# Project Gutenberg Scraper (`lulzasaur/gutenberg-scraper`) Actor Scrape Project Gutenberg (gutenberg.org). Search 70K+ free public domain ebooks. Extract titles, authors, subjects, download formats (EPUB, Kindle, TXT, HTML), and full metadata. - **URL**: https://apify.com/lulzasaur/gutenberg-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [lulz bot](https://apify.com/lulzasaur) (community) - **Categories:** E-commerce - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $10.00 / 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/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 ## Project Gutenberg Scraper Scrape the Project Gutenberg free eBook catalog. Search 70,000+ public domain books by title, author, topic, or language. Get complete metadata, subjects, bookshelves, and download links for every format (EPUB, HTML, plain text, Kindle). ### Features - **Search by title/author**: Find books by any keyword - **Filter by topic**: Browse by subject like "science fiction", "philosophy", "children" - **Filter by language**: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese - **Full metadata**: Authors with birth/death years, subjects, bookshelves, download counts - **Download links**: Direct URLs for EPUB, HTML, plain text, Kindle, and cover images - **Pagination**: Automatically follows paginated results up to your limit ### Output Fields | Field | Description | |-------|-------------| | `id` | Gutenberg book ID | | `title` | Book title | | `authors` | Array of authors with name, birthYear, deathYear | | `subjects` | Array of Library of Congress subjects | | `bookshelves` | Array of Gutenberg bookshelves | | `languages` | Array of language codes (e.g. "en", "fr") | | `downloadCount` | Total download count | | `formats` | Object with epub, html, txt, kindle, coverImage URLs | | `copyright` | Boolean copyright status | | `mediaType` | Media type (usually "Text") | | `scrapedAt` | ISO timestamp | ### Input Options - **Search Query**: Search by title or author name - **Topic**: Filter by subject/bookshelf - **Language**: Filter by language - **Max Results**: Limit number of books (default 50, max 5000) ### Use Cases - **Digital library building**: Bulk download public domain books - **Literary research**: Analyze authors, subjects, and popularity trends - **NLP/AI training**: Gather text corpora by language or topic - **Education**: Find free reading materials by subject area - **Data journalism**: Analyze most popular public domain works ### Example Output ```json { "id": 1342, "title": "Pride and Prejudice", "authors": [{"name": "Austen, Jane", "birthYear": 1775, "deathYear": 1817}], "subjects": ["Courtship -- Fiction", "England -- Fiction", "Sisters -- Fiction"], "bookshelves": ["Best Books Ever Listings"], "languages": ["en"], "downloadCount": 75892, "formats": { "epub": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1342.epub3.images", "html": "https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1342/1342-h/1342-h.htm", "txt": "https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1342/1342-0.txt" }, "copyright": false, "scrapedAt": "2026-04-26T12:00:00.000Z" } ```` *** ### Run on Apify This scraper runs on the [Apify platform](https://apify.com/?fpr=lulzasaur) -- a full-stack web scraping and automation cloud. Sign up for a free account to get started with 30-day trial of all features. [Try Apify free ->](https://apify.com/?fpr=lulzasaur) # Actor input Schema ## `searchQuery` (type: `string`): Search books by title or author name. E.g. 'shakespeare', 'pride and prejudice', 'dickens'. ## `topic` (type: `string`): Filter books by topic or bookshelf. E.g. 'science fiction', 'children', 'philosophy'. ## `language` (type: `string`): Filter by language code. ## `limit` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of books to return. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Optional proxy to use. ## Actor input object example ```json { "searchQuery": "", "topic": "", "language": "", "limit": 50 } ``` # 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 = {}; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("lulzasaur/gutenberg-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 = {} # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("lulzasaur/gutenberg-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 '{}' | apify call lulzasaur/gutenberg-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=lulzasaur/gutenberg-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Project Gutenberg Scraper", "description": "Scrape Project Gutenberg (gutenberg.org). Search 70K+ free public domain ebooks. Extract titles, authors, subjects, download formats (EPUB, Kindle, TXT, HTML), and full metadata.", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "kqUVC4mIiMgWEnCBY" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/lulzasaur~gutenberg-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-lulzasaur-gutenberg-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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/lulzasaur~gutenberg-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-lulzasaur-gutenberg-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/lulzasaur~gutenberg-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-lulzasaur-gutenberg-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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", "properties": { "searchQuery": { "title": "Search Query", "type": "string", "description": "Search books by title or author name. E.g. 'shakespeare', 'pride and prejudice', 'dickens'.", "default": "" }, "topic": { "title": "Topic / Subject", "type": "string", "description": "Filter books by topic or bookshelf. E.g. 'science fiction', 'children', 'philosophy'.", "default": "" }, "language": { "title": "Language", "enum": [ "", "en", "fr", "de", "es", "it", "pt", "zh", "ja" ], "type": "string", "description": "Filter by language code.", "default": "" }, "limit": { "title": "Max Results", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 5000, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of books to return.", "default": 50 }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy configuration", "type": "object", "description": "Optional proxy to 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 } } } } } } } } } } ```