# Sync notes from Calibre

> Keep one note per Calibre book, matched to the notes you already have.

## Steps

1. Run **Books & Shelves: Sync notes from Calibre**, or select **Sync…** on the **Library** tab.
2. Read the plan. It shows everything before writing.
3. Confirm.

## How books are matched to notes

A book is matched to a note you already have by its Calibre id, then its ISBN, then its title and author.

- **A note you already have** gets the book's ids written into it. Other fields are filled only where they are empty. Your own sections are left alone.
- **A book with no note** gets a new one, named by your template.
- **Duplicate records in Calibre** for the same book are folded into one note.
- **A book it can't place with certainty** is listed, not guessed.

## Name your notes

On the **Notes** tab, under **Naming**, set **Book note names**. Use `{title}`, `{surname}`, `{author}` and `{year}`. The default is `{title} — {surname}`.

**Skip books tagged** leaves out books with a Calibre tag of your choice, such as manuals and catalogues. The default tag is `not-a-book`.

## Keep notes current

- **Resync now** on the **Library** tab brings notes and covers up to date. So does the command **Resync with Calibre now**.
- **Resync every** sets the minutes between resyncs while Obsidian is open. Zero turns it off, and is the default.

## Undo a sync

Run **Books & Shelves: Undo a notes sync**. Fields go back unless you changed them since, and new notes go to the trash. Each resync can be undone the same way.

## Related

- [Find covers](covers.md)
- [Connect to Calibre](connect-to-calibre.md)