From 324d4e7b18e87e581f46eeaf2184e7f3b4760964 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: CodeX <noreply@hisp.no>
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 2026 16:26:42 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] Distinguish qBittorrent and Cleanuparr pattern syntax in
 README

qBittorrent's excluded file names field uses Qt glob wildcards only.
The regex: prefix is supported by Cleanuparr's Malware Blocker but
not by qBittorrent. Split the Pattern syntax section into two
subsections documenting each consumer's capabilities and recommend
wildcards as the safe default for all entries.
---
 README.md | 45 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-------------
 1 file changed, 32 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d5e48e8..528cd17 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -125,25 +125,44 @@ rules and worked examples.
 
 ## Pattern syntax
 
-Each line in `blacklist` and `whitelist` is a pattern in one of the
-following forms (the same forms that qBittorrent's excluded file names
-accepts, since that is where blacklist patterns end up via Cleanuparr's
-Blocklist Sync):
+The patterns in `blacklist` and `whitelist` are consumed by two different
+tools with different capabilities. Use only the common subset (wildcards)
+to ensure patterns work everywhere.
 
-| Form | Example | Matches |
+### qBittorrent (via Blocklist Sync)
+
+qBittorrent's excluded file names field uses Qt glob wildcards:
+
+| Pattern | Example | Matches |
 |---|---|---|
-| `*example` | `*.srt` | File name ends with `example` |
-| `example*` | `sample*` | File name starts with `example` |
-| `*example*` | `*sample*` | File name contains `example` |
-| `example` | `RARBG.txt` | File name is exactly `example` |
-| `regex:<regex>` | `regex:.*\.srt$` | File name matches the regex |
+| `*` | `*.srt` | Zero or more characters |
+| `?` | `*.r??` | Exactly one character |
+| `[abc]` | `*.[rs]00` | One character from the set |
+| `[a-z]` | `*.[r-z]??` | One character in the range |
+| `[!abc]` | `*.[!m]??` | One character NOT in the set |
+| Literal | `VOSTFR` | Exact match |
+
+Regex, backslashes, and anchors (`^`, `$`, `\d`, `(?i)`) are **not
+supported** by qBittorrent and will be silently ignored.
+
+### Cleanuparr Malware Blocker (Sonarr/Radarr queue)
+
+Cleanuparr's Malware Blocker supports all the wildcard forms above plus
+regex with the `regex:` prefix:
+
+```
+regex:.*\.srt$
+```
+
+Regex patterns only work in Cleanuparr's Malware Blocker. They do not
+work when pushed to qBittorrent via Blocklist Sync.
+
+### Merge script
 
 The merge script subtracts the whitelist from the blacklist as **exact
 strings**, not by pattern semantics. To remove a pattern from the
 blacklist, the whitelist line must be byte-for-byte identical to the
-blacklist line. `*.srt` in the whitelist strips `*.srt` from the
-blacklist; it does **not** strip `regex:.*\.srt$` even though both
-patterns describe the same files. See
+blacklist line. See
 [Lists](https://git.hisp.no/arr/blocklists/wiki/Lists) for the full rules.
 
 ## Sync schedule
-- 
2.52.0