Organizing and importing books

How the manager gets books onto a server

Three pieces work together:

1. A host path per library - where on the destination machine the manager should write that library's files.
2. A transfer backend per server - how it writes there: a plain copy (a folder on this computer, or a mounted network share) or SFTP over SSH for a remote machine.
3. A rescan - after placing files, the manager asks the server to rescan the library and waits for it to finish, so new books appear immediately in the player.

The server itself never accepts uploads; the manager writes files directly and the server just indexes what appears on disk.

Setting a library's host path

In a server's Libraries list, open Manage → Host path… on a library. This is the single destination both the manual import and the Audible backup write to; Import… stays disabled until it's set.

• With a local transfer backend, it's simply the library folder's path on this computer (or wherever the share is mounted) - there's a Browse… picker.
• With an SFTP backend, it's the path on the remote machine - and for a Docker server, the host folder that's mounted into the container (e.g. /srv/audiobooks), not the in-container path like /library. A remote folder picker helps you find it.

Servers deployed by the manager have this seeded already.

Browsing a library

Manage → Browse… walks the library as the server sees it: folders, books (with their title, author, and series), and audio files, with breadcrumbs to jump back up.

The view is read-only today - editing actions (rename, retag, convert to M4B) are planned.

Importing books

Manage → Import… opens the import screen for a library.

1. Pick a source: Choose source folder… or just drag audiobook files onto the window.
2. Check the details: the manager reads each book's title, author, series, and series number from the files, and shows them in a table - author, series, and number are editable, and getting them right is what makes the placement good.
3. Plan placement: shows exactly where each book would land, and flags books that are already on the server (they'll be skipped). Matching is by Audible ID when available, otherwise a tolerant author + title comparison, so a slightly different title doesn't create a duplicate.
4. Import: transfers the files with live per-file progress, then triggers the rescan. Each row ends as placed, skipped (already on server), or an error you can read.

Closing and reopening the import screen keeps your destination and template settings; they're saved per library.

Auto placement: matching your existing conventions

In Auto mode (the default), the manager mirrors the widely used Author/Series/Code## - Title folder convention - and, crucially, it anchors on what's already in the library:

• If the series already has books on the server, the new book copies their exact folder names, series shortcode, and number padding (e.g. an existing C08 - Wintersteel means book 9 becomes C09 - …). Fractional entries like novellas are kept (02.5).
• If the series is new to the library, a shortcode is guessed from the series name's initials and flagged for you to review.
• A book with no series goes directly under Author/Title.
• If the author already has a folder, its exact spelling is reused - so "L. A. McBride" doesn't create a second folder next to "L.A. McBride".

Custom templates

Prefer your own scheme? Switch to Custom template and edit the path template - a live preview updates as you type. The default is:

{Author}/{ {Series}/ }{ {SHORTCODE}{PaddedSeq} - }{TitleShort}/{OriginalFilename}

• Variables: {Author}, {Series}, {Title}, {TitleShort}, {Seq}, {PaddedSeq}, {SHORTCODE}, {ASIN}, {Narrator}, {Year}, {OriginalFilename}, {Ext}.
• Optional groups: anything wrapped in { … } disappears entirely when a variable inside it is empty - that's how the default template drops the series folder for standalone books.
• Modifiers: {Var:upper}, {Var:lower}, {Var:trim}, and {PaddedSeq:width=3} for custom zero-padding.
• {SHORTCODE} and the {PaddedSeq} padding are still resolved from existing series siblings on the server, so "match the library's convention" works in template mode too.

Transfer settings

⋯ → Transfer settings on a server chooses how its files are written.

• Local / mounted folder - the library folder is reachable from this computer (same machine, or an SMB/NFS mount). No configuration beyond the host path.
• SFTP (over SSH) - for a remote server: host, port, user, and one of SSH agent, key file (with optional passphrase), or password. Passwords and passphrases go into your operating system's keychain. Test connection shows the machine's host-key fingerprint the first time; you confirm it with Trust this host, and every later connection verifies against it.

Either way, writes are careful: each file is copied to a temporary name, verified by size, and only then renamed into place - so a half-finished transfer never leaves a broken book - and re-importing something already there is a no-op ("already present").

Servers created through the manager's deploy flows arrive with SFTP pre-configured. App-wide defaults for the SSH key and username live in Settings.

Finding gaps in your series

Manage → Audible → Series & Gaps finds books you're missing from series you already own from. It needs an Audible login for the library (see Backing up your Audible library).

Find missing books groups your owned Audible books by series, looks up each series' full list of entries, and reports the ones you own on neither Audible nor the server - a book you already imported from elsewhere isn't flagged. Each series card shows how many you own out of the total, the missing entries with their series numbers, and not-yet-released entries separately (a pre-order isn't "missing").

Tick Watch on a series to opt into background checking: the manager re-checks watched series periodically (shortly after launch, then about every 12 hours) and badges the library's Manage menu with a count when new books appear. Check N watched now runs the check on demand.

Syncing listening stats

Manage → Audible → Sync stats reconciles listening positions between your Audible account and your progress on the server - useful when you listen partly in Audible's app and partly in AudioSilo.

The plan shows each matched book's position on both sides, and the rule is furthest wins:

• Positions further along on Audible are written to your server progress when you click Sync.
• Positions further along on the server are written back to Audible only if you tick the confirmation checkbox - that write path is experimental.
• Books within a few seconds of each other count as in sync; books with no server match are listed so you can fix the match from the backup table.

The Audible view shows when stats last synced.

Manager settings

The Settings button in the top bar holds app-wide defaults: a default SSH private key path and default SSH user, pre-filled whenever you set up an SSH connection (deploys and transfer settings) and always overridable per server.