Metadata Enrichment
Litara can automatically fill in missing metadata (title, authors, description, ISBN, genres, and more) by querying external providers. This page covers how to configure which providers supply each field and how to run bulk enrichment across your library.
All metadata enrichment settings and bulk runs are available to admin users only, via Admin Settings → Metadata.
Metadata Sources
The Metadata Sources card shows every configured provider and lets you enable or disable them individually.
| Provider | Notes |
|---|---|
| Open Library | Free, no key required. Used as the primary ISBN-13 source. |
| Google Books | Free with rate limits (~100 req/day). Set GOOGLE_BOOKS_API_KEY in your environment for 1,000 req/day. |
| Hardcover | Requires HARDCOVER_API_KEY. See Configuration. |
| Goodreads | Community ratings and IDs. |
| Audnexus (Beta) | Free, no key required. Audiobook metadata (narrator, series, genres, cover) via Audible ASIN. See Audnexus. |
Disabling a provider automatically reassigns any field mappings that were using it to the next available enabled provider.
Use the Test button (visible on providers that require an API key) to verify your key is working.
Field Sources
The Field Sources card lets you choose which provider supplies each metadata field during bulk enrichment.
ISBN-13 is always resolved first. Open Library resolves the ISBN-13 for each book, and that value is automatically passed as a lookup hint to every subsequent provider — improving match accuracy for Hardcover, Google Books, and others.
For every other field you can:
- Choose the provider — select from the dropdown next to the field name.
- Disable the field — toggle it off to skip it entirely during enrichment (existing data is left unchanged).
Click Save Configuration when you're done.
Request Throttle
The Request Throttle setting controls the delay (in milliseconds) inserted between consecutive API calls. The default is 500 ms. Increase it if you are hitting rate limits; lower it carefully if your API keys have generous limits.
Range: 50–5000 ms.
Running Bulk Enrichment
The Run Bulk Enrichment card lets you kick off a metadata run across your library.
Options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Scope | Run on All Books, a specific Library, or a specific Shelf. |
| Overwrite existing values | By default, only empty fields are filled. Enable this to replace existing values with whatever the provider returns. |
| Guided mode | For runs of 50 books or fewer, Litara fetches the top 3 Open Library candidates for each ambiguous book and lets you pick the correct edition before the run starts. Disable this to always use the top result automatically. |
Guided Disambiguation
When guided mode is on and your run scope has 50 or fewer books, a disambiguation dialog appears for any book that has multiple strong matches in Open Library. For each ambiguous book you can:
- Click a candidate card to select it (cover, title, authors, year, and ISBN-13 are shown).
- Click Skip to accept the top result without choosing.
- Use Back and Next to navigate between books.
- Click Start Run on the last book to submit.
Audnexus (Beta)
Audnexus is a community-hosted, keyless REST API purpose-built for audiobook metadata. It is supported as an optional, disabled-by-default provider.
What it provides
- Narrator names (stored as tags in the format
Narrator: <name>) - Series name and position
- Genres
- Cover art
- Description / summary
- Publisher
Requirements
Audnexus lookups require an ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number) on the book record. Books without an ASIN are silently skipped — Audnexus has no title/author search endpoint.
You can set the ASIN on any book from its Edit Metadata tab. When searching metadata for a book that has an ASIN, the Audnexus option appears in the provider selector automatically.
Enabling Audnexus in bulk enrichment
Audnexus fields are disabled by default in Field Sources. To use them:
- Go to Admin Settings → Metadata → Field Sources.
- Find the fields you want Audnexus to supply (e.g. Genres, Description) and select Audnexus from the provider dropdown and enable them.
- Click Save Configuration.
Only books with an ASIN will be enriched by Audnexus during a bulk run; books without one are unaffected.
Reliability
Audnexus (api.audnex.us) is community-hosted with no SLA. If the service is unavailable, Audnexus results are treated as a soft miss and enrichment continues with the remaining providers — no data is lost and no error is surfaced.
To point Litara at a self-hosted Audnexus instance, set AUDNEXUS_BASE_URL in your environment.
Tracking progress
After clicking Run Bulk Enrichment, the run is submitted as a background job and you are switched to the Tasks tab automatically.
The Tasks tab shows all recent enrichment runs with live progress updates:
- A progress bar showing books processed vs. total.
- The current status: Pending, Processing, Completed, Failed, or Cancelled.
- A Cancel button to stop an in-progress run cleanly (the current book finishes before the run stops).