Two weeks after the previous 8.10 update, Calibre, the beloved open-source e-book management software, has rolled out version 8.11, which brings a notable new feature—the addition of an “Ask AI” tab inside the e-book viewer’s dictionary lookup panel.
The feature is designed to be entirely optional—no AI code is even loaded unless the user sets up a provider. Calibre supports a wide range of services, including Google, OpenRouter, GitHub, and locally running models through Ollama. Many of these can be used free of charge.
On the bug-fix side, version 8.11 addresses a handful of issues that were frustrating users. Modifying existing highlights no longer creates duplicates in some books. Very large e-books that previously had a few broken links on Windows should now open correctly. Support for certain malformed PDB files has been improved, fixing conversion failures.
Other fixes include correcting errors when adding the first icon rule in the Tag browser and ensuring the Esc key properly closes footnote popups when they have keyboard focus. Highlight placement in some books has also been adjusted for better accuracy.
Windows users get one extra improvement: the build process now signs not only .dll files but also .pyd DLLs, tightening consistency and security.
Lastly, the update also includes refreshed integrations for several news sources, such as The New York Times, The Economist, El Diplo, and the New York Review of Books.
Check out the changelog for more details and the complete list of novelties in the Calibre 8.11 open-source e-book management tool. The update is already live for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
