File naming patterns

Configure automatic file organization using metadata placeholders. Patterns are applied when uploading books, finalizing Bookdrop imports, moving files between libraries, and (optionally) after metadata updates.

How Patterns Work

Patterns are text templates with placeholders in curly braces. When a file is processed, Trove replaces each placeholder with the book's actual metadata and renames/moves the file accordingly.

{authors}/{series}/{seriesIndex} - {title}

Produces:

J.K. Rowling/Harry Potter/01 - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.epub

The file extension is always added automatically.

Available Placeholders

Placeholder	Description	Example
`{title}`	Book title	The Hobbit
`{subtitle}`	Book subtitle	There and Back Again
`{authors}`	Author name(s)	J.R.R. Tolkien
`{year}`	Publication year	1937
`{series}`	Series name	Middle-earth
`{seriesIndex}`	Series position, zero-padded	01
`{language}`	Language code	en
`{publisher}`	Publisher name	Allen & Unwin
`{isbn}`	ISBN (prefers ISBN-13)	9780547928227
`{currentFilename}`	Original filename with extension	hobbit_original.epub

Modifiers

Add a modifier after a colon to change how a value is written:

Modifier	Gives	Example with authors "Arthur Conan Doyle, Joseph Bell"
`{authors:first}`	Only the first of several values	Arthur Conan Doyle
`{authors:sort}`	The first value, surname first	Doyle, Arthur Conan
`{authors:initial}`	One capital letter (for authors, of the first author's surname)	D
`{title:upper}`, `{title:lower}`	Upper or lower case	A STUDY IN SCARLET

So {authors:initial}/{authors:sort}/{title} gives D/Doyle, Arthur Conan/A Study in Scarlet.epub, the layout many large libraries use. {extension} is also available, though the extension is added for you anyway.

Folder Structures

Use forward slashes to create nested folder structures:

{authors}/{series}/{seriesIndex} - {title}
→ J.K. Rowling/Harry Potter/01 - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.epub

Trailing slash keeps the original filename:

{title}/
→ Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone/harry1_original.epub

Leading slash creates an absolute path from the library root:

/{authors}/{title}
→ /J.K. Rowling/Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.epub

Optional Blocks

Wrap parts of a pattern in angle brackets (<...>) to make them conditional. If any placeholder inside the block has no value, the entire block is removed.

<{seriesIndex} - >{title}

With series index: 01 - Dune.epub
Without series index: Dune.epub

This is essential for metadata that may be missing, like series, subtitle, or ISBN.

Otherwise

Put a | inside a block to give an alternative for when the first part can't be filled: <{series}|Standalone>/{title} files books without a series under Standalone.

Examples

Subtitle block:

{title}<: {subtitle}>

With subtitle: Project Hail Mary: A Novel.epub
Without: Project Hail Mary.epub

Full series path with fallbacks:

{authors}/<{series}/><{seriesIndex}. >{title}

Full metadata: Andy Weir/The Martian Series/02. Project Hail Mary.epub
No series: Andy Weir/Project Hail Mary.epub

Decorative brackets:

<[{series}] >{title} - {authors}

With series: [Harry Potter] Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling.epub
Without: Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling.epub

Worked Examples

With Complete Metadata

Sample book: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling, Series: Harry Potter #1, Year: 1997, Original file: harry1_original.epub

Pattern	Output
`{authors} - {title}`	`J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.epub`
`{authors}/{series}/{seriesIndex} - {title}`	`J.K. Rowling/Harry Potter/01 - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.epub`
`{title}/`	`Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone/harry1_original.epub`
`{authors}/{series}/{currentFilename}`	`J.K. Rowling/Harry Potter/harry1_original.epub`
`/{authors}/{title}`	`/J.K. Rowling/Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.epub`

With Missing Metadata

Sample book: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, Year: 2021, no series, no subtitle. Original file: project_hail_mary_final.epub

Pattern	Output	What happened
`{authors}/<{series}/><{seriesIndex}. >{title}< ({year})>`	`Andy Weir/Project Hail Mary (2021).epub`	Series and index blocks removed, year block kept
`<{seriesIndex}. >{title}< - {authors}>`	`Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir.epub`	Index block removed
`<[{series}] >{title} - {authors}`	`Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir.epub`	Brackets and series removed entirely
`{title}<: {subtitle}>`	`Project Hail Mary.epub`	Subtitle block removed

Safe file names

Whatever the metadata says, the names Trove creates are safe on every common filesystem, including SMB shares and Windows: the characters \ / : * ? " < > | are removed from values, names don't end in a space or a full stop, reserved Windows names such as CON, PRN or LPT1 are avoided, and very long titles are shortened. The same applies to {currentFilename}. Renaming a file only in upper or lower case works on case-insensitive shares too.

Configuration

Default Pattern

The default pattern applies to all libraries unless overridden. Set it in the Default File Naming Pattern section, then click Save. A live preview shows what the output would look like.

If no pattern is configured at all, files keep their original filename.

Library-Specific Overrides

Each library can have its own pattern. Leave a library's pattern empty to inherit the default. Click Clear to remove an override.

Some useful per-library patterns:

Library Type	Pattern
Comics/Manga	`{series}/{seriesIndex} - {title}`
Academic	`{year}/{authors} - {title}`
Audiobooks	`{authors}/{title}/`
Fiction	`{authors}/<{series}/><{seriesIndex}. >{title}`
Multi-language	`{language}/{authors}/{title}`

When Patterns Are Applied

Uploads to a library
Bookdrop imports when finalizing files into a library
File moves between libraries or subfolders
Metadata updates, if the "Auto-Move Files on Metadata Update" setting is enabled for that library