# 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 ```sh sudo av install brew:libmobi ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install libmobi ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ### Linux - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install libmobi-dev ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: libmobi-dev from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:libmobi - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Version:** 0.12 - **Source summary:** C library for handling Kindle (MOBI) formats of ebook documents - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00 ## Executables - mobidrm (alias) - mobimeta (alias) - mobitool (alias) ## Install behavior - Bottle: not available ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-08-03 - Package-manager version: 0.12 ## 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 Notes library-like package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - library-like package without higher-risk signals ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - libmobi-dev - 0.12+dfsg-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libmobi-dev from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Development files for libmobi | https://github.com/bfabiszewski/libmobi - Debian apt - libmobi-tools - 0.12+dfsg-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libmobi-tools from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Tools for handling Mobipocket/Kindle ebook format documents | https://github.com/bfabiszewski/libmobi - Debian apt - libmobi0t64 - 0.12+dfsg-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libmobi0t64 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | C library for handling Mobipocket/Kindle ebook format documents | https://github.com/bfabiszewski/libmobi - Ubuntu apt - libmobi-dev - 0.11+dfsg-1.1build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libmobi-dev from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Development files for libmobi | https://github.com/bfabiszewski/libmobi - Ubuntu apt - libmobi-tools - 0.11+dfsg-1.1build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libmobi-tools from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Tools for handling Mobipocket/Kindle ebook format documents | https://github.com/bfabiszewski/libmobi - Ubuntu apt - libmobi0t64 - 0.11+dfsg-1.1build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libmobi0t64 from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | C library for handling Mobipocket/Kindle ebook format documents | https://github.com/bfabiszewski/libmobi ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/libmobi.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/libmobi.yml) ## Sources - pkg.so package database - Geiger risk classifier - curated package history - pkgdb category and tag curation - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph