Kobo

Sync books from your Trove library to your Kobo eReader. Books are managed through a dedicated Kobo shelf. Adding or removing books from this shelf controls what syncs to your device.

What You'll Achieve

With Kobo integration, you can:

Access your entire Trove library on your Kobo eReader
Sync books automatically between Trove and your device

Key Features & Capabilities

Smart Shelf Management

Dedicated Kobo Shelf: Each user gets a special Kobo shelf that automatically syncs with their device
Two-Way Synchronization: Add/remove books in Trove or on your Kobo - changes sync both ways
Instant Updates: Book changes reflect immediately after syncing

Shelf Sync to Kobo Collections

Your shelves and magic shelves are automatically synced to your Kobo as collections, helping you organize your reading on the device.

Automatic Sync: Each shelf in Trove appears as a collection on your Kobo
Magic Shelves Included: Dynamic magic shelves are synced the same way

Device Integration

Seamless Setup: One-time configuration connects your Kobo to Trove
Proxy Support: Access both your Trove library and Kobo Store purchases
Multiple Users: Each user has their own independent Kobo integration

File Support

EPUB books sync as they are, or converted to KEPUB (Kobo's own flavour, with better typography and reading statistics) if an admin turns on Convert to KEPUB.
Comics (CBZ, CBR, CB7) sync when an admin turns on Convert CBX to EPUB.
PDFs and audiobooks don't sync to a Kobo.

Nginx Reverse Proxy Configuration

If you use nginx as a reverse proxy, add these settings for Kobo sync to work properly:

proxy_set_header Host $host;
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $host;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Port $server_port;

proxy_buffer_size 128k;
proxy_buffers 4 256k;
proxy_busy_buffers_size 256k;
large_client_header_buffers 8 32k;

Step 1: Switch on Kobo sync

Go to Settings › Devices and find Kobo Integration Configuration
Switch on Enable Kobo Sync. Trove creates your Kobo Sync Token
Copy the token with the copy button (the eye button shows it)

Kobo sync switched on, with the sync token and progress thresholds

The same section has your personal options:

Setting	What it does
Two-Way Reading Progress Sync	Also sends your place in Trove's own reader to the Kobo, not just the Kobo's to Trove
Mark as Reading at	Progress at which a book counts as started (1% by default)
Mark as Finished at	Progress at which a book counts as read (99% by default, allowing for notes and index pages)
Auto-Add New Books to Kobo Shelf	Puts every newly added book on your Kobo shelf

Admins also see Administrator Settings for everyone: KEPUB conversion and its size limit, forced hyphenation, and converting comics to EPUB. See Device settings. Regenerate Token makes a new token; the Kobo then needs the new address.

Step 2: Configure Your Kobo

Connect your Kobo to your computer via USB
Enable hidden files in your file manager
Open .kobo/Kobo/Kobo eReader.conf in a text editor

Find the [OneStoreServices] section and update the api_endpoint line:

Local network:

api_endpoint=http://192.168.1.100:6060/api/kobo/YOUR-TOKEN

Remote server (with reverse proxy):

api_endpoint=https://trove.example.com/api/kobo/YOUR-TOKEN

Before Change After Change

Save the file and safely eject your Kobo

Step 3: Sync Books

In Trove, click the three-dot menu on any book card and select Assign Shelf
Choose your Kobo shelf

Repeat for all books you want on your device

On your Kobo, go to My Books and tap the sync icon, then Sync Now

Your Trove books appear on the device

Removing Books

From the Kobo device

Tap the three dots on the book cover and select Remove

Select Remove from My Books

Tap Sync Now to push the change back to Trove

The book is removed from your Kobo shelf in Trove but remains in your main library.

The Kobo shelf after Dracula was removed on the device

From Trove

Go to your Kobo shelf
Click the three-dot menu on the book and select Assign Shelf
Uncheck the Kobo shelf and save
Sync your Kobo device to apply the change

Viewing Synced Progress

Reading progress from your Kobo appears on the book's detail page in Trove as Kobo Progress, with an orange badge and a red bar under the cover.

Frankenstein's page showing Kobo Progress of 63%

Click the reset arrow beside it to clear the Kobo progress in Trove. This does not affect the device's read status.

Granting Access to Other Users

By default, only admins have Kobo Sync enabled. To grant it to other users:

Go to Settings > Users
Click on the user
Enable the Kobo Sync permission
Save

The user can then find their own API token in Settings > Devices and follow the setup steps above. Each user gets their own token and Kobo shelf.

Troubleshooting

Books you deleted from Trove

A Kobo keeps reporting reading progress for books it still holds, even after you delete them from Trove or take them off the Kobo shelf. Trove accepts that progress without saving it, so the sync carries on, and the next sync removes the books from the device.

Sync fails, or the site stops loading, after a burst of errors

If your server runs fail2ban (or a similar tool) with a rule that bans addresses after many "not found" (404) responses, it can ban your own home. Your Kobo, phone and browser all reach Trove from your home's one public address, so a sync or a page of missing covers can add up to a ban. The site then refuses connections from everything at home, though Trove itself is running fine. Check with sudo fail2ban-client status, and add your home network to the ignore list:

printf '[DEFAULT]\nignoreip = 127.0.0.1/8 ::1 192.168.1.0/24 YOUR.PUBLIC.IP\n' | sudo tee /etc/fail2ban/jail.d/local-network.local
sudo fail2ban-client reload

Use your own network range and public address in place of the examples.