Automated Audiobook Collection Management

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Listenarr is a fast, feature-rich, cross-platform audiobook management server. Built with a focus on being a complete solution for all your audiobook downloading needs. Set up your own server and get ready to streamline your audiobook listening!

What Listenarr Provides

• Serve up Audiobooks from multiple sources (torrents, NZBs) with support for various formats (MP3, M4A, M4B, FLAC, AAC, OGG, OPUS)
• First-class responsive web interface that works great on any device (phone, tablet, desktop)
• Rich metadata support with automatic enrichment from Audible and Amazon
• External API integration for searching across multiple torrent and NZB indexers simultaneously
• Download management with support for popular clients (qBittorrent, Transmission, SABnzbd, NZBGet)
• Real-time monitoring of download progress and status
• Intelligent file organization with customizable naming patterns
• Full localization support Soon™️

To see what's coming up, check out our Roadmap! If you have a suggestion or feature request, please submit them in Discussions

Notice

Warning

Listenarr is being actively developed and should be considered beta software. There may be security exploits despite best efforts. Expose this software to the internet at your own risk. The platform may be subject to changes as it is being built out. You may experience data loss and need to restart. The Listenarr team strives to avoid any data loss, but please maintain backups of important data.

Disclaimer

This app is coded with AI assistance. I started this because my wife (an avid audiobook listener) was reading through multiple series quickly and I wanted an automated way for her to request, download, and listen to new audiobooks. I am a front-end developer and I don't know C#, so I took this as an opportunity to learn and started this project.

Note

This is just a fun a side project that solved a need for me; it is not my main priority. I will choose my work, family, and mental health before this project.

Support

Join our community on Discord for help, announcements, and discussion: https://discord.gg/CwZ2Sqp9NF

Setup

The easiest way to get started is to use Docker (recommended for production), pre-built executables, or npm scripts:

Docker (Recommended for Production)

Container images: GHCR is the preferred registry for Listenarr. Use ghcr.io/listenarrs/listenarr:<tag> for the latest builds. A Docker Hub mirror (docker.io/therobbiedavis/listenarr:<tag>) is still published for backwards compatibility.

docker run -d \
  ## Replace with your desired UID and GID
  --user 1001:1001 \
  --name listenarr \
  -p 4545:4545 \
  ## OPTIONAL: Used by Discord Bot
  -e LISTENARR_PUBLIC_URL=https://your-domain.com \
  -v listenarr_data:/app/config \
  -v /path/to/audiobooks:/audiobooks #optional \
  -v /path/to/downloadclient-downloads:/downloads #optional \
  ghcr.io/listenarrs/listenarr:canary

Service will be available at:

• Web App: http://localhost:4545

Available Tags (GHCR + Docker Hub mirror):

• latest / stable - Latest stable release (available soon)
• canary - Latest canary build (pre-release)
• canary-X.Y.Z - Specific canary version
• nightly-X.Y.Z - Specific nightly version
• X.Y.Z - Specific release version

Docker Compose (Recommended):

version: '3.8'
services:
  listenarr:
    image: ghcr.io/listenarrs/listenarr:canary
    user: "1001:1001"  ## Replace with your desired UID and GID
    ports:
      - "4545:4545"
    environment:
      - LISTENARR_PUBLIC_URL=https://your-domain.com ## OPTIONAL: Used by Discord Bot
    volumes:
      - listenarr_data:/app/config
      - /path/to/audiobooks:/audiobooks #optional
      - /path/to/downloadclient-downloads:/downloads #optional
    restart: unless-stopped

# For Docker Hub, replace the image with docker.io/therobbiedavis/listenarr:canary

volumes:
  listenarr_data:

Pre-built Executables

Download the latest release from GitHub Releases and extract the archive for your platform.

Windows

cd .\listenarr-win-x64
.\Listenarr.Api.exe

Linux

cd ./listenarr-linux-x64
chmod +x Listenarr.Api
./Listenarr.Api

macOS

cd ./listenarr-osx-x64  # or osx-arm64 for Apple Silicon
chmod +x Listenarr.Api
./Listenarr.Api

Prerequisites:

• Node.js 20.x or later (required for Discord bot functionality)
• Set environment variable: LISTENARR_PUBLIC_URL=https://your-domain.com

Service will be available at:

• Web App: http://localhost:4545

Note:

• Pre-built executables are self-contained and include all dependencies
• Override port with: --urls "http://localhost:5656"
• For production, set LISTENARR_PUBLIC_URL to your actual domain

Production Deployment (Advanced)

For custom deployments or when you need to build from source:

Prerequisites:

• .NET 8.0 Runtime or later (for framework-dependent deployments)
• Node.js 20.x or later (for Discord bot)
• Set LISTENARR_PUBLIC_URL environment variable to your production domain

Option 1: Use Self-Contained Executables (Recommended)

# Build self-contained executable for your platform
dotnet publish listenarr.api/Listenarr.Api.csproj -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained
cd ./bin/Release/net8.0/win-x64/publish
./Listenarr.Api.exe

Option 2: Framework-Dependent Deployment

# Requires .NET Runtime installed on target system
dotnet publish listenarr.api/Listenarr.Api.csproj -c Release
cd ./bin/Release/net8.0/publish
dotnet Listenarr.Api.dll

IIS Deployment (Windows):

1. Install ASP.NET Core Hosting Bundle
2. Copy published files to IIS site directory
3. Set environment variable in IIS Manager or web.config
4. Ensure Node.js is installed on the server

Service will be available at:

• Web App: http://localhost:4545 (or your configured port) LISTENARR_URL=http://localhost:4545 node index.js

Manual Setup

If you prefer to run the services separately:

Prerequisites:

• .NET 8.0 SDK or later
• Node.js 20.x or later

Install dependencies:

npm run install:all  # Install frontend dependencies

Start development servers:

npm run dev          # Start both API and Web (recommended)
# OR run separately:
npm run dev:api      # Start only backend API
npm run dev:web      # Start only frontend web

Services will be available at:

• Backend API: http://localhost:4545
• Frontend Web: http://localhost:5173

Discord bot (optional)

Listenarr includes a small reference Discord bot (in listenarr.api/tools/discord-bot) that registers a slash command and forwards requests to the running Listenarr API. The bot is optional — the preferred integration is configuring the Discord settings from the Listenarr UI so the server manages the registration for you. Use the steps below for local development or to run the bot separately.

Prerequisites:

• A running Listenarr instance (see steps above)
• Node.js 20+ and npm
• A Discord application with a bot token and application ID

Quick start (development):

1. Create a Discord application and bot at https://discord.com/developers/applications. Copy the Application (client) ID and the Bot Token.
2. Invite the bot to your guild with the following OAuth2 URL (replace <APP_ID>):

https://discord.com/oauth2/authorize?client_id=<APP_ID>&scope=bot%20applications.commands&permissions=27648

The permissions=27648 value requests the View Channels, Send Messages, Manage Messages, and Embed Links permissions which is the bare minimum permissions needed for the bot to function.

3. Configure Listenarr (recommended):

• Open the Listenarr web UI and go to Settings → Integrations → Discord (or the Discord section in Configuration).
• Set the Discord Application ID to the Application ID you copied.
• Set the Discord Bot Token to the bot token you copied.
• Optionally set Discord Guild ID and Discord Channel ID so the bot registers commands in a specific guild and limits responses to one channel.
• Enable the Discord integration and Save.

When the Listenarr server has the bot token and application ID saved, the server will register the slash command and manage the bot. The listenarr.api/tools/discord-bot helper is provided for local development or troubleshooting.

Run the bot standalone (development):

cd listenarr.api/tools/discord-bot
npm install
# Point the helper at your running Listenarr instance (defaults to http://localhost:4545)
LISTENARR_URL=http://localhost:4545 npm start

Windows (PowerShell):

cd listenarr.api\tools\discord-bot
npm install
$env:LISTENARR_URL = 'http://localhost:4545'
npm start

Notes and troubleshooting:

• The helper bot reads settings from the Listenarr API; configuring the settings in the Listenarr UI is the recommended path.
• For antiforgery (CSRF) support the helper tries to use fetch-cookie + tough-cookie if installed — install them to avoid occasional CSRF errors:

npm install fetch-cookie tough-cookie

• If you see permissions errors when deleting messages, ensure the bot has Manage Messages in the configured channel or invite it again with the proper permissions.
• The helper borrows ephemeral replies (application interaction tokens) to remove ephemeral messages; this is best-effort and may not work across restarts.

Auto-persist Listenarr URL

To make the helper easier to run, it will automatically persist the Listenarr base URL when first started interactively. Order of precedence:

1. LISTENARR_URL environment variable (explicit)
2. listenarr.api/tools/discord-bot/.env file with LISTENARR_URL= (created automatically on first run)
3. Interactive prompt on first run (saved to .env)
4. Fallback http://localhost:4545

This means you can run the helper once and enter your public domain (for example https://listenarr.example.com) when prompted. The URL is saved to listenarr.api/tools/discord-bot/.env so you don't need to export environment variables on subsequent runs.

CI/CD

Listenarr uses GitHub Actions for automated building and deployment:

• Canary Builds (on canary pushes): Builds self-contained executables (Linux x64, Windows x64) and publishes container images tagged canary / canary-X.Y.Z to GHCR & Docker Hub.
• Nightly Builds (on develop pushes): Builds self-contained executables (Linux x64, Windows x64) and publishes container images tagged nightly / nightly-X.Y.Z to GHCR & Docker Hub.
• Release Builds (on version tags): Builds executables for Linux x64, Windows x64, and macOS x64. Creates GitHub releases and publishes container images tagged stable, latest, and X.Y.Z to GHCR & Docker Hub.

All workflows push to ghcr.io/listenarrs/listenarr and docker.io/therobbiedavis/listenarr.

Version numbers are automatically incremented:

• Canary: Patch version +1
• Nightly: Minor version +1, patch reset to 0
• Release: Major version +1, minor and patch reset to 0

All builds are CI-first: dotnet publish automatically builds the frontend and includes it in the API's wwwroot.

Feature Requests

Got a great idea? Throw it up on Discussions or vote on another idea. Many great features in Listenarr are driven by our community.

Technology Stack

Backend

• ASP.NET Core - Web API framework
• Entity Framework Core - Database ORM with SQLite
• C# 12 with .NET 8.0+

Frontend

• Vue 3 - Progressive JavaScript framework
• TypeScript - Type-safe development
• Pinia - State management
• Vite - Lightning-fast build tool
• Phosphor Icons - Beautiful icon library

Project Structure

Listenarr/
├── listenarr.api/              # C# Backend API
│   ├── config/                 # User configuration and data
│   │   ├── appsettings/        # Application configuration files
│   │   ├── cache/              # Image cache storage
│   │   ├── database/           # SQLite database files
│   │   ├── logs/               # Application log files
│   │   └── temp/               # Temporary download storage
│   ├── Controllers/            # API Endpoints
│   ├── Models/                 # Data Models
│   ├── Services/               # Business Logic
│   ├── Dockerfile.runtime      # Runtime Docker image for combined API + frontend
│   ├── Program.cs              # Entry Point
│   └── ...
├── fe/                         # Vue.js Frontend
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── components/         # Vue Components
│   │   ├── views/              # Pages
│   │   ├── stores/             # Pinia Stores
│   │   └── services/           # API Services
│   └── public/                 # Static Assets
├── docker-compose.yml          # Docker Configuration
└── README.md

Configuration

API Sources

Configure your search APIs in the Settings page:

• Multiple torrent/NZB indexer support
• API key management
• Priority-based search ordering
• Connection testing

Logging Configuration

You can control the application logging level in three ways:

• Environment variable (recommended for Docker): set LISTENARR_LOG_LEVEL to one of Verbose, Debug, Information, Warning, Error, Fatal (e.g., LISTENARR_LOG_LEVEL=Debug).
• Configuration file: create or edit appsettings.json or appsettings.Development.json in the listenarr.api project (or the config/appsettings directory when running the container). Set either Serilog:MinimumLevel:Default or Logging:LogLevel:Default to the desired level.
• Runtime args / orchestration: pass environment variables via docker run -e LISTENARR_LOG_LEVEL=Debug or docker-compose environment section.

Docker users: the provided docker-compose.yml includes an example LISTENARR_LOG_LEVEL entry; for non-Docker users changing appsettings.Development.json before starting the app is the easiest way to set a custom default logging level.

Download Clients

Supported download clients:

• qBittorrent - Popular torrent client with web UI
• Transmission - Cross-platform torrent client
• SABnzbd - Usenet downloader
• NZBGet - Efficient usenet client

Application Settings

• Custom output paths and file organization
• Configurable naming patterns
• Automatic metadata fetching
• Library management options

API Endpoints

Search

• GET /api/search?query={query} - Search all configured APIs
• POST /api/search/audible?query={query} - Search Audible metadata

Library

• GET /api/library - Get all audiobooks
• GET /api/library/{id} - Get specific audiobook
• POST /api/library - Add audiobook
• PUT /api/library/{id} - Update audiobook
• DELETE /api/library/{id} - Remove audiobook

Configuration

• GET /api/configuration - Get all settings
• POST /api/configuration - Save settings

For complete API documentation, see our API Reference (coming soon).

Development

Prerequisites

• .NET 8.0 SDK or later
• Node.js 20.x or later
• npm (comes with Node.js)

Available Commands

npm run dev          # Start both API and Web
npm run dev:api      # Start only backend API
npm run dev:web      # Start only frontend web
npm run build        # Build both for production
npm run test         # Run frontend tests

Building for Production

Backend:

cd listenarr.api
dotnet publish -c Release

Frontend:

cd fe
npm run build

CI-first monorepo build

The repository is configured so the API publish will build the frontend and copy the fe/dist output into the API wwwroot. This produces a single publish artifact that serves both backend and frontend.

To build locally (requires Node + npm):

# from repo root
dotnet publish listenarr.api/Listenarr.Api.csproj -c Release -o ./publish/local

If you want to skip the frontend build (no Node on host):

dotnet publish listenarr.api/Listenarr.Api.csproj -c Release -o ./publish/local /p:SkipFrontendBuild=true

To build a runtime Docker image from the publish output (CI-first):

# context: listenarr.api/publish/<rid>
docker build -f listenarr.api/Dockerfile.runtime -t <your-image> listenarr.api/publish/linux-x64

Version Management

Application versions are managed in listenarr.api/Listenarr.Api.csproj with a <Version> element. CI automatically bumps versions on builds:

• Nightly: Increments patch (e.g., 1.2.3 → 1.2.4)
• Release: Increments minor and resets patch (e.g., 1.2.3 → 1.3.0)

Bumped versions are persisted via PR to maintain branch protection.

Roadmap

• User authentication and authorization
• Real-time WebSocket updates for downloads
• Advanced search filters
• Notification system (email, webhooks, Discord)
• Smart Collections and Reading Lists
• Progress Scrobbling and Syncing
• Audiobookshelf integration
• Multi-language support
• Backup and restore functionality
• Plugin system for extensibility

Contributors

This project exists thanks to all the people who contribute. Contribute.

Backers

Thank you to all our backers! 🙏 Become a backer

Sponsors

Support this project by becoming a sponsor. Your logo will show up here with a link to your website. Become a sponsor

License

• GNU Affero General Public License v3.0
• Copyright 2024-2025 Robbie Davis

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

The AGPL-3.0 license ensures that any modifications made to Listenarr, including when hosted as a network service, must be shared with users. This protects the open-source nature of the project and prevents proprietary forks.

Acknowledgments

• Audnexus - Audible metadata API
• Audimeta - Audible metadata API
• Sonarr / Radarr - Inspiration for the *arr naming and architecture
• Vue.js and .NET communities
• All the open-source libraries that make this project possible

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Disclaimer: This project is for educational and personal use. Ensure you comply with all applicable laws and terms of service when using download clients and API sources.