Books Release Scout

Book Release Scout

Find a small set of genuinely new books the user is likely to enjoy, explain why each fits, and present current acquisition choices without taking any external action.

Required skills

Load and follow these skills only when their stage is needed:

• books-calibre: query the user's library and reading metadata.
• Your web search tooling (for example a firecrawl-search skill): discover releases and verify current publication facts.
• Your persistent browser automation: perform read-only library and retailer (e.g. Libby, Kobo) checks.

Use the persistent library profile connected to the user's library systems and the persistent retailer profile connected to the user's account.

Do not load purchase credentials, place a hold, borrow a title, start a subscription, or buy anything from this skill. Hand explicit acquisition choices to books-acquirer.

Do not create a recurring schedule unless the user separately asks for one.

Default scope

• Treat "new releases" as books published in the last 90 days.
• Include a separate "coming soon" candidate only when it publishes within the next 120 days and is an unusually strong match.
• Consider English-language ebooks and audiobooks unless the user narrows the format.
• Return 3–5 candidates. Prefer scores of 70 or higher and suppress weak filler.
• Keep availability separate from taste score; a long library wait does not make a book a worse recommendation.

Build the taste profile

1. Query read, non-archived books with: title,authors,series,series_index,tags,rating,*goodreads,*dateread,pubdate,isbn.
2. Treat built-in rating as the user's personal Calibre rating on the 10-point scale:
   • 10 = 5 stars, strongest positive signal.
   • 8 = 4 stars, positive signal.
   • 6 = 3 stars, neutral.
   • 4 or lower = negative signal.
   • Missing ratings are unknown, never dislikes.
3. Treat *goodreads as Goodreads community rating, not the user's personal rating. Use it only as supporting evidence or a tie-breaker.
4. Weight authors, series, and tags from personal ratings. Give modest extra weight to books read in the last two years.
5. Query all Calibre records, including archived and unread books, for ownership and TBR deduplication.
6. Read references/scoring.md before ranking candidates.

Discover and verify candidates

1. Generate discovery queries from high-weight authors, series, tags, and cross-tag combinations. Include direct sequel and new-author discovery.
2. Search current web sources. Prefer official publisher and author pages for title, author, ISBN, format, and publication date. Use reputable trade publications or retailer/library records as corroboration.
3. Verify the exact publication date against at least one authoritative source. Use a second source when release status or regional availability conflicts.
4. Exclude:
   • Books already in Calibre by ISBN or normalized title + author.
   • Books already borrowed or on hold in the library app.
   • Duplicate editions of the same work.
   • Unverified or materially conflicting release records.
5. For sequels, identify the series position and check whether preceding volumes are owned or read. Penalize a sequel when the user has not reached it; prefer recommending the next unread volume instead.

Check acquisition options read-only

For each shortlisted candidate, gather current options without changing any account.

Library (e.g. Libby)

1. Search all connected library systems in the persistent library profile.
2. Check ebook and audiobook separately.
3. Record:
   • available now vs hold required,
   • estimated wait,
   • queue position when shown,
   • lending system,
   • format,
   • whether a downloadable EPUB/ACSM option is advertised.
4. Prefer the shortest wait for identical formats. Note duplicate holdings, but do not place a hold or borrow.
5. Never expose library card numbers in chat, logs, or saved state.

Retailer (e.g. Kobo)

1. Open the exact United States retailer product page.
2. Record current price, format, DRM/download option, and whether any subscription is merely promotional.
3. Do not start a trial, use points, change country, add to cart, or enter checkout.
4. Treat format and DRM as acquisition facts, not taste evidence.

Present recommendations

Show no more than five concise recommendation cards. Each card must include:

• Title and author
• Publication date and status: Released or Coming soon
• Taste score and confidence
• Two concrete reasons tied to the user's rated authors, books, series, or tags
• Series position when applicable
• Library status for the best system/format
• Retailer price and DRM/download format when available
• Clear choices such as:
  • Place library hold
  • Borrow now
  • Buy and import to Calibre
  • Skip

Do not say "you'll love this." Calibrate uncertainty and explain the evidence.

If the user selects an action, stop the scout workflow and load books-acquirer. Pass the exact title, author, ISBN when known, requested format, selected action, best library system, retailer URL, observed retailer price, and any wait estimate. The acquirer must recheck all mutable facts before acting.

Recommendation ledger

Maintain memory/books-release-scout.json as a small non-secret ledger:

{
  "version": 1,
  "candidates": {
    "<isbn-or-normalized-title-author>": {
      "title": "",
      "author": "",
      "first_presented": "YYYY-MM-DD",
      "last_presented": "YYYY-MM-DD",
      "score": 0,
      "status": "presented|skipped|held|borrowed|bought|owned",
      "system": null,
      "notes": ""
    }
  }
}

• Create the file only after the first recommendation run.
• Never store credentials, card identifiers, library card numbers, or session data.
• Do not re-present held, borrowed, bought, or owned items.
• Suppress skipped items for 180 days unless the user asks to reconsider.
• Update presented or skipped only after the recommendation or response was sent.
• Allow books-acquirer to update verified action outcomes.

Quality checks

Before sending recommendations, confirm:

• The date window was applied against today's verified date.
• Every candidate has an authoritative publication date.
• Calibre, library loans/holds, and the ledger were checked for duplicates.
• Personal ratings drive the score; Goodreads community ratings do not masquerade as personal taste.
• Availability and prices are current enough to label with the check time.
• No purchase, hold, borrow, subscription, cart mutation, or country change occurred.