OPDS catalog ​

The OPDS plugin serves your library to native comic-reader apps — Panels, Chunky, KyBook, and anything else that speaks OPDS. Browse your series, download issues, or stream them page-by-page, all from your phone or tablet.

Connecting an app ​

Point your OPDS reader at:

http(s)://<your-backissue-host>/api/opds

Sign in with your BackIssue username and password — OPDS uses HTTP Basic auth against your account, so access follows your role and permissions like everything else.

If your account signs in through an external login backend (e.g. a billing or directory integration that checks a username and password), those same credentials work for OPDS too. Accounts that only sign in through an external button — with no BackIssue password of their own — should instead generate an API key on their Profile and use that with a reader that supports header or key auth.

Your personal catalog address (with a copy button) is also shown on your Profile page, under Connect a reader app.

OPDS 1.2 or 2.0? ​

BackIssue serves both catalog formats from the same library — point your app at whichever it prefers:

• OPDS 1.2 (Atom/XML) — http(s)://<host>/api/opds — the widest compatibility; use this if unsure.
• OPDS 2.0 (JSON) — http(s)://<host>/api/opds/v2 — the newer format some modern readers use.

Both offer the same shelves, search, downloads, and covers. Page-by-page streaming (PSE) is an OPDS 1.2 feature, so readers that stream pages should use the 1.2 URL. The two roots link to each other, so a client that prefers JSON can discover the 2.0 catalog on its own.

If your reader says the credentials are wrong even though they're right, make sure you're on a current build — older versions didn't advertise the auth challenge some apps need. Over the internet (not just your LAN), put BackIssue behind HTTPS: Basic auth sends the password base64-encoded, not encrypted.

The catalog ​

Opening the catalog gives you a set of shelves, not just one long list:

• All series — every series with readable files, alphabetical. Large libraries are paginated (50 per page) with next/previous links, so the app never has to load everything at once.
• Recently added — the newest issues to land in your library, most recent first.
• Publishers — browse series grouped by publisher. On the series list, publishers also appear as facets, so readers that support them can filter inline.
• Continue reading and Read later — shown when the Reader plugin is installed. "Continue reading" is your own in-progress, unfinished issues; "Read later" is your personal shelf. Both are per account — everyone sees their own.

Search ​

The catalog advertises OpenSearch, so your reader's search box works: type a title and get a paginated list of matching series to drill into. No search box in your app? Use the Publishers and All series shelves to browse.

Reading & downloading ​

• Download — every issue offers its file (CBZ/CBR/PDF) as a standard OPDS acquisition link, with its size shown up front and a tidy Series - #012.cbz filename. Downloads are resumable (range requests), so a dropped connection on a large archive picks up where it left off.
• Covers — issues carry cover thumbnails from ComicVine even without the Reader plugin.
• Page streaming (OPDS-PSE) — when the Reader plugin is also installed, issues expose per-page streaming, so apps can read page-by-page without downloading the whole archive first. Covers and thumbnails then come through that pipeline at the size the app asks for.
• Progress syncs both ways over streaming. Stream links carry your resume point (pse:lastRead), so a PSE app opens an issue where you left off — on any device. And streaming a page records progress the same way the built-in reader does: your resume point only ever moves forward (an app prefetching pages can't rewind you), fetching the last page marks the issue read, and it all feeds "Continue reading", the apps, and reading stats (including Gamify, where streamed pages count as real reading). Toggle it under Settings → Plugins → OPDS progress sync; a client can also opt out per-request with ?progress=0 on the stream URL.

Whole-file downloads don't sync progress — plain OPDS has no channel for it; once the file is in the app, reading happens offline.

Only valid, ComicVine-matched files are served, and the best (tagged) copy of each issue is chosen automatically.

Access control ​

OPDS access is its own grantable permission (OPDS catalog), so you can allow or withhold external-app access per role — independent of in-browser reading. Series flagged mature are hidden from the catalog for roles without the View mature content permission — the same rule the web app enforces. See Users & access.