Release notes ​

What changed in each release, newest first. Every version here matches a ghcr.io/backissueapp/backissue image tag of the same number, so 0.8.4 in this list is the 0.8.4 image.

Upgrading is pull and recreate; your data directory carries the database, settings and installed plugins across, so nothing is lost between versions.

Each version also has a GitHub release with its build attached.

Unreleased ​

These changes are on the dev image and are not in a tagged release yet.

Added ​

• Assign a file to an issue by hand. On a series page, each file the app could not match to an issue now has an Assign to issue picker: choose the issue and the file links to it at once. The choice is remembered per file, so rescans, re-matches and metadata refreshes keep it (a re-match to a different volume drops it). For files whose number the app cannot read, or reads wrongly, without renaming or retagging anything. A file that linked to the wrong issue can be moved from that issue's own file list (open the issue, Move to another issue…), and a hand assignment undone there too.

Fixed ​

• Files named "Series (Year) Volume 01 Issue 002" read the volume number as the issue number, so every file in the folder landed as issue 1 and the rest showed as missing. An explicit issue marker ("Issue 002", "No. 12", "Issue #3") now names the issue outright, and a volume marker ("Volume 01", "Vol. 3", "v2") is never mistaken for one — unless it is the only number in the name, as on a trade.

0.8.4 ​

Released 2026-09-14.

Added ​

• Books and audiobooks from your download sources. A plugin can now ask the app to download a book or audiobook (api.downloadMedia) and the same sources that serve comics go looking: usenet and torrent search the book and audiobook categories with a matcher built for how book releases are named (author and title, no issue number; the right kind of file), and a site source takes part when its definition declares types: ['ebook'] or ['audiobook']. The plugin that owns the library type files the result (api.registerMediaHandler) and whoever asked is told when it lands (api.onMediaDownload). The Requests plugin uses this to fill approved book requests. A book with an ISBN is asked for by ISBN first on catalog sites, so the exact edition wins over a look-alike. A site source may verify what it downloaded and refuse it (an EPUB whose own metadata says it is a translation, say); the next-best candidate is tried.

• Sites behind DDoS-Guard. Its interstitial is recognised as a challenge, a FlareSolverr "solve" that hands back the interstitial (the manual captcha it escalates headless browsers to) is reported as one rather than parsed as a page, and once the app's own browser clears a site, its cookies are reused for plain requests to it. A site source can mark a setting secret: true to have it masked on its card.

• Books and audiobooks show in the queue. A book being searched for, downloaded by a site source, or fetched by a download client is a row on the Queue page with its source and progress, counts toward the sidebar badge, and can be cancelled while a client has it. The log says which source was searched, what release was picked, and what was filed.

• Add finds books and audiobooks. With a Books or Audiobooks library (and its plugin), the Add button gains a tab for it: search the catalog, see what is already on the shelf, add one and the download sources are asked for it.

Fixed ​

• One browser per process: a site source that needs the browser now shares the one a plugin already launched instead of starting a second Chromium on the same profile, which Chromium refuses ("Opening in existing browser session").

0.8.3 ​

Released 2026-09-09.

Added ​

• Reading lists now report how many volumes they span and the first few covers, so a list is recognisable before you open it.
• Filling a reading list's gaps can target specific issues instead of every unowned one in the list.

0.8.2 ​

Released 2026-09-08.

Fixed ​

• A collected edition no longer arrives in place of a single issue. A trade or omnibus numbers its volume where an issue numbers itself, so a request for issue 12 could be answered with volume 12 of a collection — a much larger file, filed under that issue and marked done, so the real issue was never fetched again. A release that announces itself as a collection is now refused when the series being downloaded is not itself a collected run. Collections still match their own releases, a series whose name carries an edition word is unaffected, and a manual search still lists everything so you can choose.

Changed ​

• Download sites are managed together, apart from plugins. A site the app can download from is no longer a plugin of its own: sites live in a sources/ folder, all of them maintained in one place, and appear under Download sites on the Plugins page with a link to their settings. The plugin list stays about plugins as the number of sites grows. A site whose code has to live elsewhere can still be a plugin, and when a plugin offers a site that is already installed, the installed one is used and the log says which plugin was ignored.

• A source is only searched for the library types it serves. A comics site is no longer asked for a manga chapter, and a manga site is no longer asked for a western comic, so a manual search stops waiting on requests that could never match. Sources that carry anything, such as the indexer-backed ones, are unaffected.

Added ​

• One FlareSolverr setting for every source. The service that gets past Cloudflare is something you run, not a property of any one site, so it now lives once in Settings → Downloading instead of being asked for by each source. An address already set on a source is carried over automatically, and still wins for that source if you keep it.
• Sources say whether they need the browser build. The app ships in two builds, and the lean one has no browser at all. A source now declares what it needs, and the app always takes the cheapest route that works: plain HTTP, then FlareSolverr, and the built-in browser only as a last resort. A source that genuinely cannot work without a browser stays switched off on the lean build and says so on its settings card, instead of failing every download it is handed.
• A toolkit for download-site sources. A plugin now describes a site in a few dozen lines — how to search it and where a result's file or page images are — and the app supplies the rest: browser-like HTTP with Cloudflare handling (FlareSolverr when configured), per-site request pacing, the shared release matcher, archive checking and CBR-to-CBZ conversion, page image assembly into a CBZ or PDF, and a settings card with a Test button that the Settings page renders by itself. Manga and manhwa sites, whose chapters are lists of page images, are a first-class shape.

Fixed ​

• The event-loop watchdog now actually restarts a wedged server in Docker. The app ran as the container's first process, and the kernel ignores a process's own kill signal in that position, so the watchdog's restart was silently a no-op (a stalled production server survived it for an hour). The official images now start under tini, which also reaps the health-check probes that piled up as zombie processes during a stall. A server that still finds itself as PID 1 logs a warning saying how to fix it.

0.8.1 ​

Released 2026-09-08.

Added ​

• Diagnostics from the mobile apps. A phone signed in to the server can send its own diagnostics report (device, app build, connection and playback failures) through the server, which wraps it into a support package and returns a code. An admin's phone sends the full package; any other user's phone sends a lite one with no settings, folders, indexers or server log.
• Send to support. Next to the download, "Send to BackIssue support" uploads the same package to the hosted service, authenticated with the install's own metadata key, and shows a short code to quote in the report. The package is kept for 60 days and only the BackIssue team can open it. An optional note travels with it.
• Support package. System → Tools → Getting help downloads one zip to attach to a bug report: version and build, runtime and host, disk and database size, settings with every key, password and token redacted, installed plugins, libraries, jobs and schedules, queued and failed downloads, recent history and the last two thousand log entries with secrets blanked. No comics, user names or e-mail addresses are included.

Fixed ​

• Memory no longer climbs after cover and page resizing. Freed image buffers stayed resident in glibc's allocator; on a large library the server sat at 4 GB after a few bursts of cover renders. The Docker images now run the app with jemalloc, which returns that memory, and fall back to a two-arena malloc where it is missing. Child processes are not preloaded.

Fixed ​

• One collection load on reload, not two. The web app requested the first library page and the chip counts twice at boot.

Fixed ​

• Mobile library filters answer in milliseconds, not seconds. The unpaginated collection list the mobile apps use mapped every series row, including the whole on-demand ebook and audiobook catalogs, before dropping the non-comic rows. On a large library that cost about four seconds per filter change. The exclusion now happens in the query.

Fixed ​

• A frozen server restarts itself. If the main thread stops responding for two minutes, or the heap sits at V8's limit for a minute and a half, a watchdog thread kills the process so Docker's restart policy brings up a fresh one, instead of the site silently timing out for hours. Memory use is logged every ten minutes so a leak leaves a trend in the log. BACKISSUE_WATCHDOG=0 turns it off. The browser image now carries the same health check as the standard one.

0.8.0 ​

Released 2026-09-05.

Fixed ​

• The Add button is always on screen. The library toolbar scrolled sideways with a hidden scrollbar, and Add sat at its far end — off-screen at every desktop width, 1920 included. The filter chips now scroll on their own, with the clipped edge fading out (and a mouse wheel scrolls them), while sort, view, Select, Match and Add stay put. On phones the actions get their own row.
• Every sideways strip says when there is more. Wanted stats and chips, plugin categories, settings tabs, queue bands and release filters fade at the edge that has more content instead of cutting a word in half.
• Adding a series finds the run you mean. Search results are ranked: closest name first, then the familiar publishers and the ones already in your library, newer and longer runs ahead of older and shorter ones. "Batman" now leads with the current DC runs instead of translated reprints.
• The weekly release notice no longer repeats after a restart. It is deduped against the notification already stored for that week.
• A missing series says so. A deleted or mistyped series link shows "This series isn't in your library" with a way back, instead of a header of placeholders and "is the app running?". Unknown URLs get a proper not-found page, and a page your account can't open explains that rather than silently showing Home.
• The browser tab names the page ("Wanted · BackIssue", the series title on a series page), so history and tabs make sense.
• Phones: release rows keep their download button on screen; settings source cards wrap their descriptions; the Wanted skip button and checkboxes are finger-sized; the home page no longer tells you to use a sidebar you can't see.
• Dates on the Releases page read as local short dates ("ships Sep 9") and the last check as "checked 5m ago". Stats names the built-in metadata service instead of claiming a ComicVine key.
• The sign-in error is a sentence. A failed library load in Settings is reported instead of swallowed. Viewers no longer trigger forbidden admin-only requests at start-up.

Changed ​

• No more web fonts. The app linked Google Fonts that its own Content Security Policy blocked, so every install rendered the fallback fonts anyway and logged an error on each page. The link is gone and the system font stacks are now the design.

• Installing, updating or removing a plugin now says it needs a restart. The Plugins page only showed a passing toast, and its restart banner never appeared for those actions (it only tracked enable/disable), so on Docker, with no console to watch, the new or updated plugin silently stayed inactive. The banner now names what is waiting ("Updated Reader to 1.4.0 — restart to apply") with the Restart now button, survives leaving the page, and the catalog reflects what is on disk rather than what the running process loaded.

• Collected editions never auto-downloaded. Automatic search for a trade, hardcover or omnibus appended an issue-style number ("Series TPB 001") that no release carries, so it always came up empty while a manual search found it. Collections are now searched by name (plus "v02"-style for later volumes) and a numberless release is accepted for the first volume. Regular runs are unchanged. Manual search, and download sources that build on the shared search helpers, follow the same rules.

• Official images now carry a signed release attestation that the hosted metadata service uses to recognise genuine BackIssue builds. Nothing to configure and nothing changes for users; builds from source keep working on the service's standard tier.

0.7.95 ​

Released 2026-09-05.

Added ​

• Releases, richer. Collected editions (trades, hardcovers, omnibuses) are hidden by default behind a Collections chip; rows show the ship date, cover date, series start year and volume; a release the feed couldn't place on ComicVine gets a Find button that opens Add pre-filled with its name and year; downloading a brand-new issue refreshes the series on its own first. The weekly release notice names the first few issues, and a series page shows Next: #N · date from this week's and next week's lists.

Fixed ​

• The weekly release feed now carries a full issue name in its title field; the Releases view no longer shows it as a second line under the series, and it is never cached as the issue's story title.

0.7.9 ​

Released 2026-09-04.

Added ​

• Monitoring policies and per-issue picks. Every series now has a monitoring policy — All issues, New issues from #…, or Off — set from the ⋯ menu on the series page or in bulk from the Library. On top of the policy, any issue can be picked or skipped by hand (the target button on issue rows and on the Wanted page); a pick always beats the policy, so you can want one issue of a series you don't otherwise monitor, or skip one issue of a run you do. Pressing Download on an issue the policy doesn't want records a pick, so a failed grab keeps being retried. "Wanted" is now one definition shared by the Wanted page, the search schedules and the RSS and announce watchers.
• Wanted page: gaps, sorting, bulk selection. The page shows what automation is going after, with a picked marker on issues you asked for and each series' policy; All gaps switches to every missing issue, wanted or not, so anything can be wanted with one click. Sort by series, newest/oldest release, or most/fewest wanted; tick rows (shift-click for a range) to Want, Don't want or Download them together. Skipping a queued or failed issue takes it out of the queue.
• Choose the default policy. Settings → Downloading → Monitor added series decides what a series gets when it enters the library (added by hand, Discover, Releases, reading lists, requests, import): All issues, New issues only, or Off. Download on add queues what that policy wants.
• You're told when a picked issue lands. Whoever picked an issue (by hand, from a list, or through an approved request) gets a notification when it arrives, and the pick retires. Picks whose issue turned up by other means (a scan, a pack) are swept up by the nightly wanted search.
• Ongoing / Ended filters in the Library, from enriched publication status, with the status shown on list rows; and System → Tools → Refresh series metadata, which re-pulls every matched series (one request a second, stops cleanly on a rate limit) so older series get that status, enrichment and any issues published since.
• Want a whole reading list. Want all on a list makes every issue on it wanted: series already in the library get the issues picked, series that aren't are added with monitoring off and just those issues picked.
• Download only the issues you asked for. Settings → Downloading → Only the issues that were asked for: when a series is added because of specific issues — a reading-list entry, a release, a CBL import — it arrives with monitoring off and just those issues picked, so only they are downloaded (now, and again if a grab fails). Adding from the Library or Discover, where no particular issue was in mind, still monitors the whole run. Off by default, so nothing changes unless you turn it on.

Changed ​

• Library filters gain Monitored beside Not monitored; series monitoring new issues only show new from #… in the list view, and the bulk bar has a Monitoring… action. The series page shows the policy as a header tag, a Wanted count in the completion bar and a Wanted issue filter; the old on/off Auto-download toggle is replaced by the policy menu.
• Existing libraries migrate automatically: series that were auto-downloading become All issues, everything else Off — nothing that was being fetched stops. The Wanted page now defaults to wanted issues; the previous every-gap view is the All gaps chip.

0.7.8 ​

Released 2026-09-04.

Added ​

• Dedupe good copies. A series with two valid copies of the same issue (two downloads, a scan beside a digital release) had no way to tidy up — "Remove duplicates" only covered corrupt copies a good one had replaced. It now removes extra good copies too, keeping the best (tagged first, then the most pages, then the largest), and says which it kept. Tools → Remove duplicate files does the same library-wide, previewing the good-copy part to Logs unless you tick the box.
• Tools → Re-check mismatched volumes. Finds series whose files go beyond their ComicVine volume's last issue and re-matches them with the improved matcher; a clear winner is applied and its files re-linked, the rest are left for Fix match.

Fixed ​

• Files that were clearly on disk showed their issue as missing. Three causes, all fixed. Filenames in the Series (Year) NNN (tags) style — a common convention for libraries organised by other tools — parsed to no issue number at all, so the file could never be tied to its ComicVine issue. A ComicInfo tag whose <Number> didn't match ComicVine's numbering blocked the link even when the filename was fine; the filename is now tried as well. And 001a-style numbers now match ComicVine's 1A. The series page also gains an unmatched files panel listing any file in the folder that isn't tied to an issue, with the number BackIssue read from it — so the reason is visible instead of the file being silently invisible. Rescanning a series (or the next library scan) relinks existing files; no re-import needed.
• Auto-match no longer picks a same-name mini over the real run. Matching now weighs a volume's issue count against the files you have — a 13-issue volume can't be the home of your #14–#163 — and, when the first search isn't conclusive, also asks ComicVine for that year's volumes by name (common titles have hundreds of volumes and the search stops at 100, so the right run could be missing entirely). It also tries the series name and year the files themselves carry in their tags — a short legacy row ("Jeff") that captured the folder of It's Jeff Infinity Comic now finds the real volume. Fix match counts every file on disk, linked or not, so the right volume ranks first.
• PDFs were flagged corrupt. A PDF was being verified as if it were a ZIP ("not a zip file"); it's now recognised as a PDF, with its page count.
• A completed download with a non-ASCII name could fail to import forever. When the download client's reported file can't be read (a name like "Blüdwire" mangled across a network mount), the job folder is searched for the comic instead; and a release that still can't be read is blocklisted rather than re-grabbed on every wanted search.
• Negative issue numbers (#-1 flashback issues) now link.
• Two series rows on one ComicVine volume. A series added straight from ComicVine while the folder's own row was matched to the wrong volume left two rows — and, once the folder row was re-matched, two copies of every file. Matching now folds a twin row into the one being matched (files, wanted issues and follows move over), and Tools → Merge duplicate series cleans up pairs that already exist.

0.7.7 ​

Released 2026-09-03.

Added ​

• CBL reading lists. Lists → Import CBL takes a .cbl file (the reading-list format shared by many comic apps), or browses the community catalog of 1,700+ curated lists — whole events, character runs and alternate universes, far larger than a single ComicVine story arc — and imports one in a click. The catalog is browsed like the repo itself: publisher folders with counts, breadcrumbs, lists only at the level you're in, and a search that flattens every folder at once; lists you've already imported are marked. Any list can be previewed first — its books in reading order with owned / missing / no-id counts, filters, and same-series runs grouped without reordering — and a file you upload is previewed before anything is created. Books resolve to ComicVine issues by the ids the files carry (with a name + year + number fallback), the file's own reading order is kept, and anything that can't be matched is shown after the import — each with the reason — rather than dropped. Download missing, sharing and OPDS work on the result like any other list.

• URL base for download clients. When a reverse proxy serves a download client under a subpath rather than at the root — common with seedbox providers and Docker stacks — set URL base on the client and BackIssue talks to http://host:port/<base>/api/…. Same field the *arr apps call "URL Base", and available for every client: SABnzbd, NZBGet, qBittorrent, Transmission and Deluge. Blank keeps the previous behaviour exactly. A path typed into the Host field is now understood as a URL base too, instead of producing a broken address like http://host/sabnzbd:8080.

• Share a reading list with everyone. A list (or an imported story arc) can be published so every user sees it alongside their own — useful for a house reading order or a curated run. Only the owner can edit or delete a shared list, and publishing rides a new Share reading lists permission (lists.share, trusted tier) so admins decide who can put a list in front of the whole install. Shared lists never expose mature content to roles that can't otherwise see it.

• Sidecar metadata (share-safe tagging). A new Tag placement setting (Settings → Metadata → Tagging & files, with a per-library override) writes each comic's ComicInfo metadata to a .xml file next to the archive instead of into it. The archive is never modified — its bytes stay identical, so torrents keep seeding and DC-hub share hashes stay valid — and .cbr downloads stay .cbr instead of being converted for tagging. Sidecars are read everywhere embedded tags are (scans, imports, the untagged filter), follow their file through renames and refiling, and are cleaned up with it on delete. When a file has both, the sidecar wins.

Fixed ​

• Auto-search now matches releases tagged with a volume marker. A release named like Stumptown v3 007 carries a vN volume marker before the issue number; the parser was leaving it glued to the series name (Stumptown v3), so the strict auto-download matcher rejected an otherwise perfect match — an issue would show as unfindable automatically even though a manual search surfaced and downloaded it fine. The marker is now stripped, so vN / Vol N releases match by series and issue number as expected.

0.7.65 ​

Released 2026-07-27.

Fixed ​

• New volumes of long-running names no longer missing from Add search. The Add-series and Match-to-ComicVine pickers capped results at 25/20, and ComicVine lists same-name volumes oldest-first — so for names like "Batman" the newest series (the ones people most often add) fell below the cutoff and never appeared. Both pickers now show the full result list. (#2)
• Add-series search no longer stalls the whole app on big libraries. Flagging search results already in the collection looked up each of the 100 results by ComicVine id without an index — at hundreds of thousands of series that table-scanned for ~20 seconds per search, freezing every other request with it. The lookup is now indexed (instant, and the index applies on upgrade).

Added ​

• Search by ComicVine id. The Add-series search accepts cv:166619, a pasted ComicVine URL, or a bare volume id and jumps straight to that volume — the sure route when a name search can't surface the right series. (#2)
• Filter a library by facets. A Filters button on book/audiobook libraries opens a modal that narrows the grid by author, decade, format, and reading status — each with live counts. It filters the real grid, so sorting, search, and paging keep working within the selection. (The facet data comes from a library plugin; libraries without one simply don't show the button.)
• Collections. A Collections entry in the sidebar lists multi-volume book/audiobook series — every series that groups 2+ volumes (box sets) — as a focused view of the Library grid.
• Sort by publication year. The Library sort gains newest- and oldest-first by publication year; books and audiobooks carry the year, and undated titles sort last. Plugins can drive it as the year / year-asc collection sort.

Changed ​

• The paginated collection query can be narrowed to an arbitrary set of series ids by a plugin-registered registerCollectionFilter, which is what backs the Library Filters modal (and the mobile audiobook filters).

0.7.6 ​

Released 2026-07-25.

Added ​

• One remote-media source hook for every media kind. Plugins that back an on-demand library now register through a single registerRemoteMediaSource hook that carries a mediaType (books, audiobooks, …) and supplies either a whole-file download or a range-stream for large files. Adding a new on-demand media type no longer needs a new core hook. The original book-only hook stays as a compatibility alias, so existing source plugins keep working unchanged.

Changed ​

• The Library grid now loads a page at a time (server-side pagination). Filtering, sorting, searching and the library selector all run in SQL, and the grid fetches ~200 rows at a time, loading more as you scroll (infinite scroll) instead of pulling the entire collection up front. On a 141k-entry library the first paint's response dropped from ~57 MB to ~85 KB (the browser no longer parses tens of megabytes to show the first screen), and each filter/sort/search change fetches just the first page. Comics and manga behave exactly as before.
• Library grid loads a very large collection far faster. The collection query is now a single scan that fuses the rows and the filter-chip counts (previously two full passes per load), and its per-series rollups are pre-aggregated in one grouped pass instead of a fistful of per-row subqueries. On a synthetic 150k-entry library this cut a Library load from ~3.9s to ~1.4s server-side. Added a library_files(series_id, valid) index for the ownership rollups.
• The app is much snappier with a large on-demand book catalog. Two fixes: the status poll (every ~2s) was running unindexed full scans of a 141k series table — added series(library_id), series(type), and a partial series(followed) index, cutting its work from ~390 ms to ~35 ms per poll. And opening or scrolling a library now scopes its per-series rollups to just that library (or page) instead of aggregating the whole catalog — opening a 1,600- series Comics library dropped from ~600 ms to ~80 ms; the huge Books library is unchanged.
• Home is now your reading rails; libraries open from the sidebar. The app's home (/) shows your reading shelves (Continue, Next up, and so on) instead of every book, comic and manga at once. Each library is a Libraries entry in the sidebar — selecting one opens its grid. Search still shows results across everything.

Added ​

• "Hide mature content" — a personal preference. Each account can hide series marked mature from their own Library, search, reader and OPDS — even if their role is allowed to see them — from Profile → Content. Nothing is deleted; turning it off shows the content again. (Roles without the mature-content permission never saw it in the first place.)
• On-demand books show in the Library as "available". File-less catalog entries (books that download on first open) now appear in the Library grid alongside your owned books, in their own type lane, with a clear "available" badge — distinct from owned and from missing. An on-demand book is never counted as missing or incomplete: it is there to read, just not on disk yet. A series that mixes owned and on-demand books rolls up correctly (e.g. 2/5 with three available). Comics and manga are unchanged.
• On-demand ebook libraries (plugin hook). registerRemoteBookSource lets a plugin expose an entire remote book catalog as file-less library entries — metadata and covers only, no downloads. The ebooks plugin syncs the catalog into a Books library and fetches each book's file the first time someone opens it to read (cache-on-read), so a huge shelf can be browsed without downloading it up front. The hook is generic: listPage(config, page) paginates the catalog and materialize(config, id, opts) downloads one book on demand.
• Pluggable ebook metadata sources (plugin hook). registerBookMetadataSource lets a plugin supply a book-metadata source that the ebooks plugin tries BEFORE its built-in hosted fallback (by ascending priority). A metadata-source plugin can register as the preferred source, so its richer series/genre data and covers enrich your library when it has the book, with the hosted service filling in the rest.
• Wanted "Following" filter and star badges are per-user. The chip now filters by your ☆ Follow (matching the series-page star) instead of the global auto-download flag — so it no longer shows series you did not personally follow. The global flag still governs what the auto-grabber downloads; the two are now separate throughout.
• "Remove ghost series" tool (System → Tools). Finds leftover series from before ComicVine matching — no CV match, no files on disk — whose wanted issues clutter the Wanted tab but can never download (and which the normal untrack path deliberately keeps). Runs as a preview logging the full list; tick "Actually delete" to remove them (issues and follows included).
• "Download all" on the Releases page. One button queues every tracked, unowned release in the current view — the manual catch-up for weeks where auto-grab missed some issues. Skips releases already queued or owned, and reports one summary instead of a toast per issue.

Changed ​

• The Wanted tab's "Monitored only" filter is now called "Following" — it filters by the ☆ Follow star on series pages, and nothing else in the app ever called that "monitoring" (users couldn't find the control).

Fixed ​

• Native mobile apps no longer choke on very large libraries. The mobile apps request the whole library as one unpaginated list; on a library with a large on-demand book catalog that response held ~140k entries and the app ran out of memory rendering it. The unpaginated collection endpoint now returns only the native comic/manga libraries, so the apps stay fast (the web Library grid is unaffected — it pages, and still shows every library type). Book support in the mobile apps will restore those libraries with paging later.

0.7.5 ​

Released 2026-07-23.

Added ​

• Plugin-owned series views (plugin hook). A plugin that registers a library type can now take over the issue area of that type's series pages (registerSeriesView({ type, render }) on the client bridge): the hero, byline, description, and ⋯ menu stay core, while the filter chips, issue grid/list, and selection toolbar are replaced by the plugin's own rendering — re-drawn whenever the series data refreshes or the plugin signals a state change. Comic and manga series are unaffected. Powers the ebooks plugin's book-shelf series pages.
• Self-described library types (plugin hook). registerLibraryType now accepts selfDescribed: true: series of such a type carry their own metadata on the series row (title, byline, year, cover, description — a new series.description column) and list their local issue rows. The Library grid and series pages render them like any matched series, the ComicVine machinery (match sweep, "unmatched" lane, download buttons) leaves them alone, and removing one deletes its rows cleanly. Powers the ebooks plugin's Books libraries.
• Import handlers (plugin hook). Plugins can register an Import-tool handler (registerImportHandler) for non-comic file types: the import scan asks each handler to propose candidates for the same review list (with the handler's own metadata match on the card), and confirmed candidates are imported by the handler — e.g. loose ebook files filing into a Books library.
• Per-issue plugin actions and covers now work on self-described series pages, so plugin types get Read/Download-style actions on the normal rows.
• Library scanners (plugin hook). A plugin can register a scanner for its library type (registerLibraryScanner); creating or editing a library of that type indexes it immediately, the same way comic libraries scan.
• Failed series adds now log a warning with the underlying network cause (previously the error only appeared as a client toast, leaving nothing in the server logs to diagnose).
• Transmission and Deluge support. The torrent source can now download through Transmission or Deluge as well as qBittorrent — pick the client under Settings → Sources → Torrents, with per-client connection fields and a Test button. The category maps to a label on both new clients (Transmission 4.x labels; Deluge's Label plugin when enabled), and the completed-folder path mapping is shared across all three.

Fixed ​

• The built-in metadata service ignores the old Service URL setting. A stale or malformed cvBaseUrl value silently redirected (or broke) metadata and key registration — errors that read as auth failures ("HTTP 401"). Hosted mode now always uses the official endpoint; registration errors name the exact URL they tried; and Settings → Metadata shows the install's registration status with a "Test service" button that provisions the key on demand.
• The Content-Security-Policy now permits same-origin blob: frames and blob/data images, fonts, and styles — in-browser book reading (the EPUB shell renders sections into sandboxed blob: iframes) showed a blank page under the previous policy. Scripts remain restricted to self + the inline bootstrap, and framing the app stays forbidden.
• Library-wide scans and boot reconciliation no longer prune library_files rows they didn't index: pruning is scoped to the comic file types the scan actually walks, and files of series that belong to an explicit library are kept — so plugin-indexed files (e.g. ebooks) survive "Scan entire library". The Verify tool likewise skips non-comic files instead of flagging them corrupt.
• The metadata-service instance key is persisted only by the live app configuration — test runs (or any code constructing its own config) can no longer overwrite the real key in settings.json, which previously caused metadata 401s and re-triggered onboarding.

Changed ​

• Onboarding no longer has a Metadata step. New installs use the built-in metadata service automatically — nothing to configure. Switching to a personal ComicVine key lives in Settings → Metadata, which now shows a warning about ComicVine's API rate limits when that source is selected.
• The onboarding torrent step now offers all supported download clients (qBittorrent, Transmission, Deluge), matching the usenet step's selector.
• Indexer descriptors from indexer providers can now pin their own Newznab/Torznab category filter, which overrides the per-search default.

0.7.4 ​

Released 2026-07-20.

Changed ​

• Metadata works out of the box. BackIssue now defaults to the hosted BackIssue metadata service — cached series/issue data with enrichment and no rate-limit pauses — authenticating with a key each install provisions for itself on first use. No ComicVine API key is required anymore. Prefer querying ComicVine directly? Set Settings → Metadata → Source to ComicVine and add your own key (existing installs with a key keep working either way). Onboarding's ComicVine step is now optional accordingly.

0.7.3 ​

Released 2026-07-18.

Added ​

• Indexer-provider plugins. Plugins can now supply Newznab/Torznab indexers to the built-in Usenet and Torrent sources (registerIndexerProvider), so an external service can manage indexers on their behalf — when a provider is active it can take over, and the manually entered indexers are shown as managed and ignored. This powers the new Prowlarr plugin (point it at your Prowlarr instance and pick which of its indexers to use).
• Settings has a Plugins tab. Plugins that aren't download sources can now mount their settings panel in a dedicated Settings → Plugins section (settings-plugin-panels) with its own rail — instead of squatting in Sources. The tab appears only when an installed plugin uses it.

Changed ​

• Plugin menu items registered under the System section now join the core System group in the sidebar (below Settings) instead of forming a second "System" header of their own.
• Removed the misleading "no download source" marker from the Library (the grid card icon and the list-view badge). It keyed off whether a series row carried a catalog/scan URL rather than a ComicVine one, which no longer says anything about downloadability — sources are resolved on demand — so it fired on ordinary ComicVine-matched series.
• Removed the Manga filter chip from the Library toolbar. Manga now lives in its own library (with its own sidebar entry), so filtering the combined view by type is redundant.

Fixed ​

• The Queue badge (sidebar) and the header status pills now match the queue view. They were counting only queued and downloading items, so issues handed off to the download client or being tagged — plus active pack grabs — were left out, and the badge read lower than the number of rows actually on the Queue page. All in-flight work is now counted.

0.7.2 ​

Released 2026-07-17.

Added ​

• The interface redesign now spans the whole app. Building on the queue, plugins and System refresh, this release restyles the Library (filter chips with live counts, a unified status-badge vocabulary, progress that turns green at 100%), the Series page (a hero completion overview and per-filter issue counts), the Add and Source-search dialogs (a Comics/Manga switch, color-coded source badges and seeder counts, a guided "ComicVine key required" state), the Stats dashboard (completion ring, KPI tiles, and format/ publisher/downloads panels with a 14-day sparkline), History (day-grouped, mode-aware rows with a stat strip), Wanted (collapsible per-series cards), Reading lists (a two-pane master–detail), the first-run Onboarding wizard, the Profile page, the sidebar, and Users (split into Accounts and Roles tabs). Same features, endpoints and data throughout.

Changed ​

• The CBR→CBZ conversion ceiling now scales up with your host's memory instead of a fixed 400MB, so a big server converts (and tags) much larger collected editions. It never drops below the proven 400MB baseline and reads a container's memory limit (cgroup) rather than the host's total RAM. Roughly a 1GB ceiling on a 32GB box, ~400MB on 8GB or less. Override it with the MAX_RAR_MB environment variable.
• First-run setup builds named libraries. The Onboarding wizard's Library step now creates one or more named libraries (each with a type and folder) through the library model instead of a plain root-folders box.

Fixed ​

• Oversized CBR downloads no longer fail. A collected edition delivered as a RAR too large to repack in memory used to error out with "too large to convert safely"; it's now filed as-is as a .cbr — readable natively — instead of being lost. Smaller CBRs still convert to tagged CBZ as before.
• Installed plugins show available updates. A plugin with a newer catalog version now surfaces an "Update → v…" button on its Installed card — the match keyed on the wrong field before, so updates never appeared.

0.7.1 ​

Released 2026-07-17.

Added ​

• Download queue, redesigned as a full page. A stat strip (active / queued / failed / down-speed) reads the pipeline at a glance, filter tabs (All · Active · Queued · Failed, with live counts) cut through big queues, rows carry a cover cell and the failure reason inline, and packs stand out with an amber pack badge. Same data, same actions — pause/resume, retry, clear, per-row cancel — same permissions.
• Bulk read status (with Comic Reader ≥ 1.5.1): Mark read / Mark unread buttons on the series page act on the checked issues — or the whole series when nothing is checked. Under the hood, plugin series actions can now read the issue selection (BackIssue.selectedIssues()).
• Queue rows name their source. The live progress line carries a source badge (and, for in-app downloads, the mirror the bytes come from — e.g. "via PixelDrain"), so you can see at a glance which source is serving each download while it runs. A slow pre-download step (connecting, or getting past a host's bot protection) shows a live "Connecting…" / "Solving challenge…" phase with a pulsing bar instead of a stuck "Downloading · 0 B".
• Plugins, redesigned as a catalog page. Category tabs (Notifications · Sources · Metadata · Auth · Utility) with live counts and a search box, a two-column card grid split into Installed and Available, capability chips (what each plugin registers — download sources, API routes, jobs, UI, settings, startup tasks), a per-card enable/disable toggle and a Configure shortcut, and the restart banner. Same endpoints and restart flow.
• System page unifies Jobs, Tools and Logs. The three admin pages are now one tabbed System page. Jobs keeps the scheduled-task table and recent-run cards; Tools keeps the featured Reorganize-library flow and the maintenance grid; Logs gains expandable detail rows, search-term highlighting, per-line copy, a live-tail toggle, and export to a text file. Old /jobs, /tools and /logs links redirect to the matching tab.

Fixed ​

• Downloaded issues can be multi-selected. The series-page checkboxes only rendered on missing issues (they were built for bulk downloading) — now every issue is selectable, so Mark read/unread and Add to list work on owned issues too. The Download button acts on the downloadable subset of the selection.
• Corrupt downloads stop looping. A usenet release whose archive turns out damaged at import (the client reported the download complete, but the file itself is broken) is now blacklisted like a failed download — retrying grabs the next-best release instead of re-fetching the same broken file forever. Transient import errors (permissions, unreachable paths) still never blacklist. The import log also says honestly when there was no alternative file to try.

0.7.0 ​

Released 2026-07-16.

Added ​

• Manga catalogs. The Add dialog gains a Search manga toggle — a dedicated manga catalog (served by the metadata server) instead of ComicVine. The first manga add creates the Manga library automatically (with a pointer to give it a folder); added series file into it typed manga — chapter-aware search, right-to-left reading (Comic Reader ≥ 1.5.0), chapter publication dates, and adult-rated titles arrive pre-flagged mature. Import scans of manga-library folders match against the same catalog. A Manga content rating ceiling (Settings → Metadata) controls how far search reaches — Safe only up to Everything. Manga metadata and covers are provided by MangaDex.
• Settings, redesigned. One page per tab instead of one long scroll: a new Overview tab lands first with health cards (sources, ComicVine, libraries, storage, downloading, notifications) and a "Needs attention" list that deep-links to the fix. Library and Sources are master–detail — a rail on the left (plugin sources included, each with a live enabled dot), one panel at a time on the right, sectioned into cards. Roomier stacked fields, a cross-tab search box, and an unsaved-changes bar with Discard. On phones the rail becomes a drill-in list. All settings keys, connection tests, and plugin-injected settings work exactly as before.
• Bulk "Move to library". Select series on the Library page and move them all into a library from the bulk bar — the library's type and visibility ride along, same as the single-series move.
• Libraries own the storage locations. The Root folders setting is gone — each library's folder is where its comics are filed and scanned. Existing root folders migrate automatically on first start: the default becomes a Comics library (adopting every existing series), and extra scan folders each become their own library. The sidebar's Library entry shows the whole collection; each library entry below it shows just that library.
• New series land in a library immediately — the first comic-type library by default; the manga lane and import auto-assign override it. (Previously an added series belonged to no library until the next restart.)
• Explicit libraries. Split the collection into named libraries (e.g. Comics and Manga), each with its own sidebar entry. A library has a behavior type and its own folders (the first is where new downloads file; the rest are extra scan locations) — Import auto-assigns anything found under any of them. Move series between libraries from the ⋯ menu; deleting a library moves its series to a surviving one, never off disk. Managed in Settings → Library → Libraries. With no libraries defined, the sidebar grows automatic per-type entries once a second type appears. Libraries can also carry their own folder pattern (e.g. {series} for a publisher-less manga tree) and a Mature flag that hides the whole library — entry, name, and members — from roles without the mature-content permission, riding the same enforcement as per-series restriction.
• Library types — first cut, starting with manga. Every series now has a library type (comic by default). Mark a series as manga from its ⋯ menu, or let import infer it from ComicInfo's Manga tag. Manga series get chapter-aware searching (releases named c1044, Ch. 105.5, Vol. 37 now match), an extra chapter-form indexer query, and a Manga library filter. The type field is extensible groundwork — magazines are planned next.
• Plugins can register library types (registerLibraryType({ id, label })): a registered type becomes settable on series and gets its own library filter lane. Groundwork for type-defining plugins (e.g. a future magazines plugin that generates date-based issues).

0.6.7 ​

Released 2026-07-15.

Fixed ​

• Image updates no longer re-download the whole image. A per-commit build stamp sat above the dependency layer in the Dockerfile, changing every layer's identity on every build — so each docker compose pull fetched ~the full image even for a one-line change. Layers are now ordered by how often they change, with the build stamp last: after the first pull of a fixed image, routine updates download only a few MB.
• Usenet imports survive extra or mislabeled files in the finished download. A damaged leftover archive (e.g. a stray .rar part) sitting next to the real comic could be picked first and fail the whole import with "Archive header or data are damaged". Import candidates are now ranked (comic files before generic archives, larger first), each file's real format is detected from its bytes rather than its extension, and an unusable file falls through to the next candidate — or to loose page images — instead of failing the download.

Added ​

• Import reads embedded metadata. The library import now sniffs ComicInfo.xml from tagged CBZ files (Mylar, ComicTagger, Kapowarr): the tagged series name drives the ComicVine search, and the tagged volume year and publisher sharpen match ranking — so a tagged library matches correctly even when folder names are ambiguous. Better yet, when the tagger left a ComicVine id behind (the Web link, or "[CVDB…]" / "Issue ID …" in Notes), the volume is matched exactly by id — no name search, no ambiguity — and auto-accepted. Folder names remain the fallback for untagged files.
• Mylar-style folder layouts import correctly. Libraries organized as Publisher/Series/Volume (year) (e.g. Marvel/X-Men/v2004) previously matched against the volume folder's name ("V2004") instead of the series. A folder that is only a volume marker (v2004, Vol. 3 (1999), Volume 2) now takes its series name from the folder above it — searched and matched as "X-Men (2004)" — while each volume folder still maps to its own ComicVine volume. Applies to both the import tab and library scans.

0.6.6 ​

Released 2026-07-15.

Fixed ​

• Usenet grabs no longer fail with "Too few parameter values were provided". Indexers that answer in JSON sometimes send the release guid as an object rather than a string; since 0.6.5 that guid is recorded with the grab, and the object shape broke the database write, failing the download at the moment it was handed to the client. Guids are now always normalized to strings (falling back to the NZB URL), and the database layer drops any non-string guid instead of failing the grab.
• Failed downloads log the full error trace. A download that fails with a generic low-level error (e.g. a database driver message) previously recorded only the bare message on the queue row; the Logs page now captures the stack trace so the actual source is identifiable. Release blacklisting is also hardened: a bookkeeping error there can no longer replace the real failure reason on the queue row or fail a search.

0.6.5 ​

Released 2026-07-15.

Added ​

• Failed Usenet releases are blacklisted. When the download client reports a Usenet download as failed (broken par2/repair, missing articles), that exact release is remembered and skipped on future searches, so a retry grabs the next-best release instead of re-fetching the same broken one over and over. Only a client-reported failure blacklists — an import hiccup or an offline client doesn't. A new Blocklist tab on the History page lists blocked releases and lets you remove one (allowing it to be auto-grabbed again) or clear them all.

0.6.4 ​

Released 2026-07-15.

Added ​

• Add series picker — results already in your library are now grayed out with an "In library" shortcut that opens the existing series (instead of only telling you after you click Add), and each result's name links to its details page.
• Browser image variant — a …-browser image tag (e.g. ghcr.io/backissueapp/backissue:latest-browser) built with Chromium + Xvfb for plugins/addons that drive a real browser. Most installs use the lean default; switch the tag only if an addon needs it.

Security ​

• Tightened API permissions. The import folder picker (/api/scan-folder), which lists server directories, now requires library management; download-queue controls (pause / resume / clear) now require downloads.grab, matching who can view the queue; and library-mutating writes are pinned to the manage permission explicitly so they can't drift if defaults change. (Marking your own notifications read now only needs viewer access.)

Fixed ​

• Add series search — results no longer flip to a stale query (e.g. showing "Hu…" matches right after you finished typing "Hulk"). Out-of-order search responses are discarded, so only the current query's results are shown.
• Browser image — the headed browser now starts reliably after a container restart. A stale X11 lock kept across a docker restart (autoheal, restart policy) made Xvfb abort with "display already active", leaving the browser with no display; the entrypoint now clears the stale lock/socket on boot.
• Usenet download cleanup — when the download client refuses to remove a finished download, it's now logged instead of failing silently, and SABnzbd's history delete is checked for a logical failure. Completed files that weren't being removed now surface a reason in the log.

0.6.3 ​

Released 2026-07-13.

Added ​

• Unraid — BackIssue can now be installed straight from the Apps tab. The repository ships a Community Applications template (templates/backissue.xml) with the paths, ports, and permissions pre-mapped, plus a ca_profile.xml.

Fixed ​

• Add indexer in Settings opens its dialog again. The indexer modal was never mounted, so the "Add indexer" button — and the per-row Edit button, for both Newznab and Torznab — did nothing.

0.6.2 ​

Released 2026-07-12.

Changed ​

• External login backends (credential-provider plugins) now also verify HTTP Basic credentials, not just the web login form — so users who sign in with those credentials can reach the API and OPDS with them too. A verified pair is cached briefly so the backend isn't called on every request, and the login lockout still applies.

Fixed ​

• "-1" issues (the Marvel Flashback minus-one issues) can now be found and downloaded. Search read -1 as 1, so the query dropped the number and every result came back as the wrong issue. The release parser now treats a standalone leading minus as the issue number — a hyphen inside a series name (X-23, Spider-Man) is unaffected — and the search query keeps the -1. Fixes matching across Usenet, torrents, and AirDC++.

Security ​

• Accounts that sign in through an external service can no longer be given a local password — neither by the user (Change password is hidden and the endpoint refuses) nor by an admin. Access stays governed by the provider, so revoking it there (e.g. a lapsed subscription) reliably locks the account out, with no local password left as a back door.
• Viewing the download queue now requires the downloads.grab permission. Previously any signed-in user could read /api/queue; a read-only viewer shouldn't see what others are downloading. (The web UI already hid the queue view — this enforces it at the API.)
• Viewing the download history (/api/history) now likewise requires downloads.grab — it exposes the download source per issue, which a read-only viewer shouldn't see.

0.6.1 ​

Released 2026-07-10.

Added ​

• New Download issue metadata tool (Tools page): fetches ComicVine detail — descriptions, credits, dates, covers — for every issue in your collection that's missing it. Already-cached issues are skipped, and it stops cleanly on a ComicVine rate limit so you can re-run to finish.
• New Re-index series folders tool (Tools page): for every ComicVine-matched series, authoritatively re-indexes its own folder and attributes the files there — without fuzzy matching. Fixes files that were attached to the wrong same-named series, and repairs owned/missing counts. (Discovering brand-new comics is still "Scan entire library".)
• Profile → API key now shows a QR code when you generate a key, so a companion app can pair by scanning it instead of typing the key.

Fixed ​

• Scan entire library no longer re-attributes a file that already belongs to a series. Previously a re-scan re-ran the fuzzy matcher on every file and could move owned files onto a different same-named series (e.g. an unmatched catalog row whose title carries the year), showing them as missing. A scan now only matches files that aren't linked to a series yet.

0.6.0 ​

Released 2026-07-09.

Added ​

• Personal API keys for building your own apps against a BackIssue install: generate one key per account from your Profile, send it as X-Api-Key (or Authorization: Bearer), and use the same API the web UI runs on — including plugin routes (e.g. the Reader's page endpoints for an external comic-reader app). A key acts as its user: everything is clamped to the role's permissions, keys are stored hashed and shown once, and regenerating or revoking takes effect immediately.
• Plugin hook for outbound notification channels (registerNotifier): every in-app notification event is handed to registered plugin channels. First consumer is the new Notifications Hub plugin — Discord (rich embeds with cover art), Telegram, Pushover, ntfy, and a generic webhook, each with its own category filter and a per-channel test button in Settings.
• Per-user follows: the star is now a personal pull-list bookmark for each user. Download automation is controlled by a separate per-series Auto-download toggle (⋯ menu on the series page). Existing auto-downloads carry over unchanged; personal follow lists start empty.
• New Followed library filter (your follows); "Not followed" is now "Not monitored".

Fixed ​

• Issue covers appear the moment their metadata loads — opening an issue fills its grid tile immediately, and "Refresh metadata" fills covers in live while the background sweep runs (no page reload).
• Followed star, selection checkbox, and progress bar render above cover art on library posters (they could hide behind the cover).
• Plugin updates no longer fail on Windows when the running server has the plugin's native module loaded (the old install is swapped aside instead of deleted in place).

Removed ​

• The built-in outbound webhook (Settings → Notifications). The Notifications Hub plugin's generic-webhook channel replaces it and reuses the same saved settings, so existing webhook configs carry over by installing the plugin.

0.5.1 ​

Released 2026-07-09.

Added ​

• Settings slot for plugin library-behavior preferences — first used by the Comic Reader plugin's "use the file's first page as the issue cover" option (reader ≥ 1.4.1).
• Dev and nightly Docker images identify themselves in About (e.g. 0.5.1-dev.a1b2c3d); releases keep the clean version.

Changed ​

• Weekly releases view redesigned: cover thumbnails, a pinned "In your collection" section, publisher group headers, story titles, two-column layout on wide screens, and a compact download button.
• The latest Docker tag now moves only on release tags; the nightly build stays on :nightly, and every push to main builds a rolling :dev image.

Fixed ​

• Jobs page shows when a run finished ("5m ago · took 19s") instead of mislabeling its duration as "ago".
• Scrollbars are deterministically dark and thin (Chrome no longer guesses).

0.5.0 ​

Released 2026-07-09.

Security ​

• Restricted-series content is now hidden from roles without the permission on every surface: download queue, import history, failed downloads, statistics, direct issue lookups, and notifications (notifications also gained per-series awareness — flagging a series retroactively hides its old notifications).
• Notifications are filtered by permission per category (imports/failures need download rights, request activity needs request management, and so on).

0.4.7 ​

Released 2026-07-09.

Added ​

• Permission-aware notification categories (first pass of the 0.5.0 filtering).

0.4.6 ​

Released 2026-07-09.

Fixed ​

• Disabling a plugin now survives a restart under Docker (the disabled list was read from the wrong path in containers).

0.4.5 ​

Released 2026-07-09.

Added ​

• Metadata enrichment re-enabled: content ratings, series status, and per-issue extras (price, UPC, story titles) via a supported metadata server — toggle in Settings → Metadata.

0.4.4 ​

Released 2026-07-08.

Fixed ​

• Mobile: the Settings Save button is reachable again; cramped rows wrap or scroll instead of overflowing off-screen.

0.4.3 ​

Released 2026-07-08.

Fixed ​

• Docker: plugins that import core modules load correctly when installed under /data/plugins (relative imports resolved, not just bare dependencies).

0.4.2 ​

Released 2026-07-08.

Fixed ​

• Docker: plugin dependencies (e.g. better-sqlite3) resolve when the plugins directory lives outside the app tree.

0.4.1 ​

Released 2026-07-08.

Changed ​

• Much slimmer Docker image (multi-stage build; roughly a third of the size).

0.4.0 ​

Released 2026-07-08.

Added ​

• Scheduled database backups (on by default, weekly).
• RSS watch: new uploads on your indexers are grabbed within one poll of appearing.
• AirDC++ announce-bot watching (via the AirDC++ plugin) with automatic grabs of missing issues from followed series.
• Settings page redesign: section chips with scroll-spy and filtering.

Fixed ​

• Newznab quirks: XML-only servers and servers that reject empty query params.
• Release ship dates seed the metadata cache, feeding the new-releases search.