Self-hosted · free · open source

Your own book search,on your own server.

RaveBSD searches many free book and audiobook sources at once, merges them into one ranked list, downloads to your server, names and shelves every book, and saves copies to any of your devices.

RaveBSD 2.0 arrives on Halloween 31 October 2026 · 00:00 UK
--days
--hours
--minutes
--seconds
What's new in 2.0

Search, fetch, file, read.

Version 1 found the books. Version 2 brings them home: to your server, named your way, and on to whichever device you are holding.

Download to server

Press Download, it lands at home

Your server fetches the file and tells you when it is ready, even on another device. Mirrors that are down or overloaded are skipped automatically.

Renamed and shelved

Every book filed your way

Name files from the book's title, author, year and series, for example Frank Herbert/Dune (1965).epub. Audiobooks become a folder of numbered tracks with the cover alongside.

Your shelf

Save to any device

Everything on the server in one place. Save a copy to the phone or laptop you are on, or let eBooks save themselves. Stats show what you read most.

Audiobooks

Cassettes, magnets and qBittorrent

Audiobooks show up as cassettes with running time and narrator. Magnets go straight to your qBittorrent, and finished torrents are renamed and shelved like everything else.

Three ways to run it

Just you, friends and family, or public

Keep it to yourself, give people you know their own logins and one shared shelf, or open it to anyone with a space limit per visitor. An admin panel holds the rest.

Through a VPN

Gluetun built in

Send searches and downloads through a VPN tunnel, see where you exit, and pause searches and downloads if the tunnel drops.

Private by design

Nothing leaves your server

No accounts with us, no tracking. Searches are never saved or logged. Stats are counted on your machine only, and you can switch them off.

Everywhere

As good on a phone

A layout made for phones, with swipeable results, a tab bar that steps aside, and notifications when a book lands on your shelf.

See it

The reading room.

Tap any screenshot to see it full size, then use the arrows or swipe to move through them.

Where it looks

The libraries.

eBooks

Audiobooks

Plus link cards for many more sites that open in your browser. RaveBSD only passes on links the sources publish; it never hosts books.

Install

Up and running in a minute.

You need Docker with Compose. Everything else is included, even the background browser some sources need.

git clone https://github.com/IdleEndeavor/RaveBSD.git
cd RaveBSD
mkdir data books audiobooks downloads
cp .env.example .env
docker compose up -d

Then open http://localhost:8080. The first run asks who RaveBSD is for and where your books should live. No Docker? Node 24 with npm install and npm start works too.

Coming from RaveBookSearch?

The website retired.

What is version 1.0?

Version 1.0 is a direct dockerised port of the RaveBookSearch website: the same search and the same sources, running on your own machine instead of a public server. Version 2.0 is where it grows into your own library, with downloads to your server, renaming, shelves, accounts and the rest. 2.0 is a breaking update, so moving from 1.0 to 2.0 takes the steps below.

Why did the website stop searching?

It got too popular for its own good. Rather than shut it down, it became RaveBSD: the same search, run from your own machine, where it can do far more than a public website ever could.

Already run RaveBSD 1.x?

2.0 is a breaking update. Before updating, run git pull in your RaveBSD folder to get the new compose.yaml, make the books, audiobooks and downloads folders, then docker compose up -d. Your settings and source logins carry over. The README has the full steps.

Does it cost anything?

No. RaveBSD is free and released into the public domain. You run it on your own computer, a home server or a NAS.

Can I use it away from home?

Yes. Reach it privately with Tailscale, through a Cloudflare Tunnel, or open it to the internet in friends and family or public mode.