How well does this work with Readarr?

[devanteweary]

I just installed this last night and I love the work put into it!

However, unless I'm mistaken, this doesn't really work with Readarr's function as a book database, does it?
Since how you add books is the ingest folder and that removes whatever you put into it.

Or is there a way to use both in conjunction with each other?

Thank you!

[cbrherms]

I was just wondering the same thing while looking in to setting up some sort of book automation. Would be interesting to hear what peoples workflows are like.

[LowerHater]

Going to add my voice here as someone trying to integrate this with Readarr.

[vhsdream]

I can think of a couple of ways to do this:

1. Use the 'Custom Script' option in Readarr's 'Connect' settings to run a script that copies the file to the ingest folder when it is added to Readarr.
2. Or, from the CWA side, use a bash script to watch the Readarr library and have it copy the file to the ingest folder when it detects a new file. The script below is a modified version of the Calibre-Web import script but instead of running calibredb it just copies the files to the CWA ingest folder:

#!/usr/bin/env bash

# Folder to monitor
WATCH_FOLDER="/media/Readarr_library"
echo "Watching folder: $WATCH_FOLDER"

# CWA Ingest Folder Path
CWA_INGEST="/opt/cwa-book-ingest"
echo "CWA Ingest Folder: $CWA_INGEST"

# Monitor the folder for new files
inotifywait -m -r --format="%e %w%f" -e close_write -e moved_to "$WATCH_FOLDER" |
while read -r events filepath; do
        echo "New file detected: $filepath"
        cp -r "$filepath" "$CWA_INGEST"
done

[holocronology]

Do new books need to go to the ingest folder?

What if they just went to the "root folder" in Readarr which is where your library is located?

[holocronology]

Alternatively, you could configure your downloader (at least for usenet via nzb/sabnzbd) to dump downloads into the ingest folder and then CWA would ingest and move to your root folder (aka library folder).

[atabbott]

@vhsdream I really liked your first suggestion to use a custom script triggered by readarr. The suggestion inspired me to write the below script.

I have it set up in readarr to trigger on release import and on upgrade. When that happens it will copy the ebook file to the specified cwa ingest folder. This was only really made possible as I discovered readarr provides a environment variable with the full paths for imported or upgraded books as readarr_addedbookpaths. Amazingly readarr_addedbookpaths is undocumented on the readarr wiki.

Anyway I hope some people find this script useful. It has massively helped me.

Note: I believe readarr_addedbookpaths will also provide a list of paths if a collection is imported. However I haven't been able to test this, but I have tried to handle it by assuming | would be used as the separator. If anyone finds that to be wrong just update the separator used (and let me know if possible).

#!/usr/bin/env bash

# Log file for debugging
LOGFILE="/config/logs/readarr-book-copy.log" # path to your readarr log folder

# Log all environment variables (useful for debugging Readarr's behavior)
# echo "$(date): Script environment variables:" >> "$LOGFILE"
# set >> "$LOGFILE"

# Exit early if READARR_EVENTTYPE is "Test"
if [ "$readarr_eventtype" == "Test" ]; then
    echo "$(date): INFO - Received 'Test' event from Readarr, exiting script early." >> "$LOGFILE"
    exit 0
fi

# Readarr environment variables
BOOK_PATHS="$readarr_addedbookpaths"
DEST_DIR="/media/book-ingest" # Replace with the path to your book ingest folder

# Check if BOOK_PATHS is empty
if [ -z "$BOOK_PATHS" ]; then
    echo "$(date): ERROR - No book paths found in READARR_ADDEDBOOKPATHS." >> "$LOGFILE"
    exit 1
fi

# Process each book path (assuming | is the separator)
IFS='|' read -ra BOOK_ARRAY <<< "$BOOK_PATHS"

for BOOK_PATH in "${BOOK_ARRAY[@]}"; do
    # Trim leading/trailing spaces (just in case)
    BOOK_PATH=$(echo "$BOOK_PATH" | xargs)

    # Ensure the book file exists
    if [ ! -f "$BOOK_PATH" ]; then
        echo "$(date): ERROR - Book not found: $BOOK_PATH" >> "$LOGFILE"
        continue
    fi

    # Extract the filename
    BOOK_FILENAME=$(basename "$BOOK_PATH")

    # Define the destination file path
    DEST_BOOK="$DEST_DIR/$BOOK_FILENAME"

    # Copy the book
    cp -v "$BOOK_PATH" "$DEST_BOOK" >> "$LOGFILE" 2>&1

    # Check if the copy was successful
    if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
        echo "$(date): SUCCESS - Copied '$BOOK_PATH' to '$DEST_BOOK'" >> "$LOGFILE"
    else
        echo "$(date): ERROR - Failed to copy '$BOOK_PATH'" >> "$LOGFILE"
    fi
done

exit 0

[dgmorley64]

Thanks for this script. Sometimes, Readarr cannot find the book I want via my indexers, so I manually download from another source. The then manually import the book into Readarr. This script sometimes copies the book to my CWA ingest folder, and sometimes it doesn't and exits with ERROR - No book paths found in READARR_ADDEDBOOKPATHS. I have had no luck trying to determine why. Any suggestions?

I have readarr triggering on grab, release, upgrade, and rename. The book(s) I manually import are marked as monitored in Readarr and I think the script always works on books downloaded via readarr and my indexers.

[devanteweary]

Won't any solution where Readarr moves it to the ingest folder still not solve the issue of the management part of Readarr?

Sure it will move it to the CWA ingest folder, but then CWA will ingest it and Readarr will not longer see it and keep track of what you have.

[atabbott]

This creates a copy in the CWA ingest folder, rather than moving it. The copy readarr has available to it remains. This means readarr still keeps track of your library and what you have but it is replicated in CWA.

This does mean you have 2 copies of each book, or if set up correctly one copy with hardlinks (a single copy with 2 refrences to it) so it doesn't solve the issue completly, but ebooks are small enough that I would never delete copies, so I don't really see this as an issue for me.

[devanteweary]

Gotcha. I guess my question would naturally be why is CWA doing it this way with its own database?

Currently my setup is Readarr organizes the books, Calibre does whatever it does (databases those books?), and Calibre-Web / Kavita (I have both setup) presents those existing book files in a nice UI. No files copied/duplicated.

I'm sure there's some reason CWA did it this way. Just wondering if the benefit is something I'm overlooking!

[nathang21]

I'm also wondering the same thing, your setup is exactly what I have. It's not clear if migrating from Calibre-Web --> Calibre-Web-Automated in this scenario would have much benefit or even work the same.

Did you ever try this out?

[mathisgauthey]

I see Readarr is capable to send to a Calibre content server. Wouldn't it be possible for it to use the database on Calibre-Web-Automated ?

[alva-seal]

That’s what im doing currently. My calibre web automated database is also mapped to my calibre docker and Readarr is communicating with the pure calibre but as it is one library it works perfectly

[mathisgauthey]

As for me I ended up outputting from readarr directly inside my CWA input folder.

Readarr hence isn't aware of my current collection and stops tracking it after deletion.
It serves purely as an automated downloader.

[nathang21]

That’s what im doing currently. My calibre web automated database is also mapped to my calibre docker and Readarr is communicating with the pure calibre but as it is one library it works perfectly

Can you clarify or expand on your setup? This sounds like the best of both worlds but it feels like there is a catch. Readarr manages the Calibre database, but how did you get calibre-web-automated to use the same database?

[mathisgauthey]

That’s what im doing currently. My calibre web automated database is also mapped to my calibre docker and Readarr is communicating with the pure calibre but as it is one library it works perfectly

Can you clarify or expand on your setup? This sounds like the best of both worlds but it feels like there is a catch. Readarr manages the Calibre database, but how did you get calibre-web-automated to use the same database?

I personally ended up ditching Readarr as it is no longer maintained at all. It works fine for now with glasses project, but I won't deal with security holes in my setup.

I am now using Calibre-Web-Automated-Book-Downloader project instead and it is enough for my use case. I am not downloading books every days.

[crocodilestick]

I'm assisting on the development of Readarr's successor, Chaptarr. CWA will have Chaptarr support when it releases and vice versa

[LowerHater]

Yeah, this was my way too... Readarr hence isn't aware of my current collection and stops tracking it after deletion. It serves purely as an automated downloader. Though Readarr is now pretty borked, and I've actually resorted to searching/sending book torrents directly in Prowlarr and no longer using Readarr.

…

On Mon, 28 Jul 2025 at 08:41, Mathis Gauthey ***@***.***> wrote: As for me I ended up outputting from readarr directly inside my CWA input folder. Readarr hence isn't aware of my current collection and stops tracking it after deletion. It serves purely as an automated downloader. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#248 (reply in thread)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/BO52ROT76LKP5I3Q3ZJOKGL3KXA2FAVCNFSM6AAAAABWZDELASVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTGOJQGYZTOMA> . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: <crocodilestick/Calibre-Web-Automated/repo-discussions/248/comments/13906370 @github.com>

[zacaronii]

Crocodilestick and the creator of Chaptarr, an upcoming heavily revamped Readarr fork, have recently discussed working together to allow for interoperability of the two projects. Chaptarr is still in a closed Alpha phase but they both seem open to making the projects work well together in a future release.

[AdomasGrigolis]

Hey, is there a thread for this?