Library

A simple, self-hosted book tracker built in Go.

• Single binary with embedded assets
• Password authentication with session cookies
• Track books across Reading, Read, and Want to Read (labels customizable from admin)
• Google Books search to add titles with cover art and ISBN
• Barcode scanning for ISBN entry (native BarcodeDetector with ZXing fallback)
• Library search from the admin page (title / author / ISBN)
• Toggle between inline category sections and a filter-nav layout via LIBRARY_DISPLAY_MODE
• Per-book notes
• JSON API for listing and fetching books
• Dark themed UI with Commit Mono font
• SQLite for persistent storage

Configure

Environment Variables

The GOOGLE_BOOKS_API_KEY is optional — searches work without it but are rate-limited.

Deploy

Railway

The easiest way to deploy Library is with the one-click Railway template. See the Deploying with Railway guide for a walkthrough of the process. Library requires ADMIN_PASSWORD during the configure step, and optionally GOOGLE_BOOKS_API_KEY for book search.

Docker

From the repo root:

cp apps/library/.env.example apps/library/.env
# Edit .env with your admin password
docker compose up -d library

This will start Library on port 4646 with a persistent volume for the SQLite database.

Binary

Build from source:

cd apps/library && go build .

The resulting binary at ./library is self-contained with all assets embedded. Copy it to your server with a configured .env file and run it directly.

Use

Your library is publicly viewable at /. Layout depends on LIBRARY_DISPLAY_MODE:

• inline — all non-empty categories rendered as stacked sections on one page.
• nav — header filter buttons switch between categories via ?category=reading|read|want.

Admin

Log in at /admin/login with your configured password to access the admin pages.

From the admin dashboard you can change a book's status, save notes, rename category labels, or remove a book.

API