audiobookshelf/artifacts/docs/consolidate_feature.md

Consolidate Feature Documentation

Overview

The Consolidate feature in Audiobookshelf (ABS) is designed to organize your library items into a standardized folder structure. It ensures that books are stored in a predictable way, which simplifies library management and backup.

The standard consolidation format is: {Author Name} - {Book Title}/

Key Capabilities

• Folder Organization: Automatically moves multi-file books into a properly named folder.
• Single File Support: Automatically creates a folder for single-file books (e.g., .m4b or .mp3 files located in the root) and moves the file into it.
• Batch Consolidation: Allows selecting multiple books in the library listing to consolidate them all at once.
• Metadata Synchronization: When a book is consolidated (or its metadata is updated), ABS ensures that denormalized database fields (Title, Author) are synchronized with the media record.
• Interactive Indicators: Books that are not consolidated display a yellow "Not Consolidated" button/badge. For authorized users, this badge acts as a shortcut to trigger the consolidation process directly from the bookshelf.
• Interactive Conflict Resolution: Detects folder collisions and prompts the user to either merge items or rename the target folder.
• Empty Directory Cleanup: After moving an item, the feature recursively deletes any parent directories that have become empty.

How it Works

1. Folder Name Generation

The target folder name is generated using the first author listed and the book title, sanitized to be valid for the local filesystem. This logic is mirrored on both the server and the client for real-time UI updates.

• Pattern: Author - Title
• Sanitization: Special characters are removed or replaced to ensure compatibility across different operating systems, including handling character-based truncation for long filenames.

2. Status Tracking

• Database Hook: A beforeSave hook in LibraryItem.js synchronizes denormalized metadata and recalculates the isNotConsolidated flag using checkIsNotConsolidated(). This ensures that SQL-based filters (like "Not Consolidated") are always accurate.
• Backend API: The LibraryItem model's serialization methods (toOldJSON) return the persisted isNotConsolidated flag. This maintains perfect parity between the items shown in a filtered listing and the status indicators visible on their cards.
• Frontend: Computed properties in LazyBookCard.vue and item/_id/index.vue rely on the server-provided isNotConsolidated property, ensuring consistent behavior across the application.

3. Path Validation and Conflict Resolution

Before moving any files, the system checks if the destination folder already exists.

• Normal Flow: If the destination does not exist, the item is moved.
• Conflict Detection: If the destination already exists, the server returns a 409 Conflict error containing information about the existing path and any library item already located there.
• Interactive Resolution: The frontend catches this conflict and presents a Consolidation Conflict Dialog, offering two strategies:
  • Merge Contents: Moves all files from the current item into the existing folder.
    • Collision Handling: If a file with the same name already exists in the destination folder, the incoming file is automatically renamed with a timestamp suffix (e.g., audio_1708174523.mp3) to prevent data loss.
  • Rename Destination: Allows the user to provide a custom folder name (e.g., adding " (Digital)" or " (v2)") to avoid the collision.

4. File Movement (handleMoveLibraryItem)

• For Folders: The directory is moved to the new path. If merging, contents are moved individually.
• For Single Files: A new directory is created at the destination, and the file is moved into that directory. The item's isFile status is updated from true to false.
• Force Merge: When explicitly requested (after user confirmation), the move operation will bypass the existence check and combine the file contents.

5. Cleanup

The system identifies the previous parent directory of the book. If that directory is now empty (and is not a root library folder), it is deleted. This process repeats upwards until it hits a non-empty directory or a library root.

Usage

Single Item (Detail View)

1. Open a book in the web interface.
2. If the book is not consolidated, a "Not Consolidated" warning icon will appear next to the title.
3. Click the Consolidate button (folder icon) in the action bar.

Bookshelf View (Shortcut)

• For items that are not consolidated, a yellow Consolidate Button (folder icon) appears in the bottom-left of the book card.
• Clicking this button triggers the consolidation confirmation dialog immediately.
• The button is positioned to avoid overlapping with selection controls and adapts if the book is an ebook.

Context Menu

• Right-click any book card in the library listing and select Consolidate.

Batch Action

1. Select multiple books using the selection tool (or Ctrl+Click/Shift+Click).
2. Click the Consolidate option in the batch action bar at the top of the listing.
3. In the confirmation dialog, you can check "Merge contents on conflict" to automatically apply the merge strategy to all items. If unchecked, conflicting items will be skipped and reported in a summary toast.

Conflict Resolution Dialog (Single Item)

If the target consolidation folder already exists for a single item, an interactive dialog will appear:

• Merge Contents: Combine all files into the existing folder (renaming on collision).
• Rename Destination: Provide a custom alternative folder name.

Technical Notes

• File System: Requires write permissions on the library directories.
• Watcher: The system temporarily ignores the moving directories in the file watcher to prevent duplicate scanning during the move.
• Socket Events: UI updates are triggered via item_updated socket events, ensuring the "Not Consolidated" indicator disappears immediately after a successful operation.
• Cross-Platform: Path detection logic uses POSIX-style normalization to ensure consistent behavior on both Linux and Windows servers.