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https://github.com/gjessing1/epub-bookprep

A lightweight Privacy First EPUB Metadata editor
https://github.com/gjessing1/epub-bookprep

docker ebooks epub epub-editor epub2 epub3 isbn-lookup metadata-editor selfhosted-apps

Last synced: 5 months ago
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A lightweight Privacy First EPUB Metadata editor

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README 

          


  




# EPUB BookPrep

EPUB BookPrep is a selfhosted, privacy-first, stateless web tool for preparing clean, standards-compliant EPUB metadata. Upload a file, make precise edits, and download a corrected EPUB, no accounts, no background processing, and no files stored on the server.



- Simple install with Docker image available.

- No configuration necessary



*The project is inspired by [BentoPDF](https://github.com/mgmeyers/bentopdf) in both philosophy and workflow.*





  Latest release

  GitHub stars

  

    

  




## Live demo (temporary)

A public demo is available for testing and evaluation:



👉 **[Try the demo](https://gjessing.io/epub/demo/)**



The demo is intended for light, manual testing only.  

Uploaded files are processed in memory and are not stored, but availability and uptime are not guaranteed.  

For regular use, self-hosting via Docker is recommended.



## Features

- Inspect and edit common EPUB metadata fields  

  (title, author, language, publisher, series, identifiers, description)

- Fetch metadata from public sources using ISBN or title-based search

- Review and selectively apply fetched metadata to avoid incorrect matches

- Search for available cover images, preview alternatives, and explicitly choose whether to replace or keep the existing cover

- Clean and normalize metadata:

  - trim whitespace

  - normalize date formats

  - strip HTML from descriptions

  - deduplicate subjects

- Preview how metadata will appear in OPDS-based clients before importing into a library or reader

- EPUB 3 editor with EPUB 2 backward compatability

- Extremely lightweight: the Docker container uses under 30 MB of host memory, as all processing happens in the browser.

- Light and dark mode support



## Screenshots (Mobile view)



  Mobile view

  Mobile view

  Mobile view

  Mobile view

  Mobile view




## Key principles

- Uploaded files are processed entirely in memory and are never stored on disk. Once a request completes, no files or metadata remain on the server.

- The app only modifies EPUB metadata (OPF and related fields). Book content, structure, and reading experience are left untouched.

- The tool avoids deep EPUB “repair” or content manipulation to ensure results are easy to understand and trust.

- Only EPUB files are supported. Other ebook formats are intentionally out of scope.

- The application runs out of the box with no required configuration or environment variables.



## What this tool is not

Not an ebook library manager

Not a reader application

Not a full EPUB editor or authoring tool

Not a replacement for Calibre or Sigil



## Typical use case

Upload an EPUB file

- Inspect and adjust metadata (title, author, language, series, cover, etc.)

- Optionally enrich metadata from public sources

- Download a cleaned EPUB

- Import the result into your library or reader of choice



## Deployment

The application is distributed as a Docker container and can be run either behind a reverse proxy or directly via a mapped port. No volumes are required, as uploaded files are processed entirely in memory and never persisted.



- Download the example compose file: [`docker-compose.yml`](/examples/docker-compose.yml)

- Start the service from the same directory:

  ```bash

  docker compose up -d

- The application listens on port 3007 by default.

- Access it via http://localhost:3007, or expose it through a reverse proxy such as Caddy, Traefik, or Nginx



## Like the project?

Please consider buying me a coffe, I really do drink it alot!