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Browse and Covers

Chris edited this page Aug 13, 2026 · 1 revision

Browse, Covers, Flags, and Gallery

Browse is the visual library surface. It is a file tree by default and does not modify CBZ archives just by viewing them.

Browse flow

comicmeta browse --source /path/to/comics

Use the arrow keys to move through folders and files. Press Enter to open a series or inspect an issue. The footer shows the commands available on the current screen.

At the issue level:

Key Action
/ Previous or next issue
/ b Back
e Edit metadata
f Flag or unflag the issue
a Choose a named alternate cover
g Open the series cover gallery
q Back/quit the current view

Flags are research markers. They do not write ComicInfo metadata.

Cover previews

Cover previews are optional. On macOS, the first-run setup can install timg with Homebrew. Settings remembers the choice globally:

Settings → Cover previews

If previews are disabled or no renderer is available, browse remains usable as a text interface and tells you how to enable previews.

Gallery

Gallery is a series-level view. It shows the covers available across that series and is not a replacement for the issue file browser.

Alternate covers

The alternate-cover action only offers explicitly named cover candidates, such as files containing cover, front, variant, alternate, or alt in the name. Ordinary story pages are not presented as alternate covers.

Selecting a cover changes comicmeta's local cover-selection state. It does not rewrite the CBZ archive or alter the image files.

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