Is EverReed made by the Kavita project?
No. Kavita is an independent open-source project. EverReed connects to Kavita through the OPDS standard Kavita already publishes.
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EverReed field guide
A mobile reading companion for your Kavita library
Kavita is a self-hosted digital library server aimed at ebooks, comics, and other digital reading material. It gives you a single place to organise your files, expose them across devices, and — importantly for what follows — publish an OPDS catalog that other apps can read. EverReed is one of those apps. It connects to Kavita over OPDS, browses the library Kavita publishes, and opens supported books in a modern mobile reader designed around actually spending time in a book. Your files stay on your Kavita server; EverReed handles the reading half of the workflow and adds tracking, series intelligence, and recommendations on top. This page covers what Kavita is, why it fits a self-hosted reading setup, and how EverReed slots in without changing anything about your server.
What you get
Designed around the way readers actually move.
What Kavita is
Kavita is an open-source, self-hosted library server built for ebooks and other digital reading material. It runs on your own hardware — a home server, a NAS, a container in the cloud — and serves the books you already own to whichever devices you want to read on.
Why readers use Kavita
Kavita keeps ownership of your library in your hands. It handles the storage, indexing, and metadata side, and it exposes the results in a way other apps can consume. For readers who care about long-term control of what they own, that model is the point.
OPDS support in Kavita
Kavita publishes an OPDS catalog, which is how third-party reading apps can browse and stream from it without any custom integration. EverReed connects at that layer, so you are not depending on a proprietary bridge between the two — just the standard Kavita already speaks.
Connecting Kavita to EverReed
Enable OPDS in Kavita, get the OPDS URL from your instance, and add it as a personal library source in EverReed. If your Kavita instance is behind authentication, you provide your credentials once. EverReed validates the connection by fetching the catalog and, if it loads, the library shows up alongside the rest of your books.
Reading your own library
Once connected, supported books stream from your Kavita server into the built-in EverReed reader. EPUB and PDF get the same reader used for uploads — adjustable typography, section-based pagination, light and dark themes, in-book search, dictionary, and highlights. Nothing about your files changes on the Kavita side.
Tracking progress with EverReed
Reading progress, bookmarks, notes, and highlights are saved to your EverReed account. Start a book on your phone during a commute and continue it on a tablet later — the position moves with you, not with the device. Your Kavita library stays exactly as Kavita organised it.
What Kavita and EverReed each do best
Kavita is the library. EverReed is the reading side. Kavita handles storage, indexing, and serving; EverReed handles the reader, series tracking, TBR planning, reading stats, and recommendations grounded in your actual library — including the books your Kavita instance publishes.
Who this is for
Kavita users who want a modern reading companion for their phone or tablet without giving up the ownership model Kavita is built around. If Kavita is your library, EverReed is designed to be the app you actually read in.
Useful details
Frequently asked questions.
Do I need to configure anything special in Kavita?
You need OPDS enabled and the OPDS URL that your Kavita instance exposes. Consult Kavita's documentation for the exact steps in the version you run.
Does EverReed need direct access to my Kavita database?
No. EverReed only reads what Kavita publishes through its OPDS catalog. It does not access Kavita's database directly.
What formats work in the EverReed reader?
EPUB and PDF are supported. Other formats that Kavita may serve can still appear in the catalog but will not open in EverReed's reader if they fall outside those two.
Do I need HTTPS on my Kavita instance?
Yes. EverReed requires HTTPS-reachable OPDS URLs. If your Kavita instance is currently HTTP-only, you will need to expose it through an HTTPS reverse proxy or tunnel first.
Are reading progress and highlights written back to Kavita?
No. Highlights, notes, bookmarks, and progress are stored in your EverReed account so they follow you across devices. Kavita's data is not modified.
Can I still use Kavita's own web reader?
Yes. EverReed does not replace Kavita or its interface. You can keep using Kavita for the parts it does well and use EverReed for mobile reading and tracking.
Does EverReed change my file organisation on Kavita?
No. Renaming, tagging, and organising remain a Kavita responsibility. EverReed simply reads what Kavita publishes.
Can I combine a Kavita source with uploaded files?
Yes. Books served through your Kavita instance appear alongside any files you have uploaded, share the same reader, and contribute to the same taste profile.
Does EverReed sell books?
No. EverReed does not sell, host, or supply ebook files. Your Kavita library is where the files live.
Continue exploring
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The exact setup walkthrough.
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The equivalent guide for Komga instances.
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The standard EverReed uses to connect to Kavita.
Read nextBuilt-in EPUB and PDF reader
The reader that opens books served by Kavita.
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Keep reading
A modern mobile reader for the Kavita library you already run.
Connect your Kavita instance to EverReed and read the books you already own.