# Open Library Books — Search Books, Authors & ISBNs (`omao/openlibrary`) Actor

Search millions of books by title, author or keyword and get clean JSON: title, authors, first publish year, ISBNs, edition count, subjects, ratings and cover image. Powered by the Open Library API. No API key, no anti-bot.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/omao/openlibrary.md
- **Developed by:** [Marouane Oulabass](https://apify.com/omao) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.72 / 1,000 books

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Open Library Books — Search Books, Authors & ISBNs (JSON)

**Search millions of books by title, author or keyword — and get clean JSON.** Pass queries and get back a tidy row per book: title, authors, first publish year, ISBNs, edition count, subjects, ratings and cover image. Powered by the Open Library API — no API key, no anti-bot.

The easy way to build book datasets, enrich catalogs and look up ISBNs at scale.

### Who uses this

- 📚 **Libraries & catalogs** — enrich records with ISBNs, subjects and covers.
- 🛒 **Booksellers & marketplaces** — match titles and grab metadata.
- 🤖 **Recommendation & AI** — build book datasets by subject or author.
- 🔎 **Researchers** — study publishing trends across millions of works.
- 🧑‍💻 **Developers** — a clean book search endpoint by title/author/keyword.

### What you get — one clean row per book

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `title` | Book title |
| `authors` + `firstAuthor` | Author(s) |
| `firstPublishYear` | First publication year |
| `isbn` + `isbnList` | ISBN(s) |
| `editionCount` | Number of editions |
| `subjects` | Subjects / topics |
| `languages` + `publishers` | Extra metadata |
| `pagesMedian` | Median page count |
| `ratingsAverage` + `ratingsCount` | Ratings |
| `coverUrl` | Cover image URL |
| `openLibraryUrl`, `query`, `scrapedAt` | Links & provenance |

### Example

**Input**

```json
{ "queries": ["the lord of the rings", "author:tolkien"], "maxResultsPerQuery": 25 }
```

**Output (one item)**

```json
{
  "title": "The Lord of the Rings",
  "authors": ["J.R.R. Tolkien"], "firstPublishYear": 1954,
  "editionCount": 120, "isbn": "9780618640157",
  "subjects": ["Fantasy", "Middle Earth"],
  "ratingsAverage": 4.5, "coverUrl": "https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/1234567-L.jpg",
  "openLibraryUrl": "https://openlibrary.org/works/OL27448W"
}
```

### Why this actor

- ✅ **Millions of books** — the Open Library catalog.
- 🔎 **Flexible search** — by title, author (`author:`) or keyword.
- 🔢 **ISBNs & covers** — ready for catalogs and enrichment.
- ⭐ **Ratings & subjects** — richer than a bare title lookup.
- ⚡ **Fast & affordable** — pay only per book returned. No key, no anti-bot.

### Input options

- `queries` *(required)* — book searches (title, author, keyword).
- `maxResultsPerQuery` — cap books per query.

### FAQ

**Can I search by author?** Yes — use `author:` in the query (e.g. `author:tolkien`).

**Do I get ISBNs and covers?** Yes — `isbn`/`isbnList` and `coverUrl` are included.

**How fresh is the data?** Live from the Open Library API on every run.

**Can I run many searches at once?** Yes — pass a list of queries; every row carries its `query`.

**Can I export to CSV/Excel/Google Sheets?** Yes — the dataset exports to JSON, CSV, Excel and HTML, or pull it via the API.

**What does it cost?** Pay-per-book — you're only charged for books actually returned.

***

*Tip: feed a list of titles and match on `isbn` to enrich your catalog with covers and subjects.*

# Actor input Schema

## `queries` (type: `array`):

Book searches (title, author, keyword). One search per query.

## `maxResultsPerQuery` (type: `integer`):

Cap the number of books returned per query.

## `healthCheckMode` (type: `boolean`):

Internal monitoring: run a canary search and FAIL if broken (no billing).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "queries": [
    "tolkien",
    "clean code"
  ],
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 40,
  "healthCheckMode": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `books` (type: `string`):

All books (title, authors, year, ISBNs, subjects, ratings, cover).

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "queries": [
        "the hobbit"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("omao/openlibrary").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "queries": ["the hobbit"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("omao/openlibrary").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "queries": [
    "the hobbit"
  ]
}' |
apify call omao/openlibrary --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=omao/openlibrary",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/usAFpKyw32rlmEcpo/builds/x5YWnAhZlBzgqZMnn/openapi.json