Content restrictions
Content Restrictions let admins control what books are visible to specific users based on metadata like categories, tags, moods, age ratings, and content ratings.
Configuration
Content restrictions are set per user in Settings › Users. Expand a user's card to find the Content Restrictions section.
Restriction Types
| Type | Description | Example values |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Filter by book genre/category | Horror, Romance, True Crime |
| Tag | Filter by book tags | violence, explicit-language |
| Mood | Filter by book moods | dark, disturbing |
| Age Rating | Filter by numeric age rating | 0, 6, 10, 13, 16, 18, 21 |
| Content Rating | Filter by content rating label | Everyone, Teen, Mature, Adult, Explicit |
The value dropdowns are populated dynamically from your actual library metadata, so only categories, tags, and moods that exist in your collection are available to select.
Restriction Modes
Each restriction operates in one of two modes:
Exclude
Hides any book that matches the restricted value. For example, excluding the category "Horror" removes all horror books from the user's view.
For age ratings in exclude mode, the system uses the minimum excluded age as a ceiling. Excluding age 13 and above means the user only sees books rated below 13.
Allow Only
Shows only books that match the allowed values. For example, allowing only the category "Children" means the user sees nothing else.
Both modes can be combined across different restriction types. A user can have exclude restrictions on categories and allow-only restrictions on content ratings at the same time.
How Restrictions Are Enforced
Restrictions apply in two places:
- Book listings are filtered before results are returned, so restricted books never appear in the book browser, shelves, magic shelves, or search results
- Direct book access is checked when opening a specific book. If a restricted book is accessed directly (e.g., via URL), the server returns a 403 Forbidden response
They also apply outside the web app, wherever the user reaches their books:
- OPDS feeds leave restricted books out.
- The Komga API shows the user's OPDS logins only the libraries they've been given, without restricted books. Asking for a restricted book by its ID gets "not found".
- Kobo sync doesn't send restricted books to the device, and a Kobo can't download or fetch details for them, even if they're on the user's Kobo shelf.
- Shelves: a user can't put a restricted book on a shelf, including their Kobo shelf.