[GUI Plugin] Audiobookshelf Sync

[jbhul]

This plugin allows users to synchronize metadata between Audiobookshelf and Calibre libraries, including reading progress, bookmarks and other audiobook-specific metadata.

Main Features:
Sync audiobook metadata like narrators, duration, & file size
Track reading progress and status (started/finished)
Easily create custom columns for the audiobook metadata
Support for scheduled automatic syncing
Support for writing back calibre changes to Audiobookshelf
Quick link books using ASIN matching
Manual book linking with smart title/author matching
Show books in Audiobookshelf without matching calibre book
Sync metadata from Audible

Available Metadata Fields:

• Reading progress percentage, time, and speed
• Start/finish dates and last read date
• Title, subtitle, description, language, etc.
• Narrator, author, and publisher info
• Series, Genre, and Tags
• Audiobook duration, file size, and location
• Number of chapters and files
• Bookmarks with timestamps
• Collections and Playlists
• Audible Ratings and Reviews

Github

The plugin provides an easy way to keep your Calibre library in sync with Audiobookshelf, with flexible options for metadata synchronization and book linking.

Version History:

Spoiler:

Version 1.4.1 2025-04-13
Bugfixes
Minor upgrades to sync completion dialog and credential validation.

Version 1.4.0 2025-04-11
Added session metadata like actual listen time, avg/max speed, days listened, time to finish, etc.
Validate ABS account before saving.
Converts Audible data sync to a worker (so system doesn't freeze during sync)
Minor tweaks to UI/UX for config, sync, link, and new column dialogs.

Version 1.3.0 2025-04-09
Adds Audible Rating Metadata Columns
Adds Custom Column Number Formats
Minor UI/UX Updates and Tweaks
QuickLink
Adds List of Failed QL Books and QLCache Management
Adds user confirmation prior to linking with QuickLink
Adds double click to open in browser
Adds Fuzzy Matching for title

Version 1.2.0 2025-03-29
Rewrites QuickLink to search Audible and find matches for the ASIN in Audiobookshelf. Also caches unsuccessful matches to save time and energy.
AudiobookshelfSync and QuickLink now use threads and show a progress bar when running, no more frozen calibre leaving you wondering if it's working or broken.
Show Not in Calibre has hyperlinks to Audiobookshelf. Double Click the title and it'll open up the book in Audiobookshelf.
Updated SyncCompletionDialog sorting and column widths.
Handful of bugfixes and tweaks

Version 1.1.0 2025-03-27
Adds support for syncing collections and playlists (which I just call collections).
Adds writeback support, changes made in calibre can now update Audiobookshelf.
Adds an easy way to show identifiers (audiobookshelf_id and audible ASIN) as columns.
Minor UI/UX updates and bugfixes (bookmarks).

Version 1.0.3 2025-03-25
Adds a good chunk more columns that can be sync'd
Adds Audible ASIN sync which can then show a link to the Audible page for the book.
Minor UI/UX updates and bugfixes.

Version 1.0.2 2025-03-23
Adds ability to export list of audiobooks without matching calibre book.
Updates narrator column format to be like authors.
Removes need to specify library ID (and in turn supports linking with multiple ABS libraries).

Version 1.0.1 2025-02-27
Fixes daily sync so that it actually works for more than 2 days.
Adds a link to ABS in the book details sidebar. Books that have been linked to ABS will have a link to Audiobookshelf in their identifiers section of the book details sidebar. You must resave your account information to apply this change.

[jbhul]

I'd love feedback on how it works, UI/UX, bugs, and/or feature requests.

[BetterRed]

Added to index, it's in New Plugins and it installs OK, so its Good to Go.

BR

[scorzonera]

I want to give this plugin a try, but am getting stuck on the "Add Audiobookshelf Account" step where it's asking for a Library ID? Where can I find that in Audiobookshelf? I see the API token but not the Library ID.

[jbhul]

Originally Posted by scorzonera

I want to give this plugin a try, but am getting stuck on the "Add Audiobookshelf Account" step where it's asking for a Library ID? Where can I find that in Audiobookshelf? I see the API token but not the Library ID.

Hiya, The library ID is the id after /audiobookshelf/library/ when you are viewing your library from Audiobookshelf's website. For example, mine is "3cf86007-e14e-4e21-9d22-dee97a94ac17"

[scorzonera]

Originally Posted by jbhul

Hiya, The library ID is the id after /audiobookshelf/library/ when you are viewing your library from Audiobookshelf's website. For example, mine is "3cf86007-e14e-4e21-9d22-dee97a94ac17"

Ah thank you! I am starting to link all my audiobooks over to Calibre using the plugin. So far I've just used it to sync over the narrator and audiobook duration metadata, and I really like it, works well. I am guessing there's no way to backwards sync from Calibre to ABS? (eg. entering the narrator name into the Audiobook Narrator column in Calibre, then having it show up under that book in ABS)

Anyway, thanks for this plugin. I consume most books through audio format but I like organizing everything through Calibre so it's nice being able to see my progress on a book in my Calibre library.

[jbhul]

Originally Posted by scorzonera

Ah thank you! I am starting to link all my audiobooks over to Calibre using the plugin. So far I've just used it to sync over the narrator and audiobook duration metadata, and I really like it, works well. I am guessing there's no way to backwards sync from Calibre to ABS? (eg. entering the narrator name into the Audiobook Narrator column in Calibre, then having it show up under that book in ABS)

Anyway, thanks for this plugin. I consume most books through audio format but I like organizing everything through Calibre so it's nice being able to see my progress on a book in my Calibre library.

Glad you like it! Correct, it's one way so you can see your ABS stuff in calibre. It could be expanded to be bidirectional (for collections especially) but I really didn't want to deal with sync conflicts. Maybe in the future if it's requested often 🤷*♂️

[Montana Harper]

I actually made a high-pitched excited noise when I saw this on the list of available plugins. I love ABS and have been syncing some of my audiobook metadata manually, and this is going to make everything much easier!

I've only used the Narrator and Duration syncing so far, so I can't comment on any other aspects, but I do have feedback about syncing the narrators: my narrator column in Calibre is "ampersand separated text" since it's names, but the plugin separates the names with a comma. It seems counterintuitive, taking Calibre's default treatment of names into account.

Also, I have an enhancement request. I have two distinct libraries—necessary, as they're not something that can be handled gracefully using virtual libraries—and I'd like to be able to sync both. My ABS has matching separate libraries, too, with separate IDs, so I think it'd be a pretty easy thing; it should only require the plugin to save settings on a per-Calibre-library basis, which I'm pretty sure is doable. Thoughts?

Anyway, thanks so much for making the plugin in the first place!

[jbhul]

Originally Posted by Montana Harper

My narrator column in Calibre is "ampersand separated text" since it's names, but the plugin separates the names with a comma. It seems counterintuitive, taking Calibre's default treatment of names into account.

So the reason for this is ABS actually returns narrators as a comma separated string. I added some logic to split them up into the right format and adjusted the column creation defaults to match. I agree the ampersand separated text is the right way to go here.

I have two distinct libraries—necessary, as they're not something that can be handled gracefully using virtual libraries—and I'd like to be able to sync both. My ABS has matching separate libraries, too, with separate IDs, so I think it'd be a pretty easy thing; it should only require the plugin to save settings on a per-Calibre-library basis, which I'm pretty sure is doable.

Kind of? But not in the approach you suggested. I changed the plugin to just pull books from all libraries on the ABS side which also simplifies setup (library ID isn't super intuitive).

Both changes and some other tweaks are on github but should be pushed out soon in 1.0.2

[Montana Harper]

Originally Posted by jbhul

Both changes and some other tweaks are on github but should be pushed out soon in 1.0.2

[Montana Harper]

Looking at the new options for columns to sync, I was curious what the difference was between "Audiobook Publisher" and "Audiobookshelf Publisher".

Also, I assume that all the metadata about listening (started, finished, progress, etc.) is linked to the admin account the API key is taken from. Is that right?

TIA!

[jbhul]

Originally Posted by Montana Harper

Looking at the new options for columns to sync, I was curious what the difference was between "Audiobook Publisher" and "Audiobookshelf Publisher".

oop, that's a typo on my end. "Audiobookshelf Publisher" should be "Audiobookshelf Full Path"

Originally Posted by Montana Harper

Also, I assume that all the metadata about listening (started, finished, progress, etc.) is linked to the admin account the API key is taken from. Is that right?

It's from whichever user (admin or otherwise) the API Key is from. So if you are using someone else's ABS server you can use your own key and get your own listening data.

[Montana Harper]

Originally Posted by jbhul

It's from whichever user (admin or otherwise) the API Key is from. So if you are using someone else's ABS server you can use your own key and get your own listening data.

Oooh, I didn't realize I could get API keys for users. I have an admin (root) account set up for input and editing, but I listen via a regular user account without editing permissions. I've switched to my user API key, so now I should be able to keep track of more things. Thanks!

[Montana Harper]

Originally Posted by Montana Harper

I've switched to my user API key, so now I should be able to keep track of more things.

I get an error whenever I try to sync with my user API key, so either I can't change keys after initial setup, or there's some access I don't have as a user that means the plugin can't sync properly. I tested giving myself all the possible editing permissions and also making myself an Admin, but both still resulted in the error.