Overseerr▌

by jhomen368
Integrate Overseerr with your Jellyfin media server for easy automated search, requests, and approval workflows for Plex
Integrates with Overseerr media management instances to enable automated media search, request submission with quality profiles, and request approval workflows for Plex and Jellyfin environments.
Both formats append explainx.ai attribution and the canonical URL for this MCP server listing.
best for
- / Home media server administrators using Plex or Jellyfin
- / Automating media request workflows in family/shared environments
- / Bulk media management and deduplication tasks
capabilities
- / Search for movies and TV shows in batch operations
- / Submit media download requests with quality profiles
- / Check duplicate content across 50-100 titles at once
- / Manage media request approvals and workflows
- / Validate multi-season TV show requests
- / Cache responses to reduce API calls by 70-85%
what it does
Connects AI assistants to Overseerr/Seerr instances to search for movies and TV shows, submit download requests, and manage media workflows for Plex/Jellyfin servers.
about
Overseerr is a community-built MCP server published by jhomen368 that provides AI assistants with tools and capabilities via the Model Context Protocol. Integrate Overseerr with your Jellyfin media server for easy automated search, requests, and approval workflows for Plex It is categorized under other.
how to install
You can install Overseerr in your AI client of choice. Use the install panel on this page to get one-click setup for Cursor, Claude Desktop, VS Code, and other MCP-compatible clients. This server runs locally on your machine via the stdio transport.
license
MIT
Overseerr is released under the MIT license. This is a permissive open-source license, meaning you can freely use, modify, and distribute the software.
readme
Seerr MCP Server
A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for Overseerr and Seerr (the unified successor) that enables AI assistants to search, request, and manage media through the Model Context Protocol.
🎯 Key Features
- 🚀 99% fewer API calls for batch operations (150-300 → 1)
- ⚡ 88% token reduction with compact response formats
- 🎯 Batch Dedupe Mode - Check 50-100 titles in one operation
- 🔄 Smart Caching - 70-85% API call reduction
- 🛡️ Safety Features - Multi-season confirmation, validation
- 📦 4 Powerful Tools - Consolidated from 8 for clarity
🔒 Security
- 🤖 Automated Security Scanning
- Dependabot for dependency updates (weekly)
- CodeQL for code vulnerability analysis (PR + weekly)
- Trivy for Docker image scanning (CI only - blocks PRs if vulnerabilities found)
- CI validates everything during PR review, CD trusts CI and publishes
- 🐳 Hardened Docker Images
- Non-root user (mcpuser)
- Multi-stage builds
- Minimal Alpine base
- dumb-init process management
- ✅ Input Validation
- URL and API key format validation
- Fails fast with clear error messages
🛠️ Available Tools
| Tool | Purpose | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| search_media | Search & dedupe | Single/batch search, dedupe mode for 50-100 titles, franchise awareness |
| request_media | Request movies/TV | Batch requests, season validation, multi-season confirmation, dry-run mode |
| manage_media_requests | Manage requests | List/approve/decline/delete, filtering, summary statistics |
| get_media_details | Get media info | Batch lookup, flexible detail levels (basic/standard/full) |
📋 Prerequisites
- Node.js 18.0 or higher
- Seerr or Overseerr instance (self-hosted or managed)
- Seerr/Overseerr API key (Settings → General in your instance)
🚀 Quick Start
Option 1: NPM (Recommended)
npm install -g @jhomen368/overseerr-mcp
Configure with Claude Desktop:
Add to your configuration file:
- macOS:
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json - Windows:
%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
{
"mcpServers": {
"seerr": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@jhomen368/overseerr-mcp"],
"env": {
"SEERR_URL": "https://seerr.example.com",
"SEERR_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
}
}
}
}
Legacy Overseerr Users: If you're still using Overseerr (not Seerr), you can continue using the legacy variables:
{ "env": { "OVERSEERR_URL": "https://overseerr.example.com", "OVERSEERR_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here" } }Both
OVERSEERR_*andSEERR_*variables are supported for backward compatibility. Legacy variables will be removed in v3.0.0.
Option 2: Docker (Remote Access)
docker run -d \
--name seerr-mcp \
-p 8085:8085 \
-e SEERR_URL=https://your-seerr-instance.com \
-e SEERR_API_KEY=your-api-key-here \
ghcr.io/jhomen368/overseerr-mcp:latest
Docker Compose:
services:
seerr-mcp:
image: ghcr.io/jhomen368/overseerr-mcp:latest
container_name: seerr-mcp
ports:
- "8085:8085"
environment:
- SEERR_URL=https://your-seerr-instance.com
- SEERR_API_KEY=your-api-key-here
restart: unless-stopped
Test the server:
curl http://localhost:8085/health
Connect MCP clients:
- Transport: Streamable HTTP (SSE)
- URL:
http://localhost:8085/mcp
Option 3: From Source
git clone https://github.com/jhomen368/overseerr-mcp.git
cd overseerr-mcp
npm install
npm run build
node build/index.js
💡 Usage Examples
Batch Dedupe Workflow (Perfect for Anime Seasons)
// Check 50-100 titles in ONE API call
search_media({
dedupeMode: true,
titles: [
"Frieren: Beyond Journey's End",
"My Hero Academia Season 7",
"Demon Slayer Season 4",
// ... 47 more titles
],
autoNormalize: true // Strips "Season N", "Part N", etc.
})
Response:
{
"summary": {
"total": 50,
"pass": 35,
"blocked": 15,
"passRate": "70%"
},
"results": [
{ "title": "Frieren", "status": "pass", "id": 209867 },
{ "title": "My Hero Academia S7", "status": "pass", "franchiseInfo": "S1-S6 in library" },
{ "title": "Demon Slayer S4", "status": "blocked", "reason": "Already requested" }
]
}
Request Media with Validation
// Single movie request
request_media({
mediaType: "movie",
mediaId: 438631
})
// TV show with specific seasons
request_media({
mediaType: "tv",
mediaId: 82856,
seasons: [1, 2]
})
// All seasons (excludes season 0 by default)
request_media({
mediaType: "tv",
mediaId: 82856,
seasons: "all"
})
Manage Requests
// List with filters
manage_media_requests({
action: "list",
filter: "pending",
take: 20
})
// Batch approve
manage_media_requests({
action: "approve",
requestIds: [123, 124, 125]
})
// Get summary statistics
manage_media_requests({
action: "list",
summary: true
})
Natural Language Examples
Simply ask your AI assistant:
- "Search for Inception in Seerr"
- "Check if these 50 anime titles have been requested"
- "Request Breaking Bad all seasons"
- "Show me all pending media requests"
- "Approve request ID 123"
- "Get details for TMDB ID 550"
⚙️ Configuration
Environment Variables
Required:
SEERR_URL- Your Seerr/Overseerr instance URLSEERR_API_KEY- API key from Settings → General
Legacy (deprecated, will be removed in v3.0.0):
OVERSEERR_URL- UseSEERR_URLinsteadOVERSEERR_API_KEY- UseSEERR_API_KEYinstead
Optional (with defaults):
CACHE_ENABLED=true # Enable caching
CACHE_SEARCH_TTL=300000 # Search cache: 5 min
CACHE_MEDIA_TTL=1800000 # Media cache: 30 min
CACHE_REQUESTS_TTL=60000 # Request cache: 1 min
CACHE_MAX_SIZE=1000 # Max cache entries
REQUIRE_MULTI_SEASON_CONFIRM=true # Confirm >24 episodes
HTTP_MODE=false # Enable HTTP transport
PORT=8085 # HTTP server port
📚 Documentation
- CHANGELOG.md - Version history and release notes
- CONTRIBUTING.md - Contribution guidelines
- Overseerr API Docs - Official API reference
🔧 Troubleshooting
Connection Issues
- Verify Seerr/Overseerr URL is accessible
- Check API key validity (Settings → General)
- Review firewall rules for remote access
Docker Issues
# Check logs
docker logs seerr-mcp
# Verify health
curl http://localhost:8085/health
# Restart container
docker restart seerr-mcp
Build Issues
# Ensure Node.js 18+
node --version
# Clean rebuild
rm -rf node_modules build
npm install
npm run build
🤝 Contributing
Contributions welcome! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.
📄 License
MIT License - see LICENSE for details
🙏 Acknowledgments
- Seerr - Next-generation media request and discovery tool
- Overseerr - Original media request tool for Plex
- Model Context Protocol - Open protocol for AI integrations
- Anthropic - Creators of the MCP standard
FAQ
- What is the Overseerr MCP server?
- Overseerr is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server profile on explainx.ai. MCP lets AI hosts (e.g. Claude Desktop, Cursor) call tools and resources through a standard interface; this page summarizes categories, install hints, and community ratings.
- How do MCP servers relate to agent skills?
- Skills are reusable instruction packages (often SKILL.md); MCP servers expose live capabilities. Teams frequently combine both—skills for workflows, MCP for APIs and data. See explainx.ai/skills and explainx.ai/mcp-servers for parallel directories.
- How are reviews shown for Overseerr?
- This profile displays 46 aggregated ratings (sample rows for discoverability plus signed-in user reviews). Average score is about 4.7 out of 5—verify behavior in your own environment before production use.
Discussion
Product Hunt–style comments (not star reviews)- No comments yet — start the thread.
Ratings
4.7★★★★★46 reviews- ★★★★★Zara Ndlovu· Dec 24, 2024
I recommend Overseerr for teams standardizing on MCP; the explainx.ai page compares cleanly with sibling servers.
- ★★★★★Shikha Mishra· Dec 20, 2024
I recommend Overseerr for teams standardizing on MCP; the explainx.ai page compares cleanly with sibling servers.
- ★★★★★Tariq Haddad· Dec 12, 2024
According to our notes, Overseerr benefits from clear Model Context Protocol framing — fewer ambiguous “AI plugin” claims.
- ★★★★★Jin Shah· Dec 8, 2024
Useful MCP listing: Overseerr is the kind of server we cite when onboarding engineers to host + tool permissions.
- ★★★★★Ama Torres· Dec 4, 2024
Overseerr has been reliable for tool-calling workflows; the MCP profile page is a good permalink for internal docs.
- ★★★★★Min Ndlovu· Nov 27, 2024
Overseerr reduced integration guesswork — categories and install configs on the listing matched the upstream repo.
- ★★★★★Neel Jackson· Nov 15, 2024
According to our notes, Overseerr benefits from clear Model Context Protocol framing — fewer ambiguous “AI plugin” claims.
- ★★★★★Rahul Santra· Nov 11, 2024
According to our notes, Overseerr benefits from clear Model Context Protocol framing — fewer ambiguous “AI plugin” claims.
- ★★★★★Aditi Torres· Nov 3, 2024
I recommend Overseerr for teams standardizing on MCP; the explainx.ai page compares cleanly with sibling servers.
- ★★★★★Advait Diallo· Oct 22, 2024
We evaluated Overseerr against two servers with overlapping tools; this profile had the clearer scope statement.
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