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Connect ComicVerse to Kavita

ComicVerse is a free Kavita client for iPhone and iPad. Kavita gives you a personal OPDS URL. Paste it into ComicVerse and your library is browsable, streamable, and downloadable from your device.

Before You Start​

You'll need ComicVerse on iPhone (iOS 17.6+) or iPad (iPadOS 17.6+) and a running Kavita server your device can reach. Nothing needs enabling first, since OPDS is on by default on every Kavita install.

Copy Your OPDS URL​

Kavita authenticates OPDS with a per-user key in the URL rather than a separate username and password. Open your user settings in Kavita, find the OPDS URL for your account, and use the copy button.

The URL looks like this, with your own key on the end:

http(s)://<your-server>:5000/api/opds/<your-api-key>

5000 is Kavita's default port. If Kavita sits behind a reverse proxy or has a hostname configured, the copied URL already reflects that, so use it as-is.

Treat the URL as a secret

The key in that URL is your authentication. Anyone who has the URL has access to your library, so keep it out of screenshots, issue reports, and support threads.

Add the Server​

  1. Open the Library tab, tap +, then Comic Server
  2. Tap Add a Server. If you've added a server before, ComicVerse opens that server's catalog instead: tap Servers at the top left, then +
  3. Paste the OPDS URL you copied, key and all
  4. Don't tap I have an account on this server: the key in the URL is the credential, so there's no username or password to enter
  5. Leave Share Reading Progress on to let the server know how far you've read, so other apps signed in to it stay in step. Turn it off to keep your reading to yourself, for example on a shared or family library
  6. Tap Connect. ComicVerse checks the URL and shows you what it can do with the server
  7. Tap Add This Server

Leave the name field blank and ComicVerse uses the name Kavita reports for itself. It also spots the /api/opds path and sets itself up as a Kavita client automatically.

Paste the whole URL, don't type the address

With other servers you can type a bare address and let ComicVerse find the catalog. Kavita is the exception. Its key lives in the URL, so the copied URL is the only thing that will connect.

Browse and Read​

Tap the server to browse your Kavita libraries and series. On any comic, tap Read Now (▶) to read it straight from the server, or Download (↓) to save it to your library for offline reading.

Streaming uses the OPDS Page Streaming Extension, which Kavita advertises in its catalog. ComicVerse picks that up from the feed itself, so it works without knowing Kavita by name.

Troubleshooting​

The server won't connect. Paste the same URL into Safari on the device. If it returns XML, the URL is good and the problem is how it was entered. Copy it from Kavita again rather than typing it, since a mistyped key fails the same way a wrong password would.

It connected last month and stopped. Regenerating your API key in Kavita invalidates the old OPDS URL. Copy the new one and update the server in ComicVerse.

Streaming won't start but downloads work. Check that a reverse proxy in front of Kavita isn't rewriting the catalog feed and dropping the page-streaming links.

More fixes in the Troubleshooting guide.

See Also​