Manual Import
Manual import lets you bring existing audiobooks into Narratorr’s library from a directory on disk — useful for migrating an existing collection or importing files you’ve obtained outside of Narratorr.
Access it from the Library Actions menu on the Library page and choose Import, or go directly to /import.
Workflow
Section titled “Workflow”Step 1: Select a Directory
Section titled “Step 1: Select a Directory”Enter or browse to a directory containing audiobook folders. The directory should have subfolders for each book (e.g., organized as Author/Title or similar).
Click the Browse button to open the directory browser, which lets you navigate the filesystem visually. The browser also offers Favorite Folders and Recent Folders lists so you can quickly return to directories you use often.
Manual Import is for folders outside your library path. If you point it at a folder inside the library path, scanning is blocked and Narratorr links you to the separate Library Import flow, which registers existing books in place.
Step 2: Scan and Review
Section titled “Step 2: Scan and Review”Click Scan to discover audiobooks. Narratorr:
- Scans the directory for subfolders containing audio files
- Attempts to match each folder to a known book using metadata lookup
- Shows a card for each discovered book with match confidence
Each card shows:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Matched | Confident metadata match found — ready to import |
| Review | Partial match — you may want to verify or edit the metadata |
| No Match | No metadata match found — edit to provide correct details |
| Already in library | A matching book already exists in your library — starts unchecked, but can still be force-imported |
| Duplicate in scan | Another folder in the same scan resolves to this book — starts unchecked, but can still be force-imported |
With multiple editions, Already in library means the same recording is already owned — a different recording of a book you own (a full-cast vs. an unabridged, say) is not flagged and imports into its own edition folder. A book narratorr can’t confidently classify is held for review (see below) rather than imported or skipped.
You can:
- Select/deselect individual books or use “select all”
- Edit any book’s metadata — title, author, narrator, series info
- Choose from alternative matches if the auto-match wasn’t right
Step 3: Import
Section titled “Step 3: Import”Choose an import mode:
| Mode | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Copy | Copies files into the library folder, leaving originals in place (default) |
| Move | Moves files to the library folder |
Click Import to process all selected books. Narratorr moves/copies each book’s files into the library using your configured folder format, creates database records, and enriches each book’s metadata. Tagging and post-processing scripts apply to downloads, not manual imports — manual import does not embed audio tags or run the post-processing script. (It does write an OPF metadata sidecar when that setting is enabled — the OPF sidecar is independent of tag embedding.)
Editions and held-for-review. A different recording of a book you already own is imported alongside it in a separate edition folder — the existing recording is never overwritten. If narratorr can’t confidently classify a book (same recording, or different?), it’s held for review: after the import runs, held books appear in a review panel where you can re-confirm them or force the import. Forcing bypasses the duplicate check but never overwrites files on disk.
- Point to a parent folder containing multiple book subfolders — Narratorr discovers each one
- Books that already exist in your library (or appear more than once in the scan) are flagged and start unchecked, but you can still select them to force-import
- Unmatched books can still be imported after manually entering the metadata
- Use the Favorite Folders and Recent Folders lists in the browser to jump back to directories you scan often