/cli-anything-calibre

name: "cli-anything-calibre"
description: >-
  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)...

cli-anything-calibre

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.

Installation

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:**

• Python 3.10+
• Calibre must be installed on your system (hard dependency)

# 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

Usage

Basic Commands

# 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

REPL Mode

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

Command Groups

Library

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 |

Books

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) |

Meta

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 |

Formats

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

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

Catalog generation.

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | `catalog <output>` | Generate a catalog of the library (EPUB, CSV, or OPDS) |

Examples

Connect and List Books

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 and Filter

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"

Metadata Editing

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

Format Conversion

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 Chapters as PDFs

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

Calibre Query Language

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

Key Metadata Fields

| 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`) |

Supported Formats

**Input:** EPUB, MOBI, AZW, AZW3, PDF, HTML, DOCX, ODT, FB2, TXT, RTF, LIT, and more

**O