Audiobookshelf

Connect Crow to Audiobookshelf to search audiobooks and podcasts, track listening progress, and manage your audio library through your AI assistant.

What You Get

• Search audiobooks and podcasts
• Browse libraries with sorting and pagination
• Track listening progress across devices
• Browse collections and series
• Get stream URLs for playback
• View audiobook details (chapters, duration, narrator)

Setup

Crow supports two modes for Audiobookshelf: self-hosting via Docker or connecting to an existing instance.

Option A: Docker (self-hosted)

Install Audiobookshelf as a Crow bundle. This runs Audiobookshelf in Docker alongside your Crow gateway.

"Crow, install the Audiobookshelf bundle"

Or install from the Extensions panel in the Crow's Nest.

After installation, set the paths to your media directories:

# In your .env file
AUDIOBOOKSHELF_AUDIOBOOK_PATH=/path/to/your/audiobooks
AUDIOBOOKSHELF_PODCAST_PATH=/path/to/your/podcasts

Restart the bundle for changes to take effect:

"Crow, restart the Audiobookshelf bundle"

Audiobookshelf will be available at http://your-server:13378. Create an admin account through the web UI on first launch, then generate an API key from Settings > Users > your user.

Option B: Connect to existing Audiobookshelf

If you already run an Audiobookshelf instance, connect Crow to it directly.

Step 1: Get your API key

1. Open your Audiobookshelf web interface
2. Go to Settings > Users
3. Click on your user
4. Copy your API token

Step 2: Add to Crow

Set the following in your .env file or via Crow's Nest > Settings > Integrations:

AUDIOBOOKSHELF_URL=http://your-audiobookshelf-server:13378
AUDIOBOOKSHELF_API_KEY=your-api-key-here

AI Tools

Once connected, you can interact with Audiobookshelf through your AI:

"Search my audiobooks for Stephen King"

"What am I currently listening to?"

"Show me my podcast library"

"How far am I in that audiobook?"

"Play the next chapter"

Troubleshooting

"Connection refused" or timeout

Make sure the AUDIOBOOKSHELF_URL is reachable from the machine running Crow. If Audiobookshelf is on a different machine, use the correct IP or hostname.

"401 Unauthorized"

The API token may have been invalidated. Regenerate it from Audiobookshelf Settings > Users > your user.

Media files not appearing

Verify that the volume paths (AUDIOBOOKSHELF_AUDIOBOOK_PATH and AUDIOBOOKSHELF_PODCAST_PATH) are correct and that the directories contain properly organized media files. Audiobookshelf expects audiobooks in a Author/Book Title/ folder structure. Trigger a library scan from the web UI if files were recently added.