple Results: Always use [.channel.item] | flatten | .[]? pattern in jq to handle both cases
• Newznab Compatibility: Both indexers use the standard Newznab API, so all commands work identically
• API Keys: Stored in pass - ensure keys exist at api/scenenzbs, api/nzbgeek, api/nzbfinder, and api/nzbplanet
• Rate Limits: NZBFinder free tier: 15 calls/24h. Other indexers have more generous limits.

Adding New Indexers

To add a new Newznab-compatible indexer, edit the INDEXERS array in scripts/nzb-api.sh:

declare -A INDEXERS=(
    ["scenenzbs"]="https://scenenzbs.com/api|api/scenenzbs"
    ["nzbgeek"]="https://api.nzbgeek.info/api|api/nzbgeek"
    ["nzbfinder"]="https://nzbfinder.ws/api|api/nzbfinder"
    ["nzbplanet"]="https://api.nzbplanet.net/api|api/nzbplanet"
    ["newindexer"]="https://newindexer.com/api|api/newindexer"
)

Format: ["name"]="BASE_URL|PASS_PATH"

The script normalizes response differences between indexers automatically (e.g., newznab:attr vs attr, different GUID structures). Non-JSON error responses (XML rate limit errors etc.) are handled gracefully in search_all.