Smart Shelves
Smart Shelves are dynamic, rule-based collections that automatically populate with books matching criteria you define. Unlike regular shelves (where you add books manually), a smart shelf updates itself whenever books in your library change.
Creating a Smart Shelf
- In the left sidebar, expand the Smart Shelves section.
- Click New Smart Shelf at the bottom of the section.
- In the modal that appears:
- Enter a name for the shelf.
- Choose whether books must match All rules (AND) or Any rule (OR).
- Add one or more rules using the rule builder.
- Click Create shelf.
The shelf will immediately appear in the sidebar and show all matching books.
Rule Builder
Each rule has three parts:
| Part | Description |
|---|---|
| Field | The book attribute to match against |
| Operator | How to compare the value |
| Value | The text or number to compare with |
Available Fields
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Title | Book title |
| Author | Author name |
| Genre | Genre tag |
| Tag | Any tag applied to the book |
| Language | Language code (e.g. en) |
| Publisher | Publisher name |
| Series Name | Name of the series |
| Format | File format: EPUB, MOBI, AZW, AZW3, CBZ, PDF |
| Page Count | Number of pages |
| Published Year | Year of publication (e.g. 1990) |
| ISBN-13 | ISBN-13 identifier |
Available Operators
| Operator | Description |
|---|---|
equals | Exact match (case-insensitive) |
not equals | Does not match |
contains | Value appears anywhere in the field |
starts with | Field begins with the value |
greater than | Field is greater than the value (numeric fields) |
less than | Field is less than the value (numeric fields) |
AND vs OR Logic
- All rules (AND) — A book must satisfy every rule to appear in the shelf. Use this for narrow, precise collections (e.g. fantasy books over 500 pages).
- Any rule (OR) — A book only needs to satisfy one rule to appear. Use this for broad collections (e.g. books by either of two authors).
Editing a Smart Shelf
Hover over the smart shelf in the sidebar and click the settings icon (🎚️) that appears. The settings modal lets you:
- Rename the shelf.
- Change the AND/OR logic.
- Add, modify, or remove rules.
- Delete the shelf (requires confirmation).
Viewing a Smart Shelf
Click any smart shelf in the sidebar to open its page. The page shows:
- The active rules as badges (with AND/OR connectors between them).
- The total number of matching books (capped at 500 displayed at once).
- A grid of all matching book covers.
Click any book cover to open the book detail modal.
Examples
Long fantasy books
- Title contains
fantasy— OR — - Genre equals
Fantasy - Page Count greater than
400 - Logic: All rules (AND)
Books by a specific author
- Author contains
Tolkien - Logic: All rules (AND)
Unread EPUBs or MOBIs
- Format equals
EPUB - Format equals
MOBI - Logic: Any rule (OR)