MichaelVessia/sabnzbd

SABnzbd

Manage my self-hosted SABnzbd (HTTP API, v4.5+): check the download queue and history, pause/resume the queue, delete queue items, and view server stats.

Environment

Credentials are exported into the shell by sops-nix (see modules/programs/shell.nix):

• SABNZBD_URL — base URL (no trailing slash)
• SABNZBD_API_KEY — API key from SABnzbd Config -> General -> Security

The sabnzbd CLI reports a JSON error envelope when they are missing.

Auth model

SABnzbd authenticates via query string, not header. Every request includes ?apikey=$SABNZBD_API_KEY&output=json&mode=<mode>. The CLI handles this.

CLI

Use the installed sabnzbd CLI for common operations. It always emits a single JSON envelope with ok, command, result or error, and next_actions. scripts/sabnzbd.sh remains as a compatibility shim for older workflows.

sabnzbd status                                # version, uptime, paused, disk, warnings
sabnzbd version                               # SABnzbd version
sabnzbd queue --limit 50                      # active download queue
sabnzbd history --limit 50                    # recent history
sabnzbd pause                                 # pause the queue
sabnzbd resume                                # resume the queue
sabnzbd delete <nzo_id>                       # remove from queue, keep files
sabnzbd delete <nzo_id> --files --confirm-delete-files
sabnzbd server-stats                          # day/week/month/total bytes per server

For anything not covered (adding NZBs, speed limits, history retry, category changes), call the API directly with $SABNZBD_URL and $SABNZBD_API_KEY — see references/api-endpoints.md and references/quick-reference.md.

Workflow: routine status checks

Use the high-level subcommands first (status, queue, history, server-stats). Drop to raw curl for niche operations.

Mutations: confirm first

Always confirm with the user before:

• sabnzbd delete <nzo_id> --files --confirm-delete-files (deletes downloaded files from disk)
• purge style operations (mode=queue&name=delete&value=all)
• Clearing history (mode=history&name=delete&value=all)
• Speed-limit changes that affect ongoing downloads
• Any custom POST against /api that mutates state

References

• references/api-endpoints.md — full API mode reference with request/response shapes
• references/quick-reference.md — copy-paste curl recipes for common ops
• references/troubleshooting.md — auth, connection, and common error fixes

Notes

• API style is ?mode=<mode> against a single /api endpoint, not REST.
• output=json is required for JSON responses; default is XML.
• SABnzbd lives on the LAN. If $SABNZBD_URL is unreachable, surface that to the user rather than guessing.
• NZO IDs look like SABnzbd_nzo_xxxxxxxx and identify both queue and history items.