Provides read-only access to local Calibre e-book libraries, enabling search of book metadata, content analysis, full-text search capabilities, and extraction of book samples for literary analysis.
Neolibrarian MCP: Calibre Library (Read‑only)
Minimal MCP server exposing read‑only access to a local Calibre library. Designed for use with MCP‑compatible hosts (e.g., Claude Desktop) to search metadata, inspect formats, and extract small content samples for analysis.
What it does
- Connects to your existing Calibre library (local filesystem)
- Exposes read‑only tools: library stats, searches (author/title/unified), per‑book details and formats, full‑text search (global and per‑book, if your Calibre FTS DB exists), small content samples, and batch metadata
- Provides two lightweight JSON resources for quick at‑a‑glance info
Requirements
- Python 3.12+ (3.13 supported)
- Calibre installed locally (calibre‑debug.exe available)
- Access to your Calibre library directory (contains metadata.db)
Install
Configuration
Place a JSON config file with at least these keys:
Resolution/precedence (first match wins):
- Environment variable CALIBRE_CONFIG_PATH (absolute or ~-expanded path)
- config.local.json next to the server script
- config.json next to the server script
Run the MCP server
The server runs over stdio for MCP hosts.
For MCP hosts (e.g., Claude Desktop), point the tool to this script; optionally set CALIBRE_CONFIG_PATH to your config file.
Exposed tools (read‑only)
- ping → quick health check and paths
- get_total_books
- search_by_author(author_name)
- search_by_title(title)
- unified_search(query?, author?, title?, series?, formats?, date_start?, date_end?, offset=0, limit=20, sort_by)
- get_book_details(book_id)
- get_book_formats(book_id)
- get_book_sample(book_id, sample_type, sample_size)
- analyze_book_content(book_id, analysis_type, max_length)
- full_text_search(query, case_sensitive?, max_results?, context_chars?)
- full_text_search_book(book_id, query, case_sensitive?, context_chars?)
- get_books_batch([book_ids])
- get_random_books(count?, formats?, series_only?)
- get_full_text_search_stats()
Resources:
- calibre://stats (application/json)
- calibre://book/{book_id}/details (application/json)
Notes
- This server is strictly read‑only (no writes to your library).
- Full‑text search tools require Calibre’s full‑text database to exist in your library folder (full‑text-search.db*).
License: MIT (see LICENSE)
This server cannot be installed
local-only server
The server can only run on the client's local machine because it depends on local resources.
Enables read-only access to local Calibre libraries for searching metadata, inspecting book formats, and extracting content samples. Supports full-text search, batch operations, and detailed book analysis through natural language queries.
Related MCP Servers
- -securityAlicense-qualityEnables access and interaction with your Readwise library, allowing you to retrieve and search highlights, books, and documents through natural language queries when using Claude or other MCP-compatible assistants.Last updated -20MIT License
- AsecurityAlicenseAqualityEnables Claude to interact with the Readwise Reader API, allowing for saving, listing, updating, and deleting documents with complete metadata and content access through natural language.Last updated -625MIT License
- AsecurityFlicenseAqualityA CLI tool that integrates with Claude Desktop to allow users to retrieve their Goodreads library data through MCP.Last updated -16
- -securityAlicense-qualityProvides advanced document search and processing capabilities through vector stores, including PDF processing, semantic search, web search integration, and file operations. Enables users to create searchable document collections and retrieve relevant information using natural language queries.Last updated -MIT License