[Enhancement]: Setup periodic library scans

[andonevris]

Describe the issue

Running AB in docker on Ubuntu host with a mapped network drive (on a NAS) where the audiobooks are stored.

Whenever I add a new book to the audiobooks folder it will not be auto discovered and added to the library, in fact no library changes are detected automatically, I must run manual scans to detect changes.

I'm guessing maybe the mapping of the network drive on the host may be the issue but either way I think it would be a good idea to have a periodic folder scan as an option for these cases where folder watching may break down.

Steps to reproduce the issue

1. Add a new book to audiobooks folder
2. wait for book to be discovered
3. book is never discovered unless I run a manual scan of the library.

Audiobookshelf version

2.0.18

How are you running audiobookshelf?

Docker

[advplyr]

This isn't a bug, it is because of the network drive. Periodic scans could be added but when you add an audiobook don't you want access to it right away? How frequent would these scans be?

[andonevris]

Yeah network drive that's what I thought.

Most apps that have a periodic scan let you set the frequency yourself, a few times a day is fine.

I use readarr to add books to my library so I don't necessarily need immediate access but the new books should appear at some point on their own without a manual scan.

[szemlicka]

I wish a checkbox to enable/disable auto scan and a time field where you can enter the time for a scan. I do the same for my squeezebox server...:-)

[andonevris]

Plex does it well I think

[advplyr]

Good idea, we will do it similar to plex.

[mdbell]

I was asking about some similar stuff on discord, and was able to get a bit of a workaround by calling the API endpoints directly via curl + crontab. Not the most elegant solution, but works until there's a scheduler built into ABS.

The script:

#!/bin/bash

if [ "$#" -lt 4 ]; then
        echo "USAGE: $0 COMMAND HOST TOKEN LIBRARY_ID"
        exit
fi

#TODO validate commands

LibraryCommand="$1"
AbsHost="$2"
LoginToken="$3"
LibraryId="$4"

CommandUrl="http://${AbsHost}/api/libraries/${LibraryId}/${LibraryCommand}"


result=$(curl --silent -G \
        "${CommandUrl}" \
        -d "token=${LoginToken}"
        )

if [ "$result" != "OK" ]; then
        echo "Unexpected result from ABS! Result:'${result}'" 1>&2
else
        echo "Command '${LibraryCommand}' on library '${LibraryId}' executed!"
fi

And a sample crontab (runs a scan, and then 30 min later runs a match all):

#scan ebooks & audiobooks
0 * * * * /opt/audiobookshelf/command.sh scan localhost:1337 USER_TOKEN_HERE EBOOKS_LIBRARY_ID_HERE
0 * * * * /opt/audiobookshelf/command.sh scan localhost:1337 USER_TOKEN_HERE AUDIOBOOKS_LIBRARY_ID_HERE

#match ebooks & audiobooks
30 * * * * /opt/audiobookshelf/command.sh matchall localhost:1337 USER_TOKEN_HERE EBOOKS_LIBRARY_ID_HERE
30 * * * * /opt/audiobookshelf/command.sh matchall localhost:1337 USER_TOKEN_HERE AUDIOBOOKS_LIBRARY_ID_HERE

[advplyr]

Added in 2.1.3