diff --git a/scripts/request-server.js b/scripts/request-server.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7fe3228
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/request-server.js
@@ -0,0 +1,188 @@
+// Novel requests over HTTP, for the "request a novel" page (served through the
+// illustrator at /library). Searches and downloads run as short-lived child processes
+// of find-novel.js / fetch-novel.js, so their memory (plugins carry their own
+// libraries) is returned as soon as they finish; the server itself stays small.
+//   GET  /health
+//   GET  /find?q=<title>           -> [{source, id, name, path, url, exact}] (cached 10 min)
+//   POST /fetch {id, path, name}   -> job; one download at a time
+//   GET  /jobs                     -> recent jobs, newest first
+// Nightly (UPDATE_HOUR, local time) update-novels.js appends new free chapters.
+// Env: LIBRARY (novels dir, writable), PORT, NOVEL_PLUGIN_CACHE, UPDATE_HOUR.
+import { spawn } from 'child_process';
+import fs from 'fs';
+import http from 'http';
+import os from 'os';
+import path from 'path';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'url';
+
+const HERE = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
+const LIBRARY = process.env.LIBRARY || '/library';
+const PORT = Number(process.env.PORT || 8090);
+const UPDATE_HOUR = Number(process.env.UPDATE_HOUR || 4);
+const FIND_TTL_MS = 10 * 60 * 1000;
+const MAX_JOBS = 50;
+
+const found = new Map(); // query -> {at, results}
+const jobs = []; // newest first
+let running = null;
+
+function run(script, args) {
+  return new Promise(resolve => {
+    const child = spawn(process.execPath, [path.join(HERE, script), ...args], {
+      stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
+    });
+    let out = '';
+    let err = '';
+    child.stdout.on('data', d => (out += d));
+    child.stderr.on('data', d => {
+      err += d;
+      if (err.length > 20000) err = err.slice(-10000);
+    });
+    child.on('close', code => resolve({ code, out, err }));
+  });
+}
+
+const safeName = s => s.replace(/[/\\:*?"<>|]/g, '-').trim();
+
+// One folder per series, named after the book: Kavita groups by folder.
+function place(file) {
+  const name = safeName(path.basename(file, '.epub'));
+  const dir = path.join(LIBRARY, name);
+  const target = path.join(dir, `${name}.epub`);
+  if (fs.existsSync(target)) throw new Error(`already in the library: ${name}`);
+  fs.mkdirSync(dir, { recursive: true, mode: 0o2775 });
+  fs.copyFileSync(file, target);
+  return name;
+}
+
+async function work() {
+  if (running) return;
+  running = jobs.findLast(j => j.status === 'queued');
+  if (!running) return;
+  const job = running;
+  job.status = 'running';
+  job.started = Date.now();
+  const tmp = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'novel-'));
+  try {
+    const { code, out, err } = await run('fetch-novel.js', [
+      job.id,
+      job.path,
+      tmp,
+    ]);
+    const file = out.trim().split('\n').pop();
+    if (code !== 0 || !file || !fs.existsSync(file)) {
+      throw new Error(err.trim().split('\n').pop() || `exit ${code}`);
+    }
+    job.progress = err.trim().split('\n')[0] || '';
+    job.title = place(file);
+    job.status = 'done';
+  } catch (e) {
+    job.status = 'failed';
+    job.error = String(e.message || e).slice(0, 300);
+  } finally {
+    fs.rmSync(tmp, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    job.finished = Date.now();
+    running = null;
+    setImmediate(work);
+  }
+}
+
+async function nightly() {
+  const next = new Date();
+  next.setHours(UPDATE_HOUR, 17, 0, 0);
+  if (next <= new Date()) next.setDate(next.getDate() + 1);
+  setTimeout(async () => {
+    const { code, out, err } = await run('update-novels.js', [LIBRARY]);
+    process.stdout.write(
+      `nightly update (exit ${code}):\n${out}${err.slice(-2000)}\n`,
+    );
+    nightly();
+  }, next - new Date());
+}
+
+function send(res, code, body) {
+  const data = JSON.stringify(body);
+  res.writeHead(code, {
+    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
+    'Content-Length': Buffer.byteLength(data),
+    'Cache-Control': 'no-store',
+  });
+  res.end(data);
+}
+
+function readJson(req) {
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    let body = '';
+    req.on('data', d => {
+      body += d;
+      if (body.length > 10000) reject(new Error('body too large'));
+    });
+    req.on('end', () => {
+      try {
+        resolve(JSON.parse(body || '{}'));
+      } catch {
+        reject(new Error('invalid JSON'));
+      }
+    });
+  });
+}
+
+http
+  .createServer(async (req, res) => {
+    const url = new URL(req.url, 'http://localhost');
+    try {
+      if (req.method === 'GET' && url.pathname === '/health') {
+        return send(res, 200, { ok: true });
+      }
+      if (req.method === 'GET' && url.pathname === '/find') {
+        const q = (url.searchParams.get('q') || '').trim().slice(0, 200);
+        if (q.length < 2) return send(res, 400, { error: 'q is required' });
+        const hit = found.get(q.toLowerCase());
+        if (hit && Date.now() - hit.at < FIND_TTL_MS)
+          return send(res, 200, hit.results);
+        const { code, out, err } = await run('find-novel.js', ['--json', q]);
+        if (code !== 0)
+          return send(res, 502, { error: err.trim().split('\n').pop() });
+        const results = JSON.parse(out.trim().split('\n').pop() || '[]');
+        found.set(q.toLowerCase(), { at: Date.now(), results });
+        return send(res, 200, results);
+      }
+      if (req.method === 'GET' && url.pathname === '/jobs') {
+        return send(res, 200, jobs);
+      }
+      if (req.method === 'POST' && url.pathname === '/fetch') {
+        const { id, path: novelPath, name } = await readJson(req);
+        if (
+          typeof id !== 'string' ||
+          typeof novelPath !== 'string' ||
+          !id ||
+          !novelPath
+        )
+          return send(res, 400, { error: 'id and path are required' });
+        const same = jobs.find(
+          j =>
+            j.id === id &&
+            j.path === novelPath &&
+            ['queued', 'running'].includes(j.status),
+        );
+        if (same) return send(res, 202, same);
+        const job = {
+          id: id.slice(0, 100),
+          path: novelPath.slice(0, 500),
+          name: String(name || novelPath).slice(0, 200),
+          status: 'queued',
+          queued: Date.now(),
+        };
+        jobs.unshift(job);
+        jobs.length = Math.min(jobs.length, MAX_JOBS);
+        setImmediate(work);
+        return send(res, 202, job);
+      }
+      send(res, 404, { error: 'not found' });
+    } catch (e) {
+      send(res, 400, { error: String(e.message || e) });
+    }
+  })
+  .listen(PORT, () => process.stdout.write(`novel requests on :${PORT}\n`));
+
+nightly();