# Google Books Scraper (`googleapi/google-books-scraper`) Actor

Search public Google Books pages and the official public volumes response for rich bibliographic, ISBN, preview, media, sale, and access metadata.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/googleapi/google-books-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Google API](https://apify.com/googleapi) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $3.99 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.

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

Search public Google Books listings and collect bibliographic details, identifiers, descriptions, preview availability, cover images, and available sale and access information.

### How to use

1. Search by title or phrase, look up ISBNs, or provide a public Google Books URL.
2. Add any author, category, language, publication-date, or page-count filters.
3. Choose whether to include descriptions, cover images, sale details, and access details.
4. Run the Actor and review or export the book records from the dataset.

Example:

```json
{
  "queries": ["machine learning"],
  "author": "Example Author",
  "ebookFilter": "ebooks",
  "minPageCount": 100,
  "publishedAfter": "2020-01",
  "maxItems": 10
}
```

### Input

| Input | Description | Default |
|---|---|---:|
| `queries` | Search phrases. `query`, `searchQuery`, and `searchKeywords` are aliases. | — |
| `isbns` | ISBN-10 or ISBN-13 values to search. | — |
| `startUrls` | Public Google Books search, detail, or volumes URLs. `sourceUrls`, `searchUrls`, `urls`, and `url` are aliases. | — |
| `maxItems` | Maximum book records across the run (1–500). | 25 |
| `page` / `maxPages` / `pageSize` | Starting result page, maximum pages per source, and results per page. | 1 / 3 / 10 |
| `deduplicate` | Keep one record per Google Books ID. | `true` |
| `sortBy` | Order by recommendation, title, publication date, or page count. | `recommended` |
| `keyword` / `author` / `category` / `language` | Filter by matching public book information. | — |
| `printType` / `ebookFilter` | Filter by book type and eBook availability where Google Books supports it. | `all` / `all` |
| `minPageCount` / `maxPageCount` | Keep books within the specified page-count range. | — |
| `publishedAfter` / `publishedBefore` | Inclusive publication-date bounds. Accept a year, `YYYY-MM`, or `YYYY-MM-DD`. | — |
| `includeMedia` | Include cover-image URLs and image counts. | `true` |
| `includeDescription` | Include the available book description or result snippet. | `true` |
| `includeSaleInfo` | Include available price, saleability, eBook, and purchase-link details. | `true` |
| `includeAccessInfo` | Include available preview, embeddability, and file-availability details. | `true` |
| `includeDetails` | Visit selected public book detail pages for additional information. | `false` |
| `maxDetailItems` | Maximum additional detail pages when details are enabled (0–50). Defaults to 5 when enabled. | — |
| `proxyConfiguration` | Optional Apify Proxy configuration for public Google Books pages. | — |

Google Books results are paginated. `startPage` is also accepted as an alias for `page`.

### Output

Each dataset item represents a book and requires `bookId`. Depending on the listing and selected inputs, it can include:

- **Bibliography:** title, subtitle, authors, editors, contributors, publisher, publication dates, language, format, categories, and subjects.
- **Identifiers and editions:** ISBN-10, ISBN-13, industry identifiers, edition details, original-work dates, series, related editions, and similar books.
- **Description and contents:** full public description, table of contents, selected preview pages, common terms, author profiles, awards, and citation links.
- **Preview and cover:** preview status, public preview URLs, cover images, and image dimensions.
- **Sale and access:** availability, price, purchase options, eBook status, preview access, embeddability, and public-domain or file-availability indicators.
- **Ratings and maturity:** average rating, ratings count, and maturity rating when shown.

Values depend on what Google Books makes available for each work or edition. Publication dates preserve the precision provided by the source. Preview-page counts describe the available preview and are not presented as the book’s total length. Unavailable values are not inferred.

Example dataset item:

```json
{
  "bookId": "example-volume-id",
  "title": "Example Book",
  "authors": ["Example Author"],
  "publisher": "Example Publisher",
  "publishedDateText": "2022",
  "publishedDatePrecision": "year",
  "pageCount": 250,
  "canonicalUrl": "https://books.google.com/books?id=example-volume-id"
}
```

The Output tab shows the available result fields. The Actor’s Output tab provides the dataset and run summary.

### Limits and responsible use

Results depend on the public Google Books catalog and the selected filters. Optional detail pages can increase run time. This Actor is not affiliated with Google.

# Actor input Schema

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

Search phrases.

## `searchKeywords` (type: `array`):

Compatibility alias for queries.

## `searchQuery` (type: `string`):

Compatibility alias for one query.

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

Compatibility alias for one query.

## `isbns` (type: `array`):

ISBN-10 or ISBN-13 values converted to ISBN searches.

## `startUrls` (type: `array`):

Approved public Google Books search, detail, or volumes URL.

## `sourceUrls` (type: `array`):

Compatibility alias for custom source URLs.

## `searchUrls` (type: `array`):

Compatibility alias for custom search URLs.

## `urls` (type: `array`):

Legacy alias for custom source URLs.

## `url` (type: `string`):

Compatibility alias for one custom source URL.

## `page` (type: `integer`):

One-based starting page for paginated sources. A non-default startPage compatibility value is used when page remains 1.

## `startPage` (type: `integer`):

Legacy one-based starting page; used when page is left at its default value of 1.

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

Bound applied independently to each source. Default of 3 supports the default 25-book limit across standard 10-result Google Books pages.

## `pageSize` (type: `integer`):

Bounded page size for public search pagination.

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

Global maximum number of book records.

## `deduplicate` (type: `boolean`):

Deduplicate by Google Books ID with canonical URL fallback.

## `sortBy` (type: `string`):

Ordering for the selected books.

## `keyword` (type: `string`):

Match title, subtitle, description, authors, categories, or publisher.

## `author` (type: `string`):

Match public author names.

## `category` (type: `string`):

Match public subject/category labels.

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

Optional language code used for the request and exact matching when exposed.

## `printType` (type: `string`):

Public volumes filter when supported.

## `ebookFilter` (type: `string`):

Public volumes filter when supported.

## `minPageCount` (type: `integer`):

Keep books with at least this many public pages.

## `maxPageCount` (type: `integer`):

Keep books with no more than this many public pages.

## `publishedAfter` (type: `string`):

Inclusive YYYY, YYYY-MM, or YYYY-MM-DD lower bound.

## `publishedBefore` (type: `string`):

Inclusive YYYY, YYYY-MM, or YYYY-MM-DD upper bound.

## `includeMedia` (type: `boolean`):

Include cover image URLs and image counts.

## `includeDescription` (type: `boolean`):

Include complete public descriptions or search snippets.

## `includeSaleInfo` (type: `boolean`):

Include public saleability, eBook, price, and buy-link fields.

## `includeAccessInfo` (type: `boolean`):

Include public preview, embeddability, and file-availability fields.

## `includeDetails` (type: `boolean`):

Fetch a bounded number of public book detail pages after collection. Disabled by default.

## `maxDetailItems` (type: `integer`):

Optional maximum detail pages fetched when includeDetails is true. When omitted, the Actor uses zero with details disabled and five with details enabled.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Optional Apify proxy configuration for permitted public requests.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "page": 1,
  "startPage": 1,
  "maxPages": 3,
  "pageSize": 10,
  "maxItems": 25,
  "deduplicate": true,
  "sortBy": "recommended",
  "printType": "all",
  "ebookFilter": "all",
  "includeMedia": true,
  "includeDescription": true,
  "includeSaleInfo": true,
  "includeAccessInfo": true,
  "includeDetails": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `dataset` (type: `string`):

No description

## `OUTPUT` (type: `string`):

No description

## `RUN_HEALTH` (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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("googleapi/google-books-scraper").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 = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("googleapi/google-books-scraper").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 '{}' |
apify call googleapi/google-books-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/CrHbf1TAIWrmhEIwZ/builds/dbn1YbNphcohfxmDd/openapi.json