# Goodreads Book Scraper - Metadata, Ratings & Reviews (`klondikeking/goodreads-book-scraper`) Actor Extract book metadata, ratings, reviews, and author information from Goodreads. Get structured data including title, author, ISBN, rating, review count, description, and cover image. Ideal for book market research, catalog building, and literary analytics. - **URL**: https://apify.com/klondikeking/goodreads-book-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Pierrick McD0nald](https://apify.com/klondikeking) (community) - **Categories:** E-commerce, AI - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing Pay per usage This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-usage ## 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 ## Goodreads Book Metadata Scraper Extract structured book metadata from Goodreads URLs including title, author, ratings, ISBN, page count, cover image, and awards. This Actor parses Schema.org JSON-LD data embedded in Goodreads book pages to deliver clean, structured output without requiring JavaScript rendering. ### Use Cases - **Book catalog enrichment** — Build or update a book database with rich metadata from Goodreads - **Reading list analysis** — Extract ratings and review counts for research or recommendation engines - **Price comparison preparation** — Gather ISBN, format, and page data for inventory matching - **Academic research** — Collect bibliographic data including language and awards for literature studies ### Input | Field | Type | Required | Description | |-------|------|----------|-------------| | `startUrls` | Array | Yes | Goodreads book URLs to extract metadata from | | `maxItems` | Number | No | Maximum books to extract (default: 50) | | `proxyConfiguration` | Object | No | Proxy configuration for scraping | ### Output The Actor outputs a dataset with the following fields: ```json { "url": "https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1", "title": "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", "authors": ["J.K. Rowling"], "rating": 4.58, "ratingCount": 3734294, "reviewCount": 73449, "imageUrl": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1587697303i/1.jpg", "isbn": "9780439785969", "pages": 652, "language": "English", "bookFormat": "Paperback", "awards": "Locus Award Best Young Adult Novel (2006)", "description": "The war against Voldemort is not going well..." } ```` ### Pricing Pay per event: $0.001 per book extracted. ### Limitations - Requires direct Goodreads book URLs (search/discovery is not supported) - Goodreads may rate-limit requests; proxy usage is recommended for large batches - Some book pages may have incomplete JSON-LD metadata - Awards and description fields may be empty for newer or less popular books ### FAQ **Q: Can I use this to search for books on Goodreads?** A: No. This Actor requires direct Goodreads book URLs. Use Goodreads search to find URLs, then provide them as input. **Q: Do I need a proxy?** A: Proxy is recommended for scraping more than 10 books at once to avoid rate limiting. ### Changelog - **v1.0.0** — Initial release # Actor input Schema ## `startUrls` (type: `array`): List of Goodreads book URLs to extract metadata from. Example: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1 ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of books to extract. Default is 50. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Proxy configuration for scraping Goodreads. Recommended for production use. ## Actor input object example ```json { "startUrls": [ "https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1" ], "maxItems": 10, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `results` (type: `string`): No description ## `stats` (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 = { "startUrls": [ "https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1" ], "maxItems": 10, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("klondikeking/goodreads-book-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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "startUrls": ["https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1"], "maxItems": 10, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True }, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("klondikeking/goodreads-book-scraper").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 '{ "startUrls": [ "https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1" ], "maxItems": 10, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } }' | apify call klondikeking/goodreads-book-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=klondikeking/goodreads-book-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Goodreads Book Scraper - Metadata, Ratings & Reviews", "description": "Extract book metadata, ratings, reviews, and author information from Goodreads. Get structured data including title, author, ISBN, rating, review count, description, and cover image. Ideal for book market research, catalog building, and literary analytics.", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "02sSOVC54PepPrCs0" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/klondikeking~goodreads-book-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-klondikeking-goodreads-book-scraper", "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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/klondikeking~goodreads-book-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-klondikeking-goodreads-book-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/klondikeking~goodreads-book-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-klondikeking-goodreads-book-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": [ "startUrls" ], "properties": { "startUrls": { "title": "Goodreads Book URLs", "type": "array", "description": "List of Goodreads book URLs to extract metadata from. Example: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "maxItems": { "title": "Maximum books to extract", "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of books to extract. Default is 50.", "default": 50 }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy Configuration", "type": "object", "description": "Proxy configuration for scraping Goodreads. Recommended for production use." } } }, "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```