Kavita EBook Library Performance Woes: Home & Search Hangs

by SLV Team 59 views
Kavita Performance Issues with Large eBook Libraries: Home and Writer Search Hang Indefinitely

Hey guys, have you ever run into a situation where your favorite app just seems to crawl to a halt when dealing with a massive amount of data? Well, that's exactly what I've been experiencing with Kavita and my rather extensive eBook library. I've got a whopping 70,000 books indexed, and the performance is, to put it mildly, a bit sluggish. Let's dive into the nitty-gritty of the problems I've encountered and what could potentially be done to make things smoother.

The Hang-Ups: Home Page & Writer Search

So, what's the deal, exactly? First off, the Home page. It renders the "On Deck" and "Recently Added Series" sections just fine, which is great. But after those sections, BAM! A loading spinner appears, and it just... keeps spinning. It never finishes, like it's stuck in an infinite loop of trying to load something. My hunch is that it's attempting to render additional content from the entire 70,000-book library, which is a bit like trying to fit the ocean into a teacup. Not gonna happen, right?

And then there's the author search. This is a major bummer because, let's be real, searching by author is one of the most crucial features when you've got a huge collection of eBooks. But, alas, it freezes. It seems like Kavita is trying to load all possible author values into a combo box, which is a resource-intensive operation when you have a vast library. This process takes forever and ultimately leads to the page hanging. It's like the app is trying to memorize the entire phone book before letting you make a call. Not very user-friendly, right? These two issues have definitely made me think about optimizing performance.

Detailed Breakdown: What Went Down

Let's break down these issues and discuss the root causes that are making things so slow. This will help understand what optimizations could be put into place to fix the slowness that occurs on the home page and author search.

  • Home Page Loading: The primary issue here is the way the home page handles the entire library. When loading a huge library, the current implementation attempts to process the entire collection. This includes the initial sections. A more optimized approach might involve lazy loading or pagination to render content in batches. Instead of loading everything at once. This would prevent the app from hanging and improve the user experience. By loading only the necessary parts initially, the home page would become more responsive.
  • Author Search: The core problem with the author search lies in the combo box approach. Pre-loading all author names into a combo box is not scalable for large libraries. Each time the search is triggered, the process involves fetching, and displaying all authors. An alternative could be implementing an autocomplete feature that progressively loads author names as the user types. Another possibility is to incorporate a simple text input with a search option. This would enhance performance and the user experience by not requiring the loading of all the authors simultaneously.

What I Expected: A Smooth Ride

So, what did I anticipate? Well, I expected Kavita to handle my large library gracefully. The Home page should finish loading without any hitches, even with 70,000 books indexed. I'm not asking for miracles, just for the page to load completely. Maybe a few loading indicators here and there, but nothing that would freeze the page entirely. I'd love to see it finish loading completely. The author search should be responsive and user-friendly. Ideally, it shouldn't try to pre-load all the authors at once. A free text box to search, like "Asimov," would be a great workaround. It would allow users to search the author without the app trying to remember the entire author index. This should enhance user experience for those using the author search. Making sure the search function is robust and performs well is key. Ensuring the responsiveness of a key feature like author search is essential.

The Ideal User Experience

Imagine this: you open Kavita, and the home page loads almost instantly, showcasing your "On Deck" and "Recently Added Series" without a hitch. You can also view more, like the latest additions or new series, and the load completes. You then move to the author search, type in the name of your favorite writer, and a list of matching authors pops up immediately. No endless loading, no waiting. Just smooth, seamless access to your eBooks. That's what I am hoping for.

My Setup: The Technical Details

  • Kavita Version: 0.8.8 - Stable. I've been running the stable version to get the latest fixes. I know updating can sometimes resolve these issues, but I've kept up to date to ensure I am running the latest version. Always good to update, right?
  • Reverse Proxy: Yes, I am using a reverse proxy. However, I've confirmed that the issue persists even with a direct connection. So, the proxy isn't the culprit.
  • Operating System: I'm hosting Kavita using Docker (Dockerhub Container).
  • Desktop OS: I've tested on Windows, and the issue is noticeable.
  • Browsers: I've seen the problem on Firefox. But, the problem is consistent across multiple browsers, so it's not a browser-specific issue.

I've also tested on macOS desktop (Safari, Chrome, Edge), and the performance degradation is consistent. The core problem is still there.

The Takeaway: Optimization Needed

It's pretty clear that performance degrades significantly when Kavita tries to handle a very large eBook library. The Home page and author search definitely need some love in the form of optimization. Specifically, addressing the way these sections handle large datasets could make a big difference. Implementing features like lazy loading for the home page and a free-text-input-based author search would be great improvements. These changes would significantly reduce loading times and improve the overall user experience for those of us with massive eBook collections. The bottom line is that Kavita needs to be able to scale efficiently to accommodate larger libraries without causing performance bottlenecks. Hopefully, the developers will see these problems and work on some solutions.

Potential Solutions and Workarounds

Here are some potential solutions and workarounds to consider:

  1. Lazy Loading and Pagination: Implement lazy loading for the home page to load content on demand. Paginate the "On Deck" and "Recently Added Series" sections to display content in smaller, manageable batches.
  2. Optimized Author Search: Replace the combo box with an autocomplete feature. Implement a free text box for author search to allow users to type and search authors.
  3. Database Indexing: Ensure that the database is properly indexed to facilitate fast searches and data retrieval.
  4. Background Tasks: Offload some of the processing tasks to background jobs to prevent the UI from freezing during heavy operations.
  5. Caching: Implement caching mechanisms to store frequently accessed data, reducing the need to repeatedly query the database.

By implementing these solutions, Kavita can improve performance and scalability to handle large eBook libraries more efficiently.