# ISBN Book Metadata Lookup (`automation-lab/isbn-lookup`) Actor Look up book metadata by ISBN-10 or ISBN-13. Get title, authors, publisher, publish date, page count, subjects, cover image, and more from Open Library and Google Books APIs. Export as JSON, CSV, or Excel. - **URL**: https://apify.com/automation-lab/isbn-lookup.md - **Developed by:** [Stas Persiianenko](https://apify.com/automation-lab) (community) - **Categories:** Other - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing Pay per event 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 a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. 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. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use 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 ## ISBN Book Metadata Lookup ### What does ISBN Book Metadata Lookup do? ISBN Book Metadata Lookup is an Apify actor that retrieves complete book metadata from **ISBN-10** or **ISBN-13** numbers. It queries the [Open Library API](https://openlibrary.org/developers/api) and [Google Books API](https://developers.google.com/books) to return structured data including title, authors, publisher, publication date, page count, subjects, description, cover image URL, ratings, and more. No browser, no proxy, no API key required. Just provide a list of ISBNs and get structured book data back in JSON, CSV, or Excel. ### Who is ISBN Book Metadata Lookup for? - **Librarians and catalogers** building or enriching digital catalogs with standardized book metadata - **Book retailers and resellers** who need to populate product listings with accurate titles, authors, descriptions, and cover images - **Researchers and academics** compiling reading lists or bibliographic databases at scale - **Content platforms** auto-enriching book references with descriptions, subjects, and cover art - **Developers** building book recommendation engines, reading trackers, or inventory management systems - **Data analysts** studying publishing trends, subject classification, or author networks ### Why use ISBN Book Metadata Lookup? - **Two data sources merged** — Open Library for rich metadata (publishers, subjects, page counts) plus Google Books for ratings, categories, and preview links - **Zero proxy cost** — uses free public APIs, no scraping, no anti-bot detection - **Handles both ISBN formats** — ISBN-10 and ISBN-13 with automatic hyphen stripping - **Graceful error handling** — invalid ISBNs and not-found entries are flagged, not crashed - **Structured flat output** — every field is a top-level key, ready for CSV/Excel export without nested objects ### What data can you get with ISBN Book Metadata Lookup? | Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | `isbn13` | string | ISBN-13 identifier | | `isbn10` | string | ISBN-10 identifier | | `title` | string | Book title | | `authors` | string | Comma-separated author names | | `publisher` | string | Publisher name | | `publishDate` | string | Publication date | | `pageCount` | number | Number of pages | | `subjects` | string | Comma-separated subject tags (up to 10) | | `description` | string | Book description or synopsis | | `language` | string | Language code (e.g., "eng") | | `coverImageUrl` | string | URL to cover image (Open Library or Google Books) | | `googleBooksUrl` | string | Google Books preview link | | `openLibraryUrl` | string | Open Library edition page | | `googleRating` | number | Average Google Books rating (1-5) | | `googleRatingsCount` | number | Number of Google Books ratings | | `inputIsbn` | string | The original ISBN you provided | | `source` | string | Data source: open_library, google_books, or both | | `error` | string | Error message if ISBN was invalid or not found | ### How much does it cost to look up book metadata by ISBN? ISBN Book Metadata Lookup uses Apify's **pay-per-event** pricing model. You only pay for what you use: | Charge Event | FREE | BRONZE | SILVER | GOLD | PLATINUM | DIAMOND | |-------------|------|--------|--------|------|----------|---------| | **Actor start** (per run) | $0.005 | $0.005 | $0.005 | $0.005 | $0.005 | $0.005 | | **ISBN looked up** (per ISBN) | $0.00345 | $0.003 | $0.00234 | $0.0018 | $0.0012 | $0.00084 | **Example costs (FREE tier):** - Look up **10 books**: ~$0.040 (start + 10 lookups) - Look up **100 books**: ~$0.350 (start + 100 lookups) - Look up **1,000 books**: ~$3.455 (start + 1,000 lookups) Apify **Free plan** gives you $5/month in credits — enough to look up **~1,440 books per month** at no cost. Higher Apify plans get **tiered discounts** of up to 76% off per-ISBN pricing (DIAMOND tier: $0.00084/ISBN). ### How to look up book metadata by ISBN 1. Go to the [ISBN Book Metadata Lookup](https://apify.com/automation-lab/isbn-lookup) actor page on Apify 2. Click **Start** to open the input form 3. Enter your ISBNs in the **ISBNs** field — one per line, ISBN-10 or ISBN-13, hyphens optional 4. Toggle **Include Google Books data** on/off depending on whether you want ratings and preview links 5. Click **Start** to run the lookup 6. Download results as JSON, CSV, Excel, or connect via API ### Input parameters | Parameter | Type | Required | Default | Description | |-----------|------|----------|---------|-------------| | `isbns` | string[] | Yes | — | List of ISBN-10 or ISBN-13 numbers | | `includeGoogleBooks` | boolean | No | `true` | Merge additional metadata from Google Books API | | `skipNotFound` | boolean | No | `false` | Skip ISBNs not found in any database | ### Output example ```json { "isbn13": "9780143127741", "isbn10": "0143127748", "title": "The Body Keeps the Score", "authors": "Bessel van der Kolk", "publisher": "Penguin Books", "publishDate": "Sep 08, 2015", "pageCount": 464, "subjects": "Post-traumatic stress disorder, Treatment, Therapy, Stress Disorders", "description": "Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with...", "language": "eng", "coverImageUrl": "https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/14849962-L.jpg", "googleBooksUrl": "http://books.google.com/books?id=...", "openLibraryUrl": "https://openlibrary.org/books/OL26631800M", "googleRating": 4.5, "googleRatingsCount": 1250, "inputIsbn": "9780143127741", "source": "open_library+google_books", "error": null } ```` ### Tips for best results - **Use ISBN-13 when possible** — it is the current international standard and has broader coverage - **Enable Google Books** for richer data — ratings, categories, and preview links come from Google - **Batch large lookups** — the actor handles thousands of ISBNs in a single run efficiently - **Google Books rate limits** — the Google Books API has a daily quota (~1,000 requests). For very large batches, the actor automatically detects quota exhaustion and continues with Open Library data only. Google Books quota resets daily. - **Check the `error` field** — if an ISBN is not found or invalid, the error field explains why - **Hyphens are fine** — the actor strips them automatically, so `978-0-14-312774-1` works just like `9780143127741` ### Integrations ISBN Book Metadata Lookup connects with 5,000+ apps through [Apify integrations](https://apify.com/integrations): - **Google Sheets** — automatically populate a spreadsheet with book metadata from a list of ISBNs - **Airtable** — build a book catalog database that auto-enriches when new ISBNs are added - **Zapier / Make** — trigger lookups when new books are added to your inventory or reading list - **Slack / Email** — get notifications when new book data is available - **Webhooks** — pipe results directly into your own API or database ### API usage #### Node.js ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN' }); const run = await client.actor('automation-lab/isbn-lookup').call({ isbns: ['9780143127741', '9780061120084', '0451524934'], includeGoogleBooks: true, }); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); console.log(items); ``` #### Python ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient client = ApifyClient('YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN') run = client.actor('automation-lab/isbn-lookup').call(run_input={ 'isbns': ['9780143127741', '9780061120084', '0451524934'], 'includeGoogleBooks': True, }) items = client.dataset(run['defaultDatasetId']).list_items().items print(items) ``` #### cURL ```bash curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/automation-lab~isbn-lookup/runs" \ -X POST \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \ -d '{ "isbns": ["9780143127741", "9780061120084", "0451524934"], "includeGoogleBooks": true }' ``` ### MCP integration (Claude, Cursor, VS Code) Use ISBN Book Metadata Lookup directly from AI assistants via the Model Context Protocol (MCP). #### Claude Code ```bash claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=automation-lab/isbn-lookup" ``` #### Claude Desktop / Cursor / VS Code Add to your MCP config file: ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=automation-lab/isbn-lookup" } } } ``` **Example prompts:** - "Look up the book with ISBN 9780143127741 and tell me the author and page count" - "Get metadata for these ISBNs: 9780061120084, 0451524934" - "Find the cover image and description for ISBN 978-0-316-76948-8" ### Is it legal to look up book data by ISBN? Yes. ISBN Book Metadata Lookup uses **publicly available APIs** (Open Library and Google Books) that are designed for programmatic access. Both APIs are free, require no authentication for basic lookups, and provide data that publishers have made publicly available. The actor does not scrape any website or bypass any access controls. ### FAQ #### What ISBN formats are supported? Both **ISBN-10** (10 digits) and **ISBN-13** (13 digits, starting with 978 or 979) are supported. Hyphens and spaces are stripped automatically. #### What happens if an ISBN is not found? By default, the actor outputs a record with `error: "ISBN not found in Open Library or Google Books"` and null data fields. Enable **Skip not-found ISBNs** to omit these records entirely. #### Why are some fields null? Not all books have complete metadata in every source. Older or less popular books may lack descriptions, ratings, or cover images. Enabling Google Books merging improves coverage. #### Can I look up thousands of ISBNs at once? Yes. The actor processes ISBNs sequentially with efficient batching. A run of 1,000 ISBNs typically completes in 5-10 minutes. #### Why is the Google Books rating missing for some books? Google Books only shows ratings for books that have received user reviews. Newer or niche titles may not have ratings yet. Additionally, the Google Books API has daily rate limits — if the quota is exhausted during a run, remaining ISBNs will only have Open Library data (the `source` field will show `open_library` instead of `open_library+google_books`). #### The actor timed out — what should I do? Increase the **timeout** in the run configuration. For very large batches (10,000+ ISBNs), consider splitting into multiple runs. ### Related actors - [Fake Test Data Generator](https://apify.com/automation-lab/fake-test-data-generator) — generate bulk fake data for testing - [Curl to Code Converter](https://apify.com/automation-lab/curl-to-code-converter) — convert cURL commands to code in multiple languages # Actor input Schema ## `isbns` (type: `array`): Enter one or more ISBN-10 or ISBN-13 numbers. Hyphens are stripped automatically. ## `includeGoogleBooks` (type: `boolean`): Merge additional metadata from Google Books API (description, categories, ratings, preview links). Slightly slower but provides richer data. ## `skipNotFound` (type: `boolean`): Skip ISBNs that are not found in any database instead of outputting an error record. ## Actor input object example ```json { "isbns": [ "9780143127741", "978-0-06-112008-4", "0451524934" ], "includeGoogleBooks": true, "skipNotFound": false } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `overview` (type: `string`): No description # 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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "isbns": [ "9780143127741", "978-0-06-112008-4", "0451524934" ], "includeGoogleBooks": true, "skipNotFound": false }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("automation-lab/isbn-lookup").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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "isbns": [ "9780143127741", "978-0-06-112008-4", "0451524934", ], "includeGoogleBooks": True, "skipNotFound": False, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("automation-lab/isbn-lookup").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 '{ "isbns": [ "9780143127741", "978-0-06-112008-4", "0451524934" ], "includeGoogleBooks": true, "skipNotFound": false }' | apify call automation-lab/isbn-lookup --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=automation-lab/isbn-lookup", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "ISBN Book Metadata Lookup", "description": "Look up book metadata by ISBN-10 or ISBN-13. Get title, authors, publisher, publish date, page count, subjects, cover image, and more from Open Library and Google Books APIs. Export as JSON, CSV, or Excel.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "uSHHOr1pld45ZRG8n" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/automation-lab~isbn-lookup/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-automation-lab-isbn-lookup", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/automation-lab~isbn-lookup/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-automation-lab-isbn-lookup", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/automation-lab~isbn-lookup/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-automation-lab-isbn-lookup", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "isbns" ], "properties": { "isbns": { "title": "📚 ISBNs", "type": "array", "description": "Enter one or more ISBN-10 or ISBN-13 numbers. Hyphens are stripped automatically.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "includeGoogleBooks": { "title": "🔍 Include Google Books data", "type": "boolean", "description": "Merge additional metadata from Google Books API (description, categories, ratings, preview links). Slightly slower but provides richer data.", "default": true }, "skipNotFound": { "title": "⏭️ Skip not-found ISBNs", "type": "boolean", "description": "Skip ISBNs that are not found in any database instead of outputting an error record.", "default": false } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```