calibre-mcp — Claude Code MCP server: what it does, how to install
MCP server connecting AI assistants to a Calibre ebook library. It runs semantic searches across books, reads exact chapters, and curates metadata.
claude mcp add --env CALIBRE_MCP_SERVER_URL=<CALIBRE_MCP_SERVER_URL> --env CALIBRE_MCP_LIBRARY=<CALIBRE_MCP_LIBRARY> --env CALIBRE_MCP_ENABLE_WRITE=<CALIBRE_MCP_ENABLE_WRITE> --env CALIBRE_MCP_CALIBREDB_PATH=<CALIBRE_MCP_CALIBREDB_PATH> --transport stdio calibre-mcp -- npx -y calibre-mcpWhat calibre-mcp does
The server provides 19 tools for working with Calibre libraries. Assistants run hybrid vector and keyword searches across the entire collection or pinpoint exact sections inside a single volume. Cross-lingual queries work reliably between English and Russian.
Safety controls prevent library corruption. The integration stays strictly read-only until you enable write permissions through environment flags. All write operations pass through Calibre Content Server, avoiding database lockups against the desktop GUI.
You need Node.js 22.16 or higher and an active Calibre Content Server. Without Poppler pdftotext or Python pymupdf installed, the server falls back to the built-in ebook-convert utility for PDF parsing.
What it helps with
- find relevant passages across library books using meaning-based search
- read chapters and extract diagrams directly into assistant chats
- detect duplicate book entries with merge safety scores
- populate missing book metadata from Google Books or Open Library
Example prompts for the agent
- Search my library for books explaining consumer group rebalancing
- Read the chapter on database indexing from the PostgreSQL book
- Scan the catalog for duplicate titles before merging entries
How to install calibre-mcp
Platform CLI
claude mcp add --env CALIBRE_MCP_SERVER_URL=<CALIBRE_MCP_SERVER_URL> --env CALIBRE_MCP_LIBRARY=<CALIBRE_MCP_LIBRARY> --env CALIBRE_MCP_ENABLE_WRITE=<CALIBRE_MCP_ENABLE_WRITE> --env CALIBRE_MCP_CALIBREDB_PATH=<CALIBRE_MCP_CALIBREDB_PATH> --transport stdio calibre-mcp -- npx -y calibre-mcpReplace <…> with your own values
Platform CLI
codex mcp add calibre-mcp --env CALIBRE_MCP_SERVER_URL=<CALIBRE_MCP_SERVER_URL> --env CALIBRE_MCP_LIBRARY=<CALIBRE_MCP_LIBRARY> --env CALIBRE_MCP_ENABLE_WRITE=<CALIBRE_MCP_ENABLE_WRITE> --env CALIBRE_MCP_CALIBREDB_PATH=<CALIBRE_MCP_CALIBREDB_PATH> -- npx -y calibre-mcpReplace <…> with your own values
Config file
{
"mcpServers": {
"calibre-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"calibre-mcp"
],
"env": {
"CALIBRE_MCP_SERVER_URL": "<CALIBRE_MCP_SERVER_URL>",
"CALIBRE_MCP_LIBRARY": "<CALIBRE_MCP_LIBRARY>",
"CALIBRE_MCP_ENABLE_WRITE": "<CALIBRE_MCP_ENABLE_WRITE>",
"CALIBRE_MCP_CALIBREDB_PATH": "<CALIBRE_MCP_CALIBREDB_PATH>"
}
}
}
}Replace <…> with your own values
Config file
{
"servers": {
"calibre-mcp": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"calibre-mcp"
],
"env": {
"CALIBRE_MCP_SERVER_URL": "<CALIBRE_MCP_SERVER_URL>",
"CALIBRE_MCP_LIBRARY": "<CALIBRE_MCP_LIBRARY>",
"CALIBRE_MCP_ENABLE_WRITE": "<CALIBRE_MCP_ENABLE_WRITE>",
"CALIBRE_MCP_CALIBREDB_PATH": "<CALIBRE_MCP_CALIBREDB_PATH>"
}
}
}
}Replace <…> with your own values
Platform CLI
gemini mcp add -e CALIBRE_MCP_SERVER_URL=<CALIBRE_MCP_SERVER_URL> -e CALIBRE_MCP_LIBRARY=<CALIBRE_MCP_LIBRARY> -e CALIBRE_MCP_ENABLE_WRITE=<CALIBRE_MCP_ENABLE_WRITE> -e CALIBRE_MCP_CALIBREDB_PATH=<CALIBRE_MCP_CALIBREDB_PATH> calibre-mcp npx -y calibre-mcpReplace <…> with your own values
Step by step, with commands for each platform: How to add an MCP server to Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Gemini CLI and more
Questions about calibre-mcp
What is calibre-mcp?
It connects Calibre to AI coding assistants using the Model Context Protocol. The integration offers 19 tools for semantic search, full-text reading, metadata curation, and duplicate detection.
How do I install calibre-mcp in Claude Code?
Add the server by executing claude mcp add calibre-mcp -- npx -y calibre-mcp. If you need custom URLs or write permissions, add configuration flags like --env CALIBRE_MCP_SERVER_URL and --env CALIBRE_MCP_ENABLE_WRITE.
What are the system requirements for calibre-mcp?
You must start the Content Server in Calibre from Connect/share → Start Content server. Your system also requires Node.js version 22.16 or higher.
