Why is a book you bought on a commercial platform still not entirely yours? 📚
You’re packing for vacation, planning a couple of weeks completely offline- no work chats, no notifications, just your full library of e-books and audiobooks.
Then you hit the classic Cloud-First headache:
• Network dependency: Apps demand active session checks right before opening a file.
• DRM & ecosystem lock-in: You don’t own the file; you’re renting access inside a closed interface.
• Fragmentation: Half your books are on Litres, half on Amazon Kindle, and audio tracks are elsewhere.
Relying on vendor API stability during vacation wasn't an option, so I built a solution.
📦 BookVault (Local-first & Self-hosted)
The goal of BookVault is simple: one clear, independent way to download, structure, and back up all legally purchased books from any platform into a single local hub.
The project is evolving: the core module handles exporting text and audio libraries, and I'm currently expanding support for Amazon Kindle and other platforms to end fragmentation.
Plus, pet projects like this are a fantastic way to master modern AI workflows and test them in real scenarios- from agentic LLM integrations to automation.
Principle: Your accounts, your books, your local machine.
How it works:
Playwright Automation: Handles secure auth and dashboard navigation without middleman services.
FastAPI & Docker: Deploys locally or on a home server. All database files stay strictly on your disk.
Unified Archive: Downloads files into a clean directory format for any offline e-reader or SD card.
MCP Server Integration: Built-in Model Context Protocol support allows a local AI agent (like Claude) to search, summarize, and categorize your library completely offline.
Note: Pre-built installer binaries may trigger OS code-signing warnings during setup. If you'd like to try it, reach out and I’ll happily authorize the build or help you set it up.
When you own your files at the physical layer, vacation actually feels like vacation- no "Server Connection Failed" errors in sight.
How do you manage offline backups for books across platforms? Do you build personal tools to stay hands-on with AI?
https://lnkd.in/eRzFHTCH