Calibre MCP

An MCP server that automates Calibre: fetch and write ebook metadata, download covers, and convert books between formats — all from your AI assistant.

It wraps Calibre's own command-line tools (ebook-meta, fetch-ebook-metadata, ebook-convert, calibredb), which are auto-detected on Windows, macOS and Linux.

Requirements

• Calibre installed

• Python 3.10+

Related MCP server: Calibre MCP Server

Installation

git clone https://github.com/tomascarvallo/calibre-mcp.git
cd calibre-mcp
pip install -r requirements.txt

Configuration

Claude Desktop

Add this to claude_desktop_config.json (Settings → Developer → Edit Config) and restart Claude Desktop:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "calibre": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/calibre-mcp/server.py"],
      "env": {
        "CALIBRE_LIBRARY": "/path/to/Calibre Library"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

claude mcp add calibre -- python /absolute/path/to/calibre-mcp/server.py

Environment variables (both optional)

Tools

Example prompts

• "Fill in the missing metadata and covers for every EPUB in ~/Books/inbox."

• "Convert all the MOBI files in this folder to EPUB and put them in ~/Books/epub."

• "Convert this book to AZW3 for my Kindle."

Notes

• Batch tools default to dry_run=true, so you see what would happen before anything is changed.

• No tool deletes books, by design.

• calibredb fails if the Calibre GUI has the library open; close Calibre first.

• Metadata is fetched using Calibre's configured sources (Google Books, Amazon, Open Library, ...).

Development

python smoke_test.py   # converts a sample text file and exercises the metadata tools (needs internet)

License

MIT