Beta. Books & Shelves is not released yet. These pages describe the build in progress.
Connect to Calibre
Point Books & Shelves at Calibre's Content Server, and decide whether it may write to your library.
Books & Shelves reaches your library through Calibre's own Content Server.
Steps
- In Calibre, select Connect/share → Start Content server.
- In Obsidian, open Settings → Books & Shelves → Library and select Connect….
- Fill in the dialog:
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Content Server address | Where the server listens. By default http://localhost:8080. |
| User and Password | Only when the server asks for a login. The password is kept in Obsidian's keychain. |
| Library | The library's ID on that server. Leave empty for the server's default. |
| Library folder | Optional. The folder of your Calibre library, the one holding metadata.db. With it, Books & Shelves can still read the library when the server is off. |
- Select Test, then Done.
The settings Calibre needs
Test checks each of these against the server and, for any that is set wrong, says where to set it in Calibre. The Library tab shows the same: Connected when all pass, Connected, read-only when only the last fails, with the fix in the row's description.
| Check | What it needs | Where in Calibre |
|---|---|---|
| Content Server | The server is running at the address above. | Connect/share → Start Content server. To have it start every time: Preferences → Sharing over the net → Main → Run server automatically when calibre starts. |
| Login | No login, or a user and password that the server accepts. | Preferences → Sharing over the net → Main → Password based authentication to access the server (off), or User accounts to add one and enter it in the dialog. |
| Library | The library in the dialog is one the server offers; empty means the server's default. | Open the library in Calibre, then stop and start the server. |
| Changes | The server lets this connection make changes. Needed to write metadata and covers back, and to convert a book (the conversion adds an EPUB to it). | Preferences → Sharing over the net → Advanced → Allow un-authenticated local connections to make changes, then Apply and stop and start the server. For a server on another machine: Allow un-authenticated connections from specific IP addresses to make changes, or log in as a user who may. |
The Changes check sends one set_metadata command that only reads field names; Calibre refuses it before doing anything when changes aren't allowed, so the check never changes your library.
Without Changes, everything still works except writing accepted changes back and converting books.
When the server is off
With a Library folder set, the library is read straight from metadata.db, read-only. Syncing notes works. Book files, covers from Calibre and writing to Calibre wait until the server is on.