calibre
Ebook management and format conversion suite
TLDR
Start Calibre GUI
SYNOPSIS
calibre
DESCRIPTION
calibre is a comprehensive ebook management application. It provides ebook library organization, format conversion, metadata editing, ebook syncing to devices, and a built-in reader and editor.
The application supports virtually all ebook formats and most ebook readers.
CONFIGURATION
~/.config/calibre/
Configuration directory containing preferences, plugins, and library settings
COMPONENTS
calibre
Main GUI applicationcalibredb
Command-line library managementebook-convert
Format conversionebook-edit
EPUB editorcalibre-server
Web-based library accessebook-viewer
Ebook reader
FEATURES
- Library management
- Format conversion (25+ formats)
- Metadata editing and download
- News downloading from websites
- Ebook editing
- Device syncing
- Content server (web access)
- Search and filtering
- Custom columns and tags
SUPPORTED FORMATS
Input: EPUB, MOBI, AZW, PDF, HTML, TXT, and 20+ more
Output: EPUB, MOBI, AZW3, PDF, TXT, and more
COMMAND-LINE USAGE
calibredb add book.epub
# List books
calibredb list
# Convert format
ebook-convert input.epub output.mobi
# Start server
calibre-server /path/to/library
# Fetch metadata
fetch-ebook-metadata --isbn 9780123456789
CAVEATS
Large library can be slow. DRM removal not included (requires plugins). Qt-based (larger footprint). Some conversions imperfect. Kindle's AZW3 support requires Amazon account for some features.
HISTORY
Calibre was created by Kovid Goyal in 2006 to manage ebooks and became the de facto standard for ebook management and conversion.
SEE ALSO
ebook-convert(1), calibredb(1), pandoc(1)