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Organize your audiobook files

AudioSilo reads your books folder as it is. There is no import step and no required naming scheme. Your files stay the source of truth, and AudioSilo never changes them.

One folder = one book​

A folder that holds audio files is one book. Its files are the book's parts, played in name order. Numbers count as numbers, so 2 - The Road.mp3 plays before 10 - The End.mp3.

Audiobooks/                          ← the library folder
├── Terry Pratchett/
│   └── Discworld/
│       ├── 01 - The Colour of Magic/
│       │   └── The Colour of Magic.m4b        ← one file, one book
│       └── 02 - The Light Fantastic/
│           ├── Part 01.mp3                    ← many files, still ONE book
│           ├── Part 02.mp3
│           └── cover.jpg
└── Project Hail Mary.m4b                      ← loose file at the top: its own book

Loose audio files at the top of the library are each their own book. So a flat folder of .m4b files works too.

Books split into CD1, CD2 folders

Each disc folder counts as its own book at first. Set the folder holding the discs to Always one book to join them (see Books split into disc folders).

When a folder holds many separate books​

A folder of unrelated single-file books, like Short Stories/ holding three .m4b stories, would become one three-part book. To fix it, set a per-folder override in the admin console:

  1. Go to Library > Libraries.
  2. In the library's menu, choose Folder detection....
  3. Set the folder to Separate books (every file is its own book) or Always one book.

Overrides survive rescans. See Folder detection.

Supported formats​

AudioSilo plays these audio files:

  • M4B / M4A / MP4 (the usual audiobook files)
  • MP3
  • FLAC
  • OGG / Opus
  • MKA (Matroska audio), which needs ffmpeg on the server (the Docker image has it):
    • with MP3 inside, the usual kind, it plays everywhere, downloads included;
    • with other audio inside (AAC, Opus, FLAC), it plays in the web player. An iPhone can't play it; an Android phone may. Convert it to .m4b or .mp3 to listen in the apps.

Other files, like .jpg, .nfo or .pdf, are hidden from browsing.

Audible's protected .aax and .aaxc files are not supported. Add DRM-free audio files instead.

A book's ebook​

A DRM-free EPUB beside a book's audio is that book's ebook, opened with Read the ebook. Put one .epub in the book's folder, or give it the same name as a single-file book (Project Hail Mary.m4b and Project Hail Mary.epub). See Read the ebook.

Where titles, authors and series come from​

AudioSilo takes each book's details from these sources:

  • Folder names. The book's folder (or file) is the title, its parent folder the series, and the folder above that the author. A leading number like 03 - Title is the book's place in the series (02.5 works too). Author/Title/ with no series folder works as well.
  • The files' tags. Title (usually the album tag), author, narrator, series and genres. AudioSilo ignores junk titles like "Track 01".
  • Audiobookshelf's metadata.json, when the book's folder has one. See Audiobookshelf's metadata.json files.
  • The audio itself: durations and any chapters in the file.
  • The community database, for chapters only: a book with no chapters of its own gets them once it is matched.

By default tags win over folder names. If your folders are named well and your tags aren't, set the library to folder names first. You can fix anything still wrong in the admin console without touching the files. See Fix book details.

Names like Author; Series; Book 04; Title​

Some tools name each book Author; Series; Book NN; Title, for example Mark Tufo; Indian Hill; Book 04; From The Ashes. AudioSilo reads the series and number from such a name, wherever the folder sits. The title part is optional.

  • Book 04 is number 4, and Book 2.5 is 2.5.
  • Book 01-05 is a box set of books 1 to 5.
  • Book XX and Book 00 put the book in the series with no number.

With tags first, a series tag in the files still wins. With folder names first, the name wins.

When the album tag is the series​

Many tools put the series name in the album tag, so every book in a series has the same album. AudioSilo spots this and takes the book's own title from its title tag, file name or folder name instead. A book named after its series, like Dune, keeps the album as its title.

Audiobookshelf's metadata.json files​

Audiobookshelf can leave a metadata.json file in each book's folder. It does so only with its Store metadata with item setting on, which is off by default (see Move over from Audiobookshelf). AudioSilo reads the file, so your matches and corrections from Audiobookshelf come across.

  • Its title, authors, narrators, series, description, genres, ASIN, ISBN and similar details win over the tags.
  • A book with an ASIN or ISBN in the file counts as matched straight away.
  • Your edits in the admin console still win over the file.
  • When the file changes, the next scan picks it up.

AudioSilo never writes to the file. To ignore these files, add metadata.json to the library's skipped files.

Covers​

AudioSilo looks for a cover in this order:

  1. An image named cover.jpg, cover.jpeg, cover.png, folder.jpg or folder.png beside the audio.
  2. Any image in the book's own folder. (A loose single-file book only uses the names above.)
  3. Artwork inside the audio file.

So embedded art shows with no setup, and a cover.jpg in the book's folder overrides it. A cover uploaded in the admin console wins over all three (see Covers).

Renaming and moving are safe​

Listening progress, bookmarks and notes stay with your books when you change things:

  • Fix the tags and nothing is lost. The next scan reads the new tags.
  • Rename or move a book and the server follows it. Your progress and bookmarks move to the new place automatically.

Good to know​

Books on a network share. Mount the SMB or NFS share on the server machine, then point the library at the mounted folder. If the share drops, AudioSilo doesn't treat the books as deleted. They come back when the share does.