Eagle Shelf

Support

Last updated: 2026-10-01 (Eagle Shelf 1.1)

What Eagle Shelf Is

Eagle Shelf is a local-first catalog for physical books you own.

It is designed to help you:

You can add books in several ways:

The app includes a review step before saving a book.

When you scan, photograph, or look up an ISBN, Eagle Shelf first checks your own library. This happens on your device, before any online lookup, so it works offline too.
If you already have that edition, you'll see Already in Library, with the copies you own and when each was added.
Tap Cancel if you were just checking. Nothing is added.
Tap Add Copy only if this is a second (or further) copy you own — a different printing, for example.

Open the add-book flow.
Choose Scan Copyright Page.
Capture the copyright page near the front of the book.
Eagle Shelf may use OCR to recognize text from that page and suggest edition-related details for review.

If you already have a photo of a barcode or a copyright page, you can pick it instead of using the camera.
Use the photo option in the add-book flow (for example, Choose ISBN Photo).
Eagle Shelf uses the system photo picker, receives only the single image you choose, and processes it on your device.
Recognized details are placed into the form for review before save.

Most collections get cataloged over several sittings, and it is easy to lose track of which books you have already added.

Not sure? Scan it. Eagle Shelf tells you right away if the book is already in your library.
Want a mark you can see on the shelf? Print the free Eagle Shelf bookmarks: US Letter · A4. Each one folds over so an eagle shows above the book's top edge from either side. Print at actual size on acid-free paper — plain copy paper works, and many copy papers are acid-free. Skip newsprint, which can tan pages over the years.
No printer? A light pencil note on the first blank page inside the front cover works too. Never use pen or mark the dust jacket, and for a valuable book, skip the pencil and use a bookmark.
Books without an ISBN — most books printed before about 1970 — can't be checked by scanning. A bookmark or a pencil note is the reliable marker for those.

Eagle Shelf stores your library locally on your device, so backups matter. All three actions are in the More menu (•••).

Choose Back Up Library… to save a complete copy of your library as a JSON backup file.
Save it to Files, iCloud Drive, or another location you manage.
Back up before deleting the app or moving to a new phone, and confirm the file is there before relying on it.

Choose Restore from Backup… and select a backup made with Back Up Library.
Restore only works on an empty library — for example, on a new phone. It never replaces or merges with books you have already added.

Text List is a tidy list of the books you still have, made for sending to a friend. It leaves out shelf locations, notes, and condition.
Full Spreadsheet is your complete record of every copy, including notes and shelf locations. It opens in Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets.
Both cover your whole library, not just the current search. Neither can be restored — use Back Up Library for that.

Your Eagle Shelf library is included in iPhone backups and phone-to-phone transfers, but it is not synced through iCloud.
To be safe, use Back Up Library right before you switch, so the backup includes your latest books.
On the new phone, open Eagle Shelf. If your books are there, you're done. If it opens empty, use Restore from Backup.

Confirm the file is a backup made with Back Up Library (a JSON file). A shared list or spreadsheet cannot be restored.
Restore only works on an empty library. It will not run if your library already has books, and it never replaces or merges with them.
If you need help restoring, contact support.

When contacting support, include: