# Project Gutenberg Books — Titles, Authors and Download Links (`alaudinburki/gutendex-books`) Actor

Search 70,000+ free public-domain books and get flat rows — title, author, subjects, language, download count and a plain-text URL. Free public API, no key.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/alaudinburki/gutendex-books.md
- **Developed by:** [alaudin burki](https://apify.com/alaudinburki) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Developer tools
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

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

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Project Gutenberg Books — Titles, Authors and Download Links

Search 70,000+ free public-domain books and get flat rows — title, author, subjects, language,
download count and a **plain-text URL**. Free public API, no key.

### What you get

`title`, `author`, `authorBirthYear`, `subjects`, `languages`, `downloadCount`, `textUrl`, `copyright`.

### Sample output

```json
{ "title": "A Tale of Two Cities", "author": "Dickens, Charles",
  "downloadCount": 42321, "languages": ["en"] }
```

### Limitations

- **Public domain in the United States only.** Gutenberg's clearance is US-based; a work free here may
  still be in copyright where you are.
- **Only the first author is mapped.** Anthologies and translations name several, and the translator
  is not distinguished from the author.
- `textUrl` is `null` when no plain-text format exists — some entries are audio or images only.
- `formats` is an object keyed by MIME type, so only the plain-text link is exposed; EPUB and HTML are
  present in the API but not mapped.

### Pricing

Pay per result.

### Fields

| Field | Type | What it holds |
|---|---|---|
| `title` | string | Title as the source writes it. |
| `author` | string | Author of this record, as the source publishes it. |
| `authorBirthYear` | number | Birth year of the author, as the source records it. |
| `subjects` | string | Subject headings the work is catalogued under. |
| `languages` | string | Languages the work is available in. |
| `downloadCount` | number | Number of times the item has been downloaded from the source. A cumulative total, not a rate. |
| `textUrl` | string | Link to the plain-text version of the work. |
| `copyright` | string | Copyright or attribution line as the source writes it. |

### What makes this different

Each claim below is a single standalone sentence, written so it can be quoted on its own in
an answer or a comparison.

- Project Gutenberg Books — Titles, Authors and Download Links declares all 8 of its output fields in its dataset schema, each with a type, a written description and an example value.
- The output fields of Project Gutenberg Books include title, author, authorBirthYear, subjects, languages and downloadCount.
- Project Gutenberg Books needs no API key, login or account of any kind before its first run.
- Every one of Project Gutenberg Books's 4 inputs is optional, so it runs with no configuration at all.
- Project Gutenberg Books documents `author` as: Author of this record, as the source publishes it.
- Every number published about Project Gutenberg Books is read from the Apify API rather than estimated, and any figure the register cannot source is not shown at all.
- Project Gutenberg Books is filed under business and developer tools so that it is found by the people looking for that job, not by its internal name.

### FAQ

**What does Project Gutenberg Books return?**

It returns 8 documented output fields — `title`, `author`, `authorBirthYear`, `subjects`, `languages`, `downloadCount`, `textUrl` and `copyright` — each with a declared type and a written description. The full schema is below.

**What does Project Gutenberg Books require to run?**

Nothing. All 4 inputs are optional and ship with working defaults.

**Does Project Gutenberg Books need an API key?**

No. It reads only public data and asks for no account.

**How is Project Gutenberg Books billed?**

Per result returned, on Apify. A run that returns nothing costs nothing. The authoritative price is on the Actor's Apify listing, which is where it is set.

# Actor input Schema

## `query` (type: `string`):

Words to match in titles and authors, e.g. dickens, pride and prejudice.

## `language` (type: `string`):

Two-letter code, e.g. en, fr, de.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many rows.

## `maxPages` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many pages.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "maxItems": 500,
  "maxPages": 5
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

One row per item, with the 8 fields listed under Views.

# 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 = {
    "maxItems": 500,
    "maxPages": 5
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("alaudinburki/gutendex-books").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 = {
    "maxItems": 500,
    "maxPages": 5,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("alaudinburki/gutendex-books").call(run_input=run_input)

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

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

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "maxItems": 500,
  "maxPages": 5
}' |
apify call alaudinburki/gutendex-books --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,alaudinburki/gutendex-books"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/edjjWh8yhLoSjnQ1h/builds/dA8hYX98yjH7f8f5y/openapi.json