Publishers Commands

CLI commands for managing publishers

2 min read

Manage publishers and publishing houses in your library.

colibri publishers list ​

List all publishers in your library.

bash
colibri publishers list [options]

Options ​

Option Description
--limit Number of results (default: 20)
--search Search by name
--json Output as JSON

Examples ​

bash
# List all publishers
colibri publishers list

# Search for a specific publisher
colibri publishers list --search "Penguin"

# Export as JSON
colibri publishers list --json > publishers.json

colibri publishers add ​

Add a new publisher manually.

bash
colibri publishers add <name>

Options ​

Option Description
--location Publisher location/city
--founded Year founded
--website Publisher website URL
--description Publisher description

Examples ​

bash
# Basic addition
colibri publishers add "Penguin Random House"

# With full details
colibri publishers add "Tor Books" 
  --location "New York, NY" 
  --founded 1980 
  --website "https://www.tor.com" 
  --description "Science fiction and fantasy publisher"

colibri publishers inspect ​

View details about a specific publisher and their books.

bash
colibri publishers inspect <publisher-id>

Output ​

Displays:

  • Publisher name and details
  • Location and founding year
  • Total books published
  • List of works in your library

Examples ​

bash
# View by ID
colibri publishers inspect abc123

# With JSON output
colibri publishers inspect abc123 --json

colibri publishers edit ​

Update publisher metadata.

bash
colibri publishers edit <publisher-id> [options]

Options ​

Option Description
--name Update publisher name
--location Update location
--website Update website URL
--description Update description

Examples ​

bash
# Update name
colibri publishers edit abc123 --name "Penguin Random House LLC"

# Update multiple fields
colibri publishers edit abc123 
  --location "New York, NY" 
  --website "https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com"

colibri publishers merge ​

Merge duplicate publishers.

bash
colibri publishers merge <source-id> <target-id>

Description ​

Merges all books from the source publisher into the target publisher, then deletes the source.

Examples ​

bash
# Merge "Penguin" into "Penguin Random House"
colibri publishers merge penguin-id random-house-id

# Preview merge without executing
colibri publishers merge penguin-id random-house-id --dry-run

colibri publishers enrich ​

Fetch metadata for a publisher from external sources.

bash
colibri publishers enrich <publisher-id>

Sources ​

Fetches data from:

  • Wikidata
  • VIAF
  • Open Library
  • ISBNdb (if configured)

Options ​

Option Description
--provider Use specific provider only
--preview Show changes without applying

Examples ​

bash
# Enrich from all sources
colibri publishers enrich abc123

# Preview changes
colibri publishers enrich abc123 --preview

# Use specific provider
colibri publishers enrich abc123 --provider wikidata

colibri publishers delete ​

Delete a publisher from your library.

bash
colibri publishers delete <publisher-id>

Behavior ​

  • If publisher has books, deletion is blocked by default
  • Use --force to delete and orphan the books
  • Use --reassign to move books to another publisher first

Options ​

Option Description
--force Delete even if books exist
--reassign <id> Move books to another publisher first

Examples ​

bash
# Delete publisher (fails if books exist)
colibri publishers delete abc123

# Reassign books first
colibri publishers delete abc123 --reassign xyz789

# Force deletion (orphans books)
colibri publishers delete abc123 --force

colibri publishers works ​

List all works by a publisher.

bash
colibri publishers works <publisher-id>

Options ​

Option Description
--limit Number of results (default: 20)
--sort Sort by: title, date, author
--json Output as JSON

Examples ​

bash
# List works
colibri publishers works abc123

# Sort by publication date
colibri publishers works abc123 --sort date

# Export as JSON
colibri publishers works abc123 --json > penguin-books.json

colibri publishers import ​

Bulk import publisher data from a CSV file.

bash
colibri publishers import <csv-file>

CSV Format ​

csv
name,location,founded,website,description
"Tor Books","New York, NY",1980,"https://tor.com","SF/Fantasy publisher"
"Orbit Books","London, UK",1974,"https://orbitbooks.net","Science fiction imprint"

Options ​

Option Description
--dry-run Preview import without creating
--update Update existing publishers

Examples ​

bash
# Import publishers
colibri publishers import publishers.csv

# Preview import
colibri publishers import publishers.csv --dry-run

# Import and update existing
colibri publishers import publishers.csv --update

colibri publishers export ​

Export publisher data to CSV or JSON.

bash
colibri publishers export [options]

Options ​

Option Description
--format Output format: csv, json (default: csv)
--output Output file path
--include-works Include work counts

Examples ​

bash
# Export to CSV
colibri publishers export --output publishers.csv

# Export to JSON
colibri publishers export --format json --output publishers.json

# Include work statistics
colibri publishers export --include-works

colibri publishers stats ​

Show statistics about publishers in your library.

bash
colibri publishers stats

Output ​

Displays:

  • Total publishers
  • Publishers by location
  • Top publishers by book count
  • Average books per publisher
  • Publishers without books

Examples ​

bash
# Show stats
colibri publishers stats

# JSON output
colibri publishers stats --json

Tips and Workflows ​

Cleaning Up Duplicates ​

Find and merge duplicate publishers:

bash
# List publishers, look for duplicates
colibri publishers list > publishers.txt

# Merge duplicates
colibri publishers merge duplicate-id canonical-id

Enriching Your Library ​

Enrich all publishers with metadata:

bash
# Get list of publisher IDs
colibri publishers list --json | jq -r '.[].id' > ids.txt

# Enrich each one
cat ids.txt | while read id; do
  colibri publishers enrich $id
  sleep 1  # Rate limiting
done

Finding Orphaned Publishers ​

Publishers with no books:

bash
colibri publishers stats | grep "Publishers without books"

Batch Updates ​

Update multiple publishers from CSV:

bash
# Export current data
colibri publishers export --output current.csv

# Edit in spreadsheet
# ... make changes ...

# Import updates
colibri publishers import updated.csv --update