Open Publication Distribution System

<h2 id="history">History</h2>
<p>OPDS is based on the initial work done by <a href="/facts/Lexcycle/Jf4VHWYv">Lexcycle</a>, the company behind <a href="/facts/Lexcycle_Stanza/Jf4VHWYv">Stanza</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> an <a href="/facts/E-Book/yrBWpU8E">eBook reader application</a> for <a href="/facts/IOS/mK5cggH5">iOS</a>. All revisions of the specification were produced by an informal group organized around an open mailing list.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a>
</p>
Version history<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a><table><tbody><tr><th>Version</th><th>Date</th></tr><tr><td>Old version, still maintained: 0.9<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a></td><td>May 25, 2010</td></tr><tr><td>Old version, still maintained: 1.0<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a></td><td>August 30, 2010</td></tr><tr><td>Old version, still maintained: 1.1<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a></td><td>June 27, 2011</td></tr><tr><td>Latest version: 1.2 <a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a></td><td>November 11, 2018</td></tr><tr><td>Future version: 2.0<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a></td><td>?</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2">Legend:Old version, not maintainedOld version, still maintainedLatest versionLatest preview versionFuture version</td></tr></tbody></table>

<h2 id="opds-software">OPDS software</h2>
<p>Many <a href="/facts/E-readers/D7a76tKm">e-readers</a> or e-book reading applications support importing books from an OPDS catalog. E-book management applications such as <a href="/facts/Calibre_(software)/HHFeh7Lf">Calibre</a> also often include OPDS server software to make an e-book collection available through an OPDS catalog.
</p>
<h2 id="example-of-opds-11-content">Example of OPDS 1.1 content</h2>
<p>An example of an acquisition feed in OPDS:
</p>
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
      xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
      xmlns:opds="http://opds-spec.org/2010/catalog">
  <id>urn:uuid:433a5d6a-0b8c-4933-af65-4ca4f02763eb</id>
 
  <link rel="related" 
        href="/opds-catalogs/vampire.farming.xml" 
        type="application/atom+xml;profile=opds-catalog;kind=acquisition"/>
  <link rel="self"    
        href="/opds-catalogs/unpopular.xml"
        type="application/atom+xml;profile=opds-catalog;kind=acquisition"/>
  <link rel="start"   
        href="/opds-catalogs/root.xml"
        type="application/atom+xml;profile=opds-catalog;kind=navigation"/>
  <link rel="up"      
        href="/opds-catalogs/root.xml"
        type="application/atom+xml;profile=opds-catalog;kind=navigation"/>
 
  <title>Unpopular Publications</title>
  <updated>2010-01-10T10:01:11Z</updated>
  <author>
    <name>Spec Writer</name>
    <uri>http://opds-spec.org</uri>
  </author>
 
  <entry>
    <title>Bob, Son of Bob</title>
    <id>urn:uuid:6409a00b-7bf2-405e-826c-3fdff0fd0734</id>
    <updated>2010-01-10T10:01:11Z</updated>
    <author>
      <name>Bob the Recursive</name>
      <uri>http://opds-spec.org/authors/1285</uri>
    </author>
    <dc:language>en</dc:language>
    <dc:issued>1917</dc:issued>
    <category scheme="http://www.bisg.org/standards/bisac_subject/index.html"
              term="FIC020000"
              label="FICTION / Men's Adventure"/>
    <summary>The story of the son of the Bob and the gallant part he played in
      the lives of a man and a woman.</summary>

<h2 id="opds-catalogs">OPDS catalogs</h2>
<p>Dozens of OPDS catalogs are available online, and in many different languages.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a>
</p><p>Many users of OPDS also create their own OPDS catalog, as a way to access their ebooks from any device.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a>
</p><p>Developers implementing an OPDS catalog usually use the <a href="/facts/Feedbooks/hrEgPmkJ">Feedbooks</a> catalog<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> as an example of a fully featured catalog. An OPDS validator is also available to test OPDS feeds.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a>
</p>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<p>OPDS standard
</p>
<ul><li><a href="https://specs.opds.io/opds-1.2">OPDS 1.2</a> (Current version)</li>
<li><a href="https://drafts.opds.io/opds-2.0">OPDS 2.0</a> (Draft)</li></ul>
<p>OPDS working group links
</p>
<ul><li><a href="https://groups.google.com/group/openpub">OPDS Mailing list</a></li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/opds-community/drafts/issues">OPDS Issue Tracker</a></li></ul>
<p>Other resources
</p>
<ul><li><a href="https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/OPDS">MobileRead Wiki - OPDS</a></li>
<li><a href="http://opdshome.uo1.net/">OPDS Meta-Catalog</a></li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/search?q=OPDS&type=Repositories&s=stars">OPDS projects on GitHub</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Fahlgren, Keith (April 9, 2009). "Project Goals". Open Publication Distribution System (Mailing list). Retrieved May 5, 2013 – via Google Groups. <a href="https://groups.google.com/d/topic/openpub/Vr8FI7gIKHg/discussion" target="_blank">https://groups.google.com/d/topic/openpub/Vr8FI7gIKHg/discussion</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>"Open Publication Distribution System". Google Groups. Retrieved May 5, 2013. <a href="https://groups.google.com/group/openpub" target="_blank">https://groups.google.com/group/openpub</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>"Specifications". Open Publication Distribution System: Official Specification & Blog. Retrieved December 4, 2017. <a href="http://opds-spec.org/specs/" target="_blank">http://opds-spec.org/specs/</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>"OPDS Catalog 0.9". Retrieved May 5, 2013. <a href="https://specs.opds.io/opds-0.9.html" target="_blank">https://specs.opds.io/opds-0.9.html</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>"OPDS Catalog 1.0". Retrieved May 5, 2013. <a href="https://specs.opds.io/opds-1.0.html" target="_blank">https://specs.opds.io/opds-1.0.html</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>"OPDS Catalog 1.1". Retrieved May 5, 2013. <a href="https://specs.opds.io/opds-1.1.html" target="_blank">https://specs.opds.io/opds-1.1.html</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:7"><p>"OPDS Catalog 1.2". Retrieved November 11, 2018. <a href="https://specs.opds.io/opds-1.2" target="_blank">https://specs.opds.io/opds-1.2</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:8"><p>"OPDS Catalog 2.0". Retrieved November 11, 2018. <a href="https://drafts.opds.io/opds-2.0" target="_blank">https://drafts.opds.io/opds-2.0</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:9"><p>"Online OPDS Catalogs". MobileRead Wiki. Retrieved 2011-05-19. <a href="https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/OPDS#Online_OPDS_Catalogs" target="_blank">https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/OPDS#Online_OPDS_Catalogs</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:10"><p>"OPDS Catalog Generation". MobileRead Wiki. Retrieved 2011-05-19. <a href="https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/OPDS#OPDS_Catalog_Generation" target="_blank">https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/OPDS#OPDS_Catalog_Generation</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:11"><p>"Feedbooks OPDS Catalog". Feedbooks. Retrieved 2011-05-19. <a href="http://www.feedbooks.com/catalog.atom" target="_blank">http://www.feedbooks.com/catalog.atom</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:12"><p>"OPDS Validator". Retrieved 2011-05-19. <a href="https://opds-validator.appspot.com/" target="_blank">https://opds-validator.appspot.com/</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Open Publication Distribution System open-in-new

Open Publication Distribution System