Tasks

Manage automated system tasks for library maintenance, metadata refreshing, and cleanup. Execute tasks manually, monitor progress in real-time, and configure scheduled automation using cron expressions.

Navigate to Settings > Tasks to access this page. Requires the Access Task Manager permission.

System Tasks

Each task can be run by hand or on a schedule.

Refresh Metadata

Re-reads book information (title, author, cover, etc.) from your files and updates the Trove database.

This task has a Metadata Replace Mode option:

When to use:

• After editing book files outside Trove
• After bulk imports where embedded metadata needs to be read
• To recover metadata from book files after a database issue

Sync Library Files

Scans your library folders to detect new books and removes entries for files that no longer exist.

When to use:

• After adding or removing files manually on disk
• When library monitoring (watch folders) is disabled
• To reconcile the database with the actual files on the filesystem

Bookdrop Periodic Scanning

Scans the Bookdrop ingest folder for newly added files and queues them for Bookdrop processing.

When to use:

• When Bookdrop isn't noticing new files, for example when its folder is on a network share
• To process files dropped into the ingest folder while Trove was offline
• As a scheduled fallback alongside real-time Bookdrop monitoring

Update Book Recommendations

Analyzes your library to generate personalized book recommendations based on the books you own. Computes similarity scores between all books using text embeddings and stores the top recommendations for each book.

When to use:

• After adding a significant number of new books
• Periodically (e.g., weekly) to keep recommendations fresh
• After major metadata updates that change titles, descriptions, or categories

Cleanup Deleted Books

Permanently removes database entries for books you previously deleted from your libraries. Deleted books are soft-deleted first and this task handles the final cleanup.

A badge shows how many books are pending cleanup (e.g., "Books pending cleanup: 5").

When to use: Run periodically to keep the database clean, or manually after a large batch deletion.

Cleanup Temporary Metadata

Removes temporary metadata records created during the Bookdrop and manual metadata review processes. These are intermediate records that are no longer needed after processing completes.

A badge shows how many records are pending cleanup (e.g., "Metadata rows pending cleanup: 12").

When to use: Run periodically to prevent temporary data from accumulating, or manually after heavy Bookdrop or metadata editing sessions.

Check Book File Integrity

Reads every book file and reports those that are damaged: for EPUB and comic archives it checks every entry against its checksum, and for PDFs, M4B/M4A and MP3 files it checks the file's structure, not just its first bytes. Damaged books are listed in the task's result and the server log so you can re-import them from a good copy.

When to use:

• After moving a library to a new disk or a network share
• If books fail to open, or a reader shows garbled pages
• Now and then, on a schedule, as a check on your storage

Fill Missing Page Counts

Gives books with no page count one worked out from their files, for when neither the file nor any metadata source had one. The task card shows how many books are still missing a count. Audiobooks have no pages and are left out.

For the estimate, the task first measures how many words fit on a page in your library: it takes up to 300 of your books that already have a page count and an EPUB or FB2, divides their words by their pages, and uses the median, so an odd edition doesn't skew it. With fewer than 20 such books it uses 300 words a page. The result message says which figure it used and how many books got each kind of count.

Estimated counts show with a ~ on the book's page. They're never used for measuring, and a real page count from a metadata refresh or your own edit replaces them. Books that already have a page count, or whose page count is locked, are left alone.

When to use: after importing books or refreshing metadata, when the Page Count filter or reading statistics have gaps. It can also run on a schedule to catch new books.

Running Tasks

Click the Run button on any task to execute it immediately. While a task is running:

• A progress bar shows completion percentage
• A status message shows what's currently being processed (e.g., "Processing: filename.epub (Library: My Books)")
• A started timestamp shows when the task began
• A Cancel button appears to stop the task

Some tasks (Refresh Metadata and Update Book Recommendations) run asynchronously in the background. Others run synchronously but still show progress. Only one instance of each task can run at a time.

Scheduling Tasks

Every task supports cron-based scheduling. Each task card shows its schedule on the right side:

• Cron expression displayed as a badge (e.g., 0 45 0 * * 1)
• Enable/disable toggle to activate or deactivate the schedule
• Edit button (pencil icon) to modify the expression

Click the edit button to enter a new cron expression. Trove uses Spring cron format with 6 fields:

┌───────────── second (0-59)
│ ┌───────────── minute (0-59)
│ │ ┌───────────── hour (0-23)
│ │ │ ┌───────────── day of month (1-31)
│ │ │ │ ┌───────────── month (1-12)
│ │ │ │ │ ┌───────────── day of week (0-7, 0 and 7 = Sunday)
│ │ │ │ │ │
* * * * * *

Common Schedule Examples

Task Status

Each task shows its current state with a colored indicator:

Handling Stale Tasks

A task becomes stale when no progress updates have been received for over 5 minutes. This usually means the task is stuck. When a task is stale:

1. A warning box appears: "This task appears stuck. No updates received for over 5 minutes."
2. The Run button changes to Re-run, allowing you to restart the task

Notes

• All task executions are recorded in the Audit Log with the action Task Executed.
• Tasks run one at a time per type. You cannot start a second instance of a task that's already running.
• Scheduled tasks run as the system user. Manual tasks run as the currently logged-in user.
• Progress updates are delivered in real-time via WebSocket, so you don't need to refresh the page.
• The Refresh Metadata task also requires the Bulk Auto Fetch Metadata permission.