AI Features

Comicarr includes an optional AI integration layer that works with any OpenAI-compatible endpoint — Ollama, LM Studio, OpenRouter, or any hosted provider. All AI features are hidden until you configure an API key. The app works fully without one.

Setup

Once configured, AI features activate automatically across the app.

Dashboard

The home page at / shows a dashboard with collection stats, recent downloads, and upcoming releases. When AI is configured, an AI Insights panel displays the activity feed — a real-time log of AI actions across all features.

The series list is now at /series.

Behind-the-Scenes AI

These features run automatically during normal library operations — no interaction required.

Filename Parsing Fallback

When Comicarr's regex-based parser fails to extract metadata from a filename, the LLM attempts structured extraction. Parsed results are validated against your monitored series before being accepted.

Search Query Expansion

When a search returns zero results, Comicarr generates alternate query formulations via the LLM and retries. Successful expansions are persisted so future searches benefit without additional AI calls.

Metadata Enrichment

During post-processing, blank Genre and AgeRating fields in ComicInfo.xml are filled using AI analysis of existing metadata. Enrichment is limited to these two fields to mitigate hallucination risk. Original values are stored in ai_metadata_history for revert.

Metadata Reconciliation

When ComicVine metadata conflicts with pre-existing ComicInfo.xml values, the LLM evaluates both sources and selects the best value per field. Decisions are logged with per-provider revert capability.

Interactive Features

Library Chat

A collapsible side panel lets you ask questions about your library in natural language. The chat maps your questions to parameterized query patterns — it queries your actual library data, not hallucinated answers.

Example queries:

• "What Spider-Man series do I have?"
• "Show me my most recent downloads"
• "Which issues am I missing from Saga?"

Responses stream in real-time via SSE. Conversations are capped at 20 messages.

Story Arc Generator

Generate cross-series reading orders from natural language descriptions. The AI creates reading orders enriched with ComicVine data and mapped against your library status, showing which issues you own and which are missing.

See Story Arcs for more on arc management.

Pull List Curation

AI-powered weekly suggestions based on your collection patterns. When you view the Weekly Pull List, Comicarr analyzes your library against the current week's releases and suggests titles you might want. Suggestions are cached per pull list update.

Safety Infrastructure

All AI features are designed to degrade gracefully:

• Circuit breaker — After consecutive failures (default: 5), the circuit opens and AI calls are skipped. It transitions to half-open after a cooldown period (default: 300s) and closes again on success.
• Rate limiting — Enforced per-minute and daily token budgets prevent runaway costs.
• Prompt injection defense — User-provided metadata is sanitized and wrapped with spotlighting delimiters before being sent to the LLM.
• Non-blocking — AI never blocks core library operations. If the circuit is open or a request times out, the operation continues without AI.

Monitoring

The AI Status section in Settings shows real-time metrics:

• Circuit breaker state (active / paused / error)
• Today's request count
• Today's token usage vs. daily limit
• RPM limit

The activity feed (visible on the dashboard and via the activity drawer) logs every AI action with feature type, latency, token usage, and success/failure status.

Log Tags

Filter Comicarr logs by these AI-specific tags:

Disabling AI

Remove the API key from Settings > AI to instantly disable all AI features. No data migration is needed — the app reverts to fully non-AI operation. AI metadata history is preserved in the database for future use.

See the AI Configuration reference for all settings.