# Open Library Book Scraper (`moving_beacon-owner1/my-actor-80`) Actor Extract book data from Open Library, the Internet Archive's open book database featuring over 20 million books, more than 10 million authors, and 40 million editions. Gather titles, authors, cover images, ISBNs, publishers, subjects, ratings, reading statistics, and more. - **URL**: https://apify.com/moving\_beacon-owner1/my-actor-80.md - **Developed by:** [Jamshaid Arif](https://apify.com/moving_beacon-owner1) (community) - **Categories:** Developer tools, Automation - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% 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 ## 📚 Open Library Book Scraper **Scrape book data from [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org)** — the Internet Archive's open book database with **20M+ books, 10M+ authors, and 40M+ editions**. Extract titles, authors, covers, ISBNs, publishers, subjects, ratings, reading stats, and more. Free API. No key required. No login needed. --- ### What does this actor do? This actor fetches structured book data from Open Library's official APIs. It can search books, look up authors, browse subjects, resolve ISBNs, and find trending titles. **Use it to:** - Build book recommendation databases - Research authors and their complete bibliographies - Resolve ISBNs to full metadata with cover images - Browse books by subject (science fiction, history, cooking, etc.) - Track trending books daily - Find free full-text books available to read online - Power bookstore, library, or reading app features --- ### Scrape modes | Mode | What it does | Required input | |------|-------------|----------------| | **Search Books** | Keyword search across 20M+ books | `query` | | **Search Authors** | Find authors by name | `author_query` | | **Author's Works** | Get all books by an author (via Author ID) | `author_query` (OL ID) | | **Browse by Subject** | Browse books in a topic category | `subject` | | **ISBN Lookup** | Resolve ISBNs to full metadata | `isbns` | | **Trending** | Today's most popular books | None | --- ### Input examples #### Example 1: Search for books on machine learning ```json { "scrape_mode": "search", "query": "machine learning", "max_results": 50, "sort_by": "rating" } ```` #### Example 2: Find all works by J.R.R. Tolkien ```json { "scrape_mode": "author_works", "author_query": "OL26320A", "max_results": 100 } ``` > **Tip:** Find Author IDs by running "Search Authors" mode first, then use the `author_key` from the results. #### Example 3: Browse science fiction books ```json { "scrape_mode": "subject_browse", "subject": "science_fiction", "max_results": 50, "sort_by": "new" } ``` #### Example 4: Look up books by ISBN ```json { "scrape_mode": "isbn_lookup", "isbns": "9780143127550, 0451526538, 9780261103573, 9780062316097" } ``` #### Example 5: Today's trending books ```json { "scrape_mode": "trending", "max_results": 30, "include_covers": true } ``` #### Example 6: English-only full-text books about philosophy ```json { "scrape_mode": "search", "query": "philosophy", "search_field": "subject", "language": "eng", "has_fulltext": true, "max_results": 40, "sort_by": "rating" } ``` *** ### Output format #### Book record (from Search, Subject, Trending) ```json { "rank": 1, "type": "book", "work_key": "/works/OL27448W", "title": "The Lord of the Rings", "subtitle": "", "authors": ["J. R. R. Tolkien"], "author_keys": ["OL26320A"], "first_publish_year": 1954, "edition_count": 120, "ebook_count": 15, "has_fulltext": true, "isbn": ["9780261103573", "0618640150"], "publisher": ["Houghton Mifflin", "Allen & Unwin"], "subject": ["Fantasy fiction", "Middle Earth", "Quests"], "ratings_average": 4.5, "ratings_count": 2847, "want_to_read": 15230, "already_read": 8456, "number_of_pages": 1216, "covers": { "small": "https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/258027-S.jpg", "medium": "https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/258027-M.jpg", "large": "https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/258027-L.jpg" }, "open_library_url": "https://openlibrary.org/works/OL27448W" } ``` #### Author record (from Author Search) ```json { "rank": 1, "type": "author", "author_key": "OL26320A", "name": "J.R.R. Tolkien", "birth_date": "3 January 1892", "death_date": "2 September 1973", "top_work": "The Lord of the Rings", "work_count": 289, "top_subjects": ["Fantasy fiction", "Middle Earth", "Fiction"], "photo": { "small": "https://covers.openlibrary.org/a/olid/OL26320A-S.jpg", "medium": "https://covers.openlibrary.org/a/olid/OL26320A-M.jpg", "large": "https://covers.openlibrary.org/a/olid/OL26320A-L.jpg" }, "open_library_url": "https://openlibrary.org/authors/OL26320A" } ``` #### ISBN Lookup record ```json { "rank": 1, "type": "book", "isbn_queried": "9780143127550", "title": "Sapiens", "subtitle": "A Brief History of Humankind", "authors": ["Yuval Noah Harari"], "publishers": ["Harper"], "publish_date": "2015", "number_of_pages": 443, "subjects": ["History", "Civilization", "Human evolution"], "isbn_13": ["9780143127550"], "goodreads": ["23692271"], "covers": { "small": "https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/...-S.jpg", "medium": "https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/...-M.jpg", "large": "https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/...-L.jpg" } } ``` *** ### Popular subjects Use these in `subject` field (underscores for spaces): | Subject | Code | |---------|------| | Science Fiction | `science_fiction` | | Fantasy | `fantasy` | | Mystery | `mystery_and_detective_stories` | | Romance | `love` | | History | `history` | | Biography | `biography` | | Programming | `programming` | | Philosophy | `philosophy` | | Psychology | `psychology` | | Cooking | `cooking` | | Art | `art` | | Music | `music` | | Children's Books | `juvenile_fiction` | | Poetry | `poetry` | *** ### Cost and performance | Mode | Items | Time | Credits | |------|-------|------|---------| | Search 50 books | 50 | ~5 sec | < $0.01 | | Author works (100) | 100 | ~8 sec | < $0.01 | | Subject browse (50) | 50 | ~5 sec | < $0.01 | | ISBN lookup (10) | 10 | ~3 sec | < $0.01 | | Trending (30) | 30 | ~3 sec | < $0.01 | *** ### Tips - **Search Authors first** to get Author IDs, then use those IDs in "Author Works" mode for complete bibliographies. - **Subject codes** use underscores for spaces — check the URL on Open Library's subjects page if unsure. - **Cover images** come in three sizes: S (small, ~40px), M (medium, ~180px), L (large, ~600px). - **`has_fulltext: true`** filters for books you can actually read online for free via Internet Archive. - **Sort by `rating`** to find the highest-rated books on any topic. - **ISBN lookup** accepts both ISBN-10 and ISBN-13 formats, with or without dashes. *** ### Limitations - Maximum 500 results per run (Open Library paginates at 100 per page). - Some older or obscure books may have incomplete metadata. - Cover images are not available for every book. - Ratings and reading stats are from Open Library users only (smaller community than Goodreads). - The API is free but please be respectful — avoid very large batch runs. *** ### Changelog #### v1.0.0 (2026-04-05) - Initial release - 6 scrape modes: search, author search, author works, subject browse, ISBN lookup, trending - Cover image URLs (small/medium/large) for books and author photos - Language filtering, full-text filtering, and 6 sort options - Pagination support for large result sets # Actor input Schema ## `scrape_mode` (type: `string`): How to search Open Library. ## `query` (type: `string`): Keywords to search for (Search mode). Examples: 'Harry Potter', 'machine learning', 'history of rome'. ## `author_query` (type: `string`): Author name to search (Author Search mode) or Open Library Author ID like 'OL23919A' (Author Works mode). ## `subject` (type: `string`): Subject name for browsing (Subject Browse mode). Examples: 'science\_fiction', 'love', 'programming', 'history'. Use underscores for spaces. ## `isbns` (type: `string`): Comma-separated ISBN-10 or ISBN-13 values (ISBN Lookup mode). Example: '9780143127550, 0451526538, 9780261103573'. ## `max_results` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of books to return (1–500). ## `sort_by` (type: `string`): Sort order for search results. ## `search_field` (type: `string`): Which field to search (Search mode only). ## `language` (type: `string`): Three-letter language code to filter results. Examples: 'eng', 'fre', 'spa', 'ger', 'jpn'. Leave empty for all languages. ## `include_covers` (type: `boolean`): Include links to book cover images (small, medium, large). ## `has_fulltext` (type: `boolean`): Only return books that have full text available to read online. ## `proxy_configuration` (type: `object`): Proxy settings. Open Library API is free and rarely blocks. ## Actor input object example ```json { "scrape_mode": "search", "query": "machine learning", "author_query": "", "subject": "", "isbns": "", "max_results": 50, "sort_by": "relevance", "search_field": "q", "language": "", "include_covers": true, "has_fulltext": false } ``` # 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 = { "query": "machine learning" }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("moving_beacon-owner1/my-actor-80").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 = { "query": "machine learning" } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("moving_beacon-owner1/my-actor-80").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 '{ "query": "machine learning" }' | apify call moving_beacon-owner1/my-actor-80 --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=moving_beacon-owner1/my-actor-80", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Open Library Book Scraper", "description": "Extract book data from Open Library, the Internet Archive's open book database featuring over 20 million books, more than 10 million authors, and 40 million editions. Gather titles, authors, cover images, ISBNs, publishers, subjects, ratings, reading statistics, and more.", "version": "0.0", "x-build-id": "H1aeW1h98fgTCFKpa" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/moving_beacon-owner1~my-actor-80/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-moving_beacon-owner1-my-actor-80", "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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/moving_beacon-owner1~my-actor-80/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-moving_beacon-owner1-my-actor-80", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/moving_beacon-owner1~my-actor-80/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-moving_beacon-owner1-my-actor-80", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": [ "scrape_mode" ], "properties": { "scrape_mode": { "title": "Scrape Mode", "enum": [ "search", "author_search", "author_works", "subject_browse", "isbn_lookup", "trending" ], "type": "string", "description": "How to search Open Library.", "default": "search" }, "query": { "title": "Search Query", "type": "string", "description": "Keywords to search for (Search mode). Examples: 'Harry Potter', 'machine learning', 'history of rome'.", "default": "" }, "author_query": { "title": "Author Name or ID", "type": "string", "description": "Author name to search (Author Search mode) or Open Library Author ID like 'OL23919A' (Author Works mode).", "default": "" }, "subject": { "title": "Subject", "type": "string", "description": "Subject name for browsing (Subject Browse mode). Examples: 'science_fiction', 'love', 'programming', 'history'. Use underscores for spaces.", "default": "" }, "isbns": { "title": "ISBNs", "type": "string", "description": "Comma-separated ISBN-10 or ISBN-13 values (ISBN Lookup mode). Example: '9780143127550, 0451526538, 9780261103573'.", "default": "" }, "max_results": { "title": "Max Results", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 500, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of books to return (1–500).", "default": 50 }, "sort_by": { "title": "Sort By", "enum": [ "relevance", "new", "old", "rating", "editions", "readinglog" ], "type": "string", "description": "Sort order for search results.", "default": "relevance" }, "search_field": { "title": "Search In", "enum": [ "q", "title", "author", "subject", "publisher" ], "type": "string", "description": "Which field to search (Search mode only).", "default": "q" }, "language": { "title": "Language Filter", "type": "string", "description": "Three-letter language code to filter results. Examples: 'eng', 'fre', 'spa', 'ger', 'jpn'. Leave empty for all languages.", "default": "" }, "include_covers": { "title": "Include Cover Image URLs", "type": "boolean", "description": "Include links to book cover images (small, medium, large).", "default": true }, "has_fulltext": { "title": "Full Text Available Only", "type": "boolean", "description": "Only return books that have full text available to read online.", "default": false }, "proxy_configuration": { "title": "Proxy Configuration", "type": "object", "description": "Proxy settings. Open Library API is free and rarely blocks." } } }, "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```