macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install libmobilocal Homebrew formula metadata
brew / rank 8903
Install libmobi with Homebrew, apt
C library for handling Kindle (MOBI) formats of ebook documents. Version 0.12 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install libmobi-dev.
install
Additional install commands
Linux
Debian aptverified · 92%
sudo apt install libmobi-devDebian stable package indexes · libmobi-dev · source: deb.debian.org
overview
Package summary
C library for handling Kindle (MOBI) formats of ebook documents
Project links
Commands and aliases
- mobidrm
- mobimeta
- mobitool
history
Project history and usage
Libmobi is a C library and tool suite for Mobipocket and Kindle MOBI-family ebook files. It gives Unix packages a small native way to inspect, parse, reconstruct, edit metadata, and handle older Kindle document formats.
Project history
The project README describes Libmobi as a C library for Mobipocket/Kindle MOBI ebook documents, with command-line tools that also serve as examples for the library API. Its feature list covers PalmDOC, PRC, MOBI, newer KF8/AZW/AZW3, AZW4, metadata editing, encrypted documents, dictionary markup reconstruction, and output that can be fed back to kindlegen.
The release history shows a practical, parser-maintenance project: early releases added metadata extraction and mobimeta, while later releases focused heavily on corrupted-input handling, fuzzing-reported overreads, null dereferences, portability, and build fixes.
Adoption history
Libmobi is niche because MOBI is an older Kindle-era format, but it is useful in ebook tooling and preservation workflows where existing collections contain .mobi, .azw, or .azw3 files. The README names projects using it, including KyBook 2 Reader, @Voice Aloud Reader, and the QLMobi Quick Look plugin.
Homebrew, Debian, and Ubuntu package libmobi, making its command-line tools mobidrm, mobimeta, and mobitool available without building from source.
How it is used
Developers include mobi.h and link with -lmobi to load MOBI files into library structures and parse raw content into HTML, CSS, fonts, and media resources. Command-line users use mobitool and related tools for inspection and metadata work.
The package is most useful for archival conversion, ebook metadata cleanup, Kindle-file debugging, and applications that still need to understand MOBI-family files even as EPUB dominates newer publishing workflows.
Why package nerds care
Libmobi is significant as an ebook-format archaeology package: it wraps a historically important commercial reading format in inspectable C code and command-line utilities.
Its fuzzing-heavy maintenance story is also notable. Ebook parsers process complex, often third-party-generated files, so the small package has a security and robustness role out of proportion to its install counts.
Timeline
- 2010s: Libmobi is developed publicly as a C library for Mobipocket and Kindle file formats.
- 2021: Libmobi 0.7 and 0.8 fix corrupt-data crashes and CVE-assigned out-of-buffer reads.
- 2022: Libmobi 0.11 fixes multiple fuzzing-discovered buffer overreads and null pointer dereferences.
- 2024: Libmobi 0.12 fixes build issues with newer libxml, MSVC debug builds, clang warnings, and corrupt-input undefined behavior.
Related projects
- Mobipocket and Kindle formats are the document families Libmobi targets.
- kindlegen is relevant because Libmobi can reconstruct source structure that can be fed back to it.
- QLMobi is a related Quick Look plugin that uses Libmobi for MOBI preview support.
Sources
security posture
Risk level: green
library-like package without higher-risk signals.
Risk classifier
green risk · low confidence · appliance
Why
- library-like package without higher-risk signals
Signals
- metadata:library-like
Install behavior
- No Homebrew bottle metadata was recorded.
Recommended review
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
mobidrm | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
mobimeta | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
mobitool | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
freshness
Version and freshness
These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.
page generated2026-08-03
manager version0.12
manager updated
local dataunknown
upstreamnot available
latest detectednot detected
- okNo freshness warnings were generated.
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:libmobi |
|---|---|
| Version | 0.12 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Homepage | https://github.com/bfabiszewski/libmobi |
| Repository | https://github.com/bfabiszewski/libmobi |
| Bottle | not recorded |
| Service | none declared |
source database matches
Other package-manager records
Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.
Debian apt95%
libmobi-dev 0.12+dfsg-1
Development files for libmobi
https://github.com/bfabiszewski/libmobi
sudo apt install libmobi-dev- Section: libdevel
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: libmobi
- 1 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libmobi
Debian apt95%
libmobi-tools 0.12+dfsg-1
Tools for handling Mobipocket/Kindle ebook format documents
https://github.com/bfabiszewski/libmobi
sudo apt install libmobi-tools- Section: text
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: libmobi
- 2 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libmobi
Debian apt95%
libmobi0t64 0.12+dfsg-1
C library for handling Mobipocket/Kindle ebook format documents
https://github.com/bfabiszewski/libmobi
sudo apt install libmobi0t64- Section: libs
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: libmobi
- 3 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libmobi
Ubuntu apt95%
libmobi-dev 0.11+dfsg-1.1build1
Development files for libmobi
https://github.com/bfabiszewski/libmobi
sudo apt install libmobi-dev- Section: universe/libdevel
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: libmobi
- 1 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libmobi
Ubuntu apt95%
libmobi-tools 0.11+dfsg-1.1build1
Tools for handling Mobipocket/Kindle ebook format documents
https://github.com/bfabiszewski/libmobi
sudo apt install libmobi-tools- Section: universe/text
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: libmobi
- 2 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libmobi
Ubuntu apt95%
libmobi0t64 0.11+dfsg-1.1build1
C library for handling Mobipocket/Kindle ebook format documents
https://github.com/bfabiszewski/libmobi
sudo apt install libmobi0t64- Section: universe/libs
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: libmobi
- 3 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libmobi
source trail
Generated from repository data
This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.
Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- cross-ecosystem install command graph
- curated package history
- external package-manager database matches
- pkg.so package database
- pkgdb category and tag curation