Ebook

Manage ebook collections, track reading progress, and export highlights using bash and Python. Use when cataloging books, logging reading sessions, or organizing digital libraries.

Ebook — Digital Book Collection & Reading Tracker

A comprehensive ebook management tool for cataloging digital books, tracking reading progress, managing highlights and annotations, rating and reviewing books, and exporting your library. All data is stored locally in JSONL format for portability and privacy.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.6+
• Bash 4+

Data Storage

All ebook records, reading sessions, highlights, and reviews are stored in ~/.ebook/data.jsonl. Each record is a JSON object with fields including id, type (book, session, highlight, review), title, author, format, pages, progress, created_at, and additional type-specific fields.

Commands

Run via: bash scripts/script.sh <command> [options]

Command	Description
add	Add a new ebook to the collection with title, author, format, and page count
list	List all ebooks in the collection with optional filters by author, format, or status
search	Search ebooks by title, author, tag, or keyword across all fields
update	Update metadata for an existing ebook (title, author, tags, status)
delete	Remove an ebook from the collection by ID
read	Log a reading session with start page, end page, and duration
progress	Show reading progress for a specific book or all books
highlight	Add a highlighted passage or annotation linked to a book and page
review	Add or update a rating (1-5 stars) and review text for a book
stats	Show reading statistics: total books, pages read, time spent, averages
export	Export the library or highlights to JSON, CSV, or Markdown format
help	Show usage information
version	Print the tool version

Usage Examples

bash

# Add a new ebook
bash scripts/script.sh add --title "Deep Work" --author "Cal Newport" --format epub --pages 296 --tags "productivity,focus"

# List all books
bash scripts/script.sh list

# List only unread books
bash scripts/script.sh list --status unread

# Search by author
bash scripts/script.sh search --author "Newport"

# Search by keyword
bash scripts/script.sh search --query "productivity"

# Update book metadata
bash scripts/script.sh update --id abc123 --status reading --tags "self-help,focus"

# Delete a book
bash scripts/script.sh delete --id abc123

# Log a reading session (30 minutes, pages 1-45)
bash scripts/script.sh read --id abc123 --start-page 1 --end-page 45 --duration 30

# Check progress
bash scripts/script.sh progress --id abc123

# Add a highlight
bash scripts/script.sh highlight --id abc123 --page 42 --text "The key to developing deep work is..."

# Write a review
bash scripts/script.sh review --id abc123 --rating 5 --text "Transformative book on focused work"

# View reading stats
bash scripts/script.sh stats

# Export library to markdown
bash scripts/script.sh export --format md --output library.md

# Export highlights to CSV
bash scripts/script.sh export --format csv --type highlights --output highlights.csv

Output Format

list and search return formatted tables to stdout. progress shows a progress bar with percentage. stats returns a summary with totals and averages. export writes to the specified file and confirms the path. All metadata commands return JSON.

Notes

• Supported ebook formats: epub, pdf, mobi, azw3, txt, djvu.
• Book statuses: unread, reading, finished, abandoned, wishlist.
• Reading sessions are linked to books by ID; multiple sessions per book are supported.
• Highlights include page number, text content, and optional color tag.
• The stats command calculates: total books, books by status, total pages read, total reading time, average pages per session, and reading streak.
• Export formats: json (full data), csv (tabular), md (Markdown with headers and lists).
• All IDs are auto-generated 8-character hex strings.

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