You can find KapitelShelf on GitHub!
Why KapitelShelf?
Most book management apps are either overcomplicated, don’t offer much control over your own collection or don’t let you manage book “references” from other sources. If you just want to keep track of your books (digital or physical) without unnecessary clutter, the options are pretty limited.
The Problem With Existing Tools
Apps like Calibre-Web or Komga work fine for ebooks, but they break down if you want to manage anything without a file attached. Keeping track of physical books, or just adding a title with some notes, is awkward at best. There’s no simple way to have everything in one place unless you jump through hoops.
The Vision
KapitelShelf is meant to be a simple, flexible solution for personal book libraries.
Key goals:
- Works for both digital files and physical books
- Lets you organize by series, custom shelves or whatever you want
- Clean and fast interface that works everywhere
Tech Stack (And Why)
We wanted a stack that (I’m familiar with :O), easy to contribute to and pleasant to use. Here’s what I chose:
| Frontend | Vite • React • MUI |
| Backend | ASP.NET Core • EF Core • NUnit |
| Database | PostgreSQL |
| Dev-Tools | Docker • GitHub Actions |
What’s Next?
KapitelShelf is a passion project of mine. Here’s what’s coming up:
- Metadata import: Fetch book info automatically (Author, cover, description, etc.)
- Series logic & shelf organization: Power users, rejoice.
- User roles/permissions: Lock down access, support private libraries.
- Import/export tools: Never lose your data.
Contributing
Contributions are always welcome! However, the vision for KapitelShelf is still evolving, and core features are still being redesigned frequently.
This is my first self-managed open source project, so I'm still learning when it comes to handling contributions. I haven't written a CONTRIBUTING.md yet, thanks for your patience and I'll get to it soon!
KapitelShelf is open source and always looking for contributors, testers and readers willing to try things out. If you like working with modern tech, appreciate good UX or just want to make books easier to manage, check out the repo and give it a star!
Stay Tuned
I’ll keep posting updates as I build, test and improve KapitelShelf. If you have suggestions or features you’d love to see, let me know in the GitHub Discussions!
KapitelShelf - Organizing chaos, one chapter at a time.