An open container format for audiobooks bundled with their ebook counterparts and word-level synchronization data.
- Spec: SPEC.md
- Schemas: schemas/ — JSON Schemas for the manifest and sync files
- MIME type:
application/vnd.abook+zip(registration with IANA planned) - Latest version: v0.1 (draft — incoming proposals welcome)
- License: CC BY-SA 4.0 for the spec text
There's no consumer-friendly open format for "the audiobook plus its ebook plus the word-level sync between them." Today people have audiobooks as MP3s, ebooks as EPUBs, and the sync — if it exists — is proprietary (Audible Whispersync), locked inside one app, or built on accessibility-focused stacks that consumer tooling ignores.
Abook is the format you'd reach for if you wanted to:
- Ship a self-contained book + audio + karaoke-sync package
- Have it open in any tool, today, without specialized SDKs
- Keep it open for community extension
A ZIP archive with this shape:
book.abook
├── manifest.json
├── text/chapter-001.html ...
├── audio/chapter-001.mp3 ...
├── sync/chapter-001.json ...
└── cover.jpg
That's the whole thing. Full details in SPEC.md.
| Project | Role | Status |
|---|---|---|
| abookify-server | Reference exporter + importer | Production |
Have an implementation to add? Open a PR.
Proposals, schema improvements, and reference implementations are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md.
The format is intentionally minimal — we'd rather extend the spec carefully than build in everything-and-the-kitchen-sink up front.