Manage a Calibre e-book library through commands: find and organize books, edit titles and other book details, and convert formats. Agents can also export EPUB chapters as separate PDFs and generate library catalogs.
Command-line interface for Calibre - A stateful CLI harness for e-book library management, metadata editing, and format conversion wrapping the real Calibre tools (calibredb, ebook-convert, ebook-meta)...
Review the instructions the agent will receive before you install.
A stateful CLI harness for Calibre e-book management. Wraps the real Calibre tools (calibredb, ebook-convert, ebook-meta) to give AI agents and scripts a clean, structured interface for library operations, metadata editing, and format conversion.
This CLI is installed as part of the cli-anything-calibre package:
pip install git+https://github.com/HKUDS/CLI-Anything.git#subdirectory=calibre/agent-harness
Prerequisites:
# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt-get install calibre
# macOS
brew install --cask calibre
# Verify tools are in PATH
which calibredb
which ebook-convert
which ebook-meta
# Show help
cli-anything-calibre --help
# Start interactive REPL mode
cli-anything-calibre
# Connect to a Calibre library
cli-anything-calibre library connect ~/Calibre\ Library
# Run with JSON output (for agent consumption)
cli-anything-calibre --json books list
When invoked without a subcommand, the CLI enters an interactive REPL session:
cli-anything-calibre
# Enter commands interactively with tab-completion and history
# Use 'help' to see available commands
# Use 'quit' or 'exit' to leave
Library management commands.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
connect <path> | Set active library path |
info | Show library statistics (book count, formats, db size) |
check | Verify library integrity using calibredb check_library |
Book operations (wrap calibredb).
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
list | List books with filtering and sorting |
search <query> | Search using Calibre query language |
add <files> | Add book files to library |
remove <ids> | Remove books (move to trash or permanent delete) |
show <id> | Show full metadata for a book |
export <ids> | Export books to directory |
export-chapters <id> | Export each chapter as separate PDF (requires EPUB format) |
Metadata editing (wrap calibredb set_metadata).
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
get <id> [field] | Get metadata (all or specific field) |
set <id> <field> <value> | Set a metadata field |
embed <ids> | Embed metadata into book files |
Format management (wrap calibredb + ebook-convert).
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
list <id> | List available formats for a book |
add <id> <file> | Add a format to a book |
remove <id> <fmt> | Remove a format from a book |
convert <id> <input_fmt> <output_fmt> | Convert book format |
Custom columns (wrap calibredb).
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
list | List all custom columns |
add <label> <name> <type> | Create custom column |
remove <label> | Delete custom column |
set <id> <label> <value> | Set custom field value |
Catalog generation.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
catalog <output> | Generate a catalog of the library (EPUB, CSV, or OPDS) |
Connect to your Calibre library and list books.
cli-anything-calibre library connect ~/Calibre\ Library
cli-anything-calibre books list
# Or with JSON output
cli-anything-calibre --json books list --search "author:asimov"
Search books using Calibre query language.
cli-anything-calibre books search "title:Foundation"
cli-anything-calibre books search "author:asimov and tags:scifi"
cli-anything-calibre books search "rating:>3"
Set metadata fields on books.
cli-anything-calibre meta set 42 title "New Title"
cli-anything-calibre meta set 42 series "Foundation"
cli-anything-calibre meta set 42 series_index 1
cli-anything-calibre meta set 42 tags "scifi,classic"
cli-anything-calibre meta set 42 rating 5
Convert between e-book formats.
cli-anything-calibre formats convert 42 EPUB MOBI
cli-anything-calibre formats convert 42 EPUB PDF --output /tmp/book.pdf
Export each chapter of an EPUB as a separate PDF file.
cli-anything-calibre books export-chapters 42 --to-dir ./pdfs
cli-anything-calibre books export-chapters 42 --to-dir ./pdfs --chapters 1-5
Used with books search and books list --search:
author:asimov # Author contains "asimov"
title:"Foundation" # Title phrase
tags:fiction # Tag match
rating:>3 # Rating greater than 3
series:"Foundation" # Series match
pubdate:[2020-01-01,2021-12-31] # Date range
identifiers:isbn:1234567890 # Specific identifier
has:cover # Has cover image
not:tags:fiction # Negation
author:asimov and tags:scifi # Boolean AND
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
title | text | Book title |
authors | text | Author names (&-separated) |
tags | text | Comma-separated tags |
series | text | Series name |
series_index | float | Position in series |
rating | float | Rating 1-5 |
publisher | text | Publisher name |
pubdate | datetime | Publication date |
comments | text | Description/comments |
languages | text | Language codes |
identifiers | text | ISBN, ASIN, etc. (type:value) |
Input: EPUB, MOBI, AZW, AZW3, PDF, HTML, DOCX, ODT, FB2, TXT, RTF, LIT, and more
Output (conversion): EPUB, MOBI, AZW3, PDF, HTML, DOCX, TXT, and more
The CLI maintains session state with:
~/.cli-anything-calibre/session.jsonCALIBRE_LIBRARY environment variableAll commands support dual output modes:
--json flag): Structured JSON for agent consumption# Human output
cli-anything-calibre books list
# JSON output for agents
cli-anything-calibre --json books list
When using this CLI programmatically:
--json flag for parseable output--library flag or CALIBRE_LIBRARY env to specify library path1.0.0
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