What is OPDS, and how do you read comics from it on Android?

What OPDS is

The OPDS 1.2 specification (published 2018-11-11) defines the format as a syndication format for electronic publications based on Atom and HTTP, and says OPDS Catalogs enable the aggregation, distribution, discovery and acquisition of electronic publications. A catalog is a set of Atom feeds: navigation feeds give a hierarchy to browse, and acquisition feeds list the publications. Each entry carries basic metadata about the publication, its format, and how it can be acquired, through acquisition links; a catalog can also advertise a search endpoint through an OpenSearch description document.

The important part: the catalog is not the files. It is a menu. The comic stays on the server until you ask for it, through one of the entry's acquisition links.

There are two versions. OPDS 2.0 is based on the Readium Web Publication Manifest model and moves the format to JSON (application/opds+json); its spec calls it a living standard whose core has been stable since 2017. Komga publishes both a v1 and a v2 catalog, and Kavita's wiki says Kavita supports OPDS plus the page-streaming specification OPDS-PS. For comics, 1.2 plus page streaming is the combination you will actually meet.

Page streaming: OPDS-PSE

The OPDS Page Streaming Extension is, in its own words, an unofficial extension of OPDS 1.2 that enriches the feed so a client can request a specific page of a document without downloading it completely. It was designed primarily for comic books: you open the comic and the pages arrive one by one as you read. Komga documents OPDS-PSE 1.2 support on its OPDS v1 feed, and Kavita supports the same extension under the name OPDS-PS. The catch: streamed pages come from the server as you turn them, so reading this way needs a connection to the server.

Where the catalog address comes from

Each server tells you the address from its own settings or docs. Checked 2026-10-01:

• Kavita. OPDS is enabled by default on every install, and each user gets a unique URL and auth key for accessing the server from external readers; if the admin set the server's host name, the URL uses the full domain name (Kavita's OPDS page, read 2026-10-01). That key in the address is a credential: anyone holding the URL can read the catalog as you, so treat it like a password.
• Komga. The docs publish the two catalog URLs to configure in a reader: http(s)://your-server(:25600)(/baseUrl)/opds/v2/catalog for OPDS v2 and http(s)://your-server(:25600)(/baseUrl)/opds/v1.2/catalog for OPDS v1 (Komga's OPDS guide, read 2026-10-01; the v1 feed also supports OpenSearch and OPDS-PSE 1.2). Signing in uses http basic authentication: Komga's expose-your-server page says to secure the server with https "especially due to the use of http basic authentication" when opening it outside your local network.
• Calibre. The built-in Content server speaks OPDS: calibre's manual says many reading apps can browse the calibre library directly via its OPDS support by adding the server's address in the app's online catalog screen (calibre's FAQ, read 2026-10-01). Calibre-Web, a separate web app for a Calibre database, lists an OPDS feed for eBook reader apps and gives http://localhost:8083/opds as the catalog address (README, read 2026-10-01).

Choosing between Kavita and Komga is its own question; our Kavita vs Komga guide compares them from their own documentation. If your comics are files you can copy to the phone, you may not need a server at all: import them into a phone app instead (how to organize a digital comic collection covers the file side).

What a reader does with a catalog

Add the address once, and the catalog becomes a shelf inside the reader. What you can do from there:

• Browse. The navigation feeds give a hierarchy to walk: libraries, series, collections, whatever the server publishes.
• Search. When the catalog advertises an OpenSearch endpoint, the reader can search it. Komga's v1 feed searches by series; Kavita's wiki says its OPDS search works across the entities its feed lists, assuming OpenSearch support.
• Download. An acquisition link hands the reader the publication itself, so you can keep a copy on the phone and read offline.
• Stream pages. When an entry offers OPDS-PSE page streaming, a supporting reader opens the comic and fetches pages as you read, no full download first. Pages arrive per turn, so the server must be reachable while you read.

What needs a connection and what does not: browsing, searching and streaming all talk to the server, so they stop when it is unreachable. A downloaded copy is on the phone and reads anywhere.

Reading an OPDS catalog on Android with Easemic

Easemic is a free Android app, currently in invite-only testing, that keeps your comic library in cloud storage you own. It reads Kavita and Komga through their OPDS catalogs, as sources to browse, download and collect from. It never reads a server's folders: the catalog is the whole relationship.

Tap Collect on a comic from a catalog and, with storage connected, Easemic fetches its pages to the phone and uploads them to your storage (S3-compatible storage, WebDAV, OneDrive or Google Drive). By default it keeps the phone copy, so the comic still reads offline. The same storage connected on a new phone brings every collected comic back. When a catalog entry offers page streaming, Easemic can also read it online, page by page, without downloading it; that reading needs a connection to the server. Without page streaming, the comic is downloaded or collected first.

OPDS, WebDAV or a shared folder: what each one is for

These three get mixed up because each one is a way to get comics onto a phone. OPDS answers "what do you have": a server with metadata, covers, series and search. WebDAV answers "where are the files": folder access an app can read and write, the way it would on a disk, which is why drives and NAS boxes offer it (our WebDAV guide lists which ones). A folder of CBZ files on the phone itself answers "what do I own outright": no server, no connection, you import the files and they are yours.

None of them replaces the others. A server is the nicest way to browse a big library on a computer that stays on; WebDAV or drive storage is where a phone-first library lives; local files are the floor everything else stands on. In Easemic each one has a single job: an OPDS catalog is a source to browse and collect from, your WebDAV, drive or S3 storage holds the library Easemic builds, and CBZ files on the phone are imports. Easemic does not read files you put in that storage yourself.

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