Cli Anything Calibre

Name: Cli Anything Calibre
Author: hkuds

hkuds/cli-anything

193 installs
46.6k repo stars
Updated August 3, 2026
hkuds/cli-anything

Let agents manage Calibre ebook libraries—import titles, convert formats, fetch metadata, and organize collections—through typed, repeatable CLI commands.

About

Provides structured CLI access to Calibre ebook management—cataloging, conversion, metadata, and library maintenance—so agents can manipulate personal or team libraries through consistent, parseable commands.

Calibre library catalog operations
Ebook format conversion
Metadata fetch and tagging
cli-anything command wrapper
Desktop-to-agent CLI bridge

Cli Anything Calibre by the numbers

193 all-time installs (skills.sh)
+15 installs in the week ending Aug 2, 2026 (Skillselion tracking)
Ranked #206 of 550 CLI & Terminal skills by installs in the Skillselion catalog
Data as of Aug 5, 2026 (Skillselion catalog sync)

npx skills add https://github.com/hkuds/cli-anything --skill cli-anything-calibre

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Installs	193
repo stars	★ 46.6k
Last updated	August 3, 2026
Repository	hkuds/cli-anything ↗

What it does

Let agents manage Calibre ebook libraries—import titles, convert formats, fetch metadata, and organize collections—through typed, repeatable CLI commands.

Files

SKILL.mdMarkdownGitHub ↗

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)

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

Output (conversion): EPUB, MOBI, AZW3, PDF, HTML, DOCX, TXT, and more

State Management

The CLI maintains session state with:

Session file: ~/.cli-anything-calibre/session.json
Library path persistence: Active library is saved across sessions
Environment override: CALIBRE_LIBRARY environment variable

Output Formats

All commands support dual output modes:

Human-readable (default): Tables, colors, formatted text
Machine-readable (--json flag): Structured JSON for agent consumption

# Human output
cli-anything-calibre books list

# JSON output for agents
cli-anything-calibre --json books list

For AI Agents

When using this CLI programmatically:

1. Always use `--json` flag for parseable output 2. Check return codes - 0 for success, non-zero for errors 3. Parse stderr for error messages on failure 4. Verify outputs exist after export/conversion operations 5. Use `--library` flag or CALIBRE_LIBRARY env to specify library path 6. Chapter export requires EPUB format - convert first if needed