Audiobookshelf

AudioSilo Meta for Audiobookshelf

The catalogue works two ways for Audiobookshelf users: point ABS at it as a custom metadata provider to enrich your books, and send your library back to help fill in the open database.

Use AudioSilo Meta in Audiobookshelf

Add AudioSilo Meta as a custom metadata provider and it becomes an option whenever you match a book. Requires Audiobookshelf v2.8.0 or newer.

Add the provider

In Audiobookshelf, open Settings -> Item Metadata Utils -> Custom Metadata Providers and choose Add. Fill it in like this:

Name: AudioSilo Meta
URL: https://meta.audiosilo.app/abs
Authorization: Leave empty - the database is public.

What you get

Narrators treated as first-class people, not a free-text string.
One work with every narration listed as a separate recording.
Series with an explicit reading-order sequence.
Region-scoped ASINs, so the right marketplace edition matches.
Runtime, publisher, release date and cover art where the community has them.

Good to know

The provider is used by the Match and Quick Match actions - not the background scan. Trigger a match on a book (or a batch) to pull data from it.
Audiobookshelf sends a book's title, author, and ISBN when it searches - it never sends an ASIN - so matches are made on title and author, or on ISBN.
It applies to book libraries, not podcast libraries.

Submit your library

The database grows from libraries like yours. Export your Audiobookshelf library and drop it on the import page to see which of your books are new to the catalogue - then contribute them in a click.

1

Get your API token

In Audiobookshelf, open your account page (the user menu in Settings -> Users, then your own user) and copy the API Token. It authorizes the two commands below; it never leaves your machine.

2

Export your library

List your libraries to find the one you want (replace TOKEN and YOUR_ABS with your token and server address):

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer TOKEN" "http://YOUR_ABS:13378/api/libraries"

Take the id of the library you want and export its items to a file (replace LIBRARY_ID):

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer TOKEN" "http://YOUR_ABS:13378/api/libraries/LIBRARY_ID/items?limit=0" -o abs-library.json

That writes abs-library.json, the full list of your books and their metadata.

3

Drop it on the import page

Drop abs-library.json on the import page. Everything is read in your browser: only the ASINs and ISBNs are sent to the API to check what is already catalogued, plus the author names of unmatched books to look for an existing work. Personal fields and the file itself never leave your device.

Open the import tool

Everything you contribute is factual metadata dedicated to the public domain (CC0). See the contributing guide for details.