Library for Nextcloud
I keep books, comics, papers and an assortment of PDFs in Nextcloud. Files is a good place to keep them, but a long folder tree is a poor way to find something you only half remember. Library adds a catalogue over folders you choose. The documents stay in Nextcloud Files.
You can browse by cover in compact, gallery, shelf or list views, search titles, creators, descriptions and filenames, and filter by publication type, file format, series, year, publisher, language, folder or review state. Save a useful set of filters as a collection. Private reading lists have their own order and notes; stars and reading status help with the everyday “where was I?” problem.
Library scans PDF, EPUB and CBZ files, plus OPF metadata where available. It picks up embedded and sidecar metadata, shows what needs attention, and lets you correct individual catalogue records. You can also teach it what your folder and filename conventions mean: preview suggested titles, authors or series, approve fields for specific books, then apply the changes. There is an undo for reviewed batches. Possible duplicates are suggestions to inspect, not automatic deletions. Scans can run on a schedule.
Opening a book hands it to your installed Nextcloud viewer. You can also jump to its folder in Files or download the original. Library has no built-in reader, OCR, full-text book search or internet metadata lookup. It does not move or rewrite your publications. Catalogue edits stay in Library’s data; Nextcloud tags and comments are the exceptions, since those belong to the backing file.
Getting started
Library is currently a 0.2 beta candidate for Nextcloud 33–35, ahead of an App Store submission. It is not in the App Store yet. If you are testing from a source checkout, the README explains how to package and install it. Once installed, add a folder that already exists in Nextcloud Files under Library settings, then scan it. Start with one folder and check the results before adding the rest. A working Nextcloud background-job runner is needed for scans.
- First scan and user guide: setup, browsing and troubleshooting.
- Extract metadata from filenames and folders: examples, previews, reviewed Apply and Undo.
- Import and export corrected catalogue metadata: moving your edits between Library installations; this is separate from adding publication files to Nextcloud.
The source and release status are on GitHub. Problems and suggestions can go to the issue tracker.