Unfortunately, that is how the *arrs are meant to function. Sonarr/Radarr/Lidarr/Readarr are meant to be set & forget. Prowlarr can be used for manual searching, and it is fairly good at it because it is a search aggregator, but if you manually search on Prowlarr, you have bypassed the *arrs and they will not see what you grab, because you necessarily haven’t told them that you’ve grabbed anything. I do not believe Prowlarr is capable of going the other direction, and Prowlarr should be used with the *arr suite because of category searching.

All that to say that, the *arr apps are functioning as intended, it is you that is not conforming to them.

I should also say, that you can search manually in the *arrs, but its fairly tedious.

No shade or anything, just informing.

That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die.

For Usenet, you need 3 things:

1. Newsreader (this is your downloader). I use SABnzbd
2. Provider (This provides access to the Usenet Server you would like to download from) Frugal Usenet is cheap and is what I started with, I now also use UsenetPrime.
3. Indexer (This is where you go to find the files you want to download.) I started with NZBGeek. I now use a combo of NZBGeek, altHub, NZBplanet, and NZBfinder – but I admittedly went a little overboard. You do not need this many indexers.

Using these 3 things combined with Radarr (movies), Sonarr (TV), and Prowlarr (indexers), you will have a great time automating your download process.

If you find that what you want isn’t on your indexer, perhaps think about adding another indexer. If you find that the NZBs grabbed from your indexer are not available at all, consider switching providers. If you find that your downloads aren’t completing (or are missing articles), try a different NZB from your indexer.

That should be a basic introduction on how to get started. Good luck. Let me know if you have questions.

edit: https://shakil-shahadat.github.io/awesome-piracy/#usenet has some info.

This, or donate. I got tired of waiting after 3 days, and just donated like $12. Instant VIP!

I just started using Usenet in March. I use FrugalUsenet as my Provider and NZBGeek as my Indexer. Anything better I should consider?

Be sure to THOROUGHLY read through the rules and tips/tricks if you get in. You have to maintain a certain ratio, among other caveats. Easy to do, generally speaking. Easier if you donate a small amount of money to get VIP status up front.