Calibre-Web

Connect Crow to Calibre-Web for a rich web-based ebook reading experience with shelves, reading progress, and library management.

What You Get

• Search and browse your ebook library
• Manage bookshelves and collections
• Track reading status (read, reading, to-read)
• Download books in multiple formats
• Read books directly in the browser via the web UI

Setup

Crow supports two modes for Calibre-Web: self-hosting via Docker or connecting to an existing instance.

Option A: Docker (self-hosted)

Install Calibre-Web as a Crow bundle. This runs Calibre-Web in Docker alongside your Crow gateway.

"Crow, install the Calibre-Web bundle"

Or install from the Extensions panel in the Crow's Nest.

After installation, set the path to the directory containing your metadata.db:

# In your .env file
CALIBRE_WEB_DB_PATH=/path/to/calibre/library

Restart the bundle for changes to take effect:

"Crow, restart the Calibre-Web bundle"

Calibre-Web will be available at http://your-server:8083. Create an initial admin account through the web UI on first launch.

Option B: Connect to existing Calibre-Web

If you already run a Calibre-Web instance, connect Crow to it directly.

Step 1: Pick a Calibre-Web user

The integration authenticates with OPDS Basic auth — a normal Calibre-Web user account (stock Calibre-Web has no API keys). Use an existing account or create a dedicated one in Admin → Users.

Step 2: Add to Crow

Set the following in your .env file or via Crow's Nest > Settings > Integrations:

CALIBRE_WEB_URL=http://your-calibre-web:8083
CALIBRE_WEB_USERNAME=your-user
CALIBRE_WEB_PASSWORD=your-password

Two actions stay in the web UI

Searching, listing, book details, shelf listing, and download links all work over OPDS. Adding a book to a shelf and setting reading status are session-only routes in stock Calibre-Web — the AI will tell you to do those in the Calibre-Web web UI (they work programmatically only behind an authenticating reverse proxy).

AI Tools

Once connected, you can interact with Calibre-Web through your AI:

"Search my books for fantasy novels"

"Add this book to my Reading shelf"

"What am I currently reading?"

"Show me my to-read list"

"Download that book as PDF"

Troubleshooting

"Connection refused" or timeout

Make sure the CALIBRE_WEB_URL is reachable from the machine running Crow. If Calibre-Web is on a different machine, use the correct IP or hostname.

Authentication failed

Check CALIBRE_WEB_USERNAME and CALIBRE_WEB_PASSWORD — they are the same credentials you use to log into the Calibre-Web web UI. If the account uses an external auth provider (LDAP/OAuth), make sure it also has a local password OPDS can accept.

"metadata.db not found"

Verify that CALIBRE_WEB_DB_PATH points to the directory containing your Calibre metadata.db file. Calibre-Web requires an existing Calibre library database to function.