# Project Gutenberg Books Scraper | 70K+ Free eBooks (`parseforge/gutendex-project-gutenberg-books-scraper`) Actor Export 70,000+ public-domain books from Project Gutenberg via the Gutendex API. Search by keyword, language, topic, or author lifespan, or fetch by book ID. Pull titles, authors, subjects, languages, download links, and full-text formats. Download as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML. - **URL**: https://apify.com/parseforge/gutendex-project-gutenberg-books-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [ParseForge](https://apify.com/parseforge) (community) - **Categories:** News, Developer tools - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN 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 ![ParseForge Banner](https://github.com/ParseForge/apify-assets/blob/ad35ccc13ddd068b9d6cba33f323962e39aed5b2/banner.jpg?raw=true) ## ๐Ÿ“š Project Gutenberg (Gutendex) Scraper > ๐Ÿš€ **Export 70,000+ public-domain books with metadata and full-text download links in seconds.** > ๐Ÿ•’ **Last updated:** 2026-05-26 ยท **๐Ÿ“Š 10 fields** per record ยท **70,000+ books ยท 60+ languages ยท 10+ formats per book** This Apify Actor extracts structured data from Project Gutenberg (Gutendex), returning clean JSON / CSV / Excel / XML datasets ready for analytics, integrations, or research workflows. Built by ParseForge for reliability and freshness. | ๐ŸŽฏ Target Audience | ๐Ÿ’ก Primary Use Cases | |---|---| | Data analysts, engineers, researchers | Analytics pipelines, BI dashboards, datasets | | SaaS, fintech, marketing, ops teams | Lead gen, enrichment, monitoring | | Hobbyists, journalists, indie devs | Side projects, content, exploration | ### ๐Ÿ“‹ What the Project Gutenberg (Gutendex) Scraper does - Queries the public Project Gutenberg (Gutendex) API / feed and structures the response - Returns one record per item with 10 normalized fields - Supports filters configurable from the input schema - Outputs to CSV, Excel, JSON, XML via Apify dataset - Auto-limits to 10 items on the free plan; up to 1,000,000 on paid > ๐Ÿ’ก **Why it matters:** clean, ready-to-query data without manual scraping, parsing, or babysitting an API client. ### ๐ŸŽฌ Full Demo (_๐Ÿšง Coming soon_) ### โš™๏ธ Input
FieldTypeRequiredDescription
maxItemsintegerNoMax items to return (free: 10, paid: 1,000,000)
```json { "maxItems": 50 } ```` ```json { "maxItems": 1000 } ``` > โš ๏ธ **Good to Know:** the free plan caps results at 10 items per run. Upgrade to a paid plan to unlock the full dataset. ### ๐Ÿ“Š Output | Field | Type | Description | |---|---|---| | ๐Ÿ”น id | string | Project Gutenberg (Gutendex) id field | | ๐Ÿ”น title | string | Project Gutenberg (Gutendex) title field | | ๐Ÿ”น authors | string | Project Gutenberg (Gutendex) authors field | | ๐Ÿ”น languages | string | Project Gutenberg (Gutendex) languages field | | ๐Ÿ”น download\_count | string | Project Gutenberg (Gutendex) download\_count field | | ๐Ÿ•’ scrapedAt | string | ISO timestamp of when the record was collected | | โŒ error | string | null | Error message if extraction failed | ```json { "id": "...", "title": "...", "scrapedAt": "2026-05-26T00:00:00.000Z", "error": null } ``` ### โœจ Why choose this Actor | Differentiator | Benefit | |---|---| | ๐ŸŸข Real-time public data | Always fresh, never cached | | ๐ŸŸข Structured output | Ready for BI, Excel, SQL imports | | ๐ŸŸข Pay-per-result pricing | Pay only for actual data collected | | ๐ŸŸข Apify-hosted runs | No servers, no maintenance | | ๐ŸŸข Free tier preview | Test with 10 items before scaling | ### ๐Ÿ“ˆ How it compares to alternatives | Method | Setup time | Reliability | Maintenance | Cost | |---|---|---|---|---| | Manual scripting | Hours | Medium | High | Dev time | | Generic web scrapers | Hours | Low | High | Variable | | **This Actor** | **30 seconds** | **High** | **None** | **Pay-per-result** | ### ๐Ÿš€ How to use 1. [Create a free Apify account with $5 credit](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp) 2. Open this Actor and click **Try for free** 3. Configure the input (`maxItems` and any filters) 4. Click **Start** 5. Download the dataset as CSV / Excel / JSON / XML ### ๐Ÿ’ผ Business use cases **๐Ÿ“Š Analytics & BI** โ€” feed Project Gutenberg (Gutendex) records into Looker, Tableau, Metabase for live dashboards. **๐Ÿง  Data enrichment** โ€” append Project Gutenberg (Gutendex) fields to your CRM / CDP records for better targeting. **๐Ÿ” Monitoring** โ€” schedule daily runs to detect new records, changes, or anomalies. **๐Ÿค– ML training data** โ€” use structured Project Gutenberg (Gutendex) data as features in models or test fixtures. ### ๐Ÿ”Œ Automating Project Gutenberg (Gutendex) Scraper Connect via [Apify integrations](https://apify.com/integrations): **Make**, **Zapier**, **n8n**, **Slack**, **Discord**, **Airbyte**, **Google Drive**, **Google Sheets**, **GitHub**, **Webhook**, **REST API**. ### ๐ŸŒŸ Beyond business use cases **๐Ÿ”ฌ Research** โ€” academics, journalists, policy researchers building public datasets. **๐ŸŽจ Personal** โ€” hobbyists tracking favorite topics, building personal projects, exploring data. **๐Ÿค Non-profit** โ€” NGOs, civic-tech, open-data initiatives needing structured Project Gutenberg (Gutendex) extracts. **๐Ÿงช Experimentation** โ€” students, builders, indie devs prototyping with real-world data. ### ๐Ÿค– Ask an AI assistant about this scraper Drop a link to this page into [ChatGPT](https://chat.openai.com), [Claude](https://claude.ai), [Perplexity](https://www.perplexity.ai), or [Copilot](https://copilot.microsoft.com) and ask: *"What can I do with the Project Gutenberg (Gutendex) Scraper?"* ### โ“ Frequently Asked Questions **โ“ Is the data fresh?** Yes. Every run queries Project Gutenberg (Gutendex) in real time. No cached responses. **๐Ÿ’ฐ How does pricing work?** Pay-per-result: charged once per record collected. Free plan: 10 items per run preview. **๐Ÿงพ What format is the output?** CSV, Excel, JSON, XML โ€” Apify dataset supports all four. **๐Ÿ” Do I need an API key?** No. Project Gutenberg (Gutendex) public data only, no login required. **๐Ÿ“ˆ What's the max I can scrape?** 1,000,000 items per run on paid plans. **โฑ๏ธ How long does a run take?** Typically seconds to minutes depending on `maxItems`. **๐ŸŒ Is this affiliated with Project Gutenberg (Gutendex)?** No. Independent tool. Only publicly accessible data collected. **๐Ÿ› ๏ธ What if a run fails?** You're never charged for failed records. Errors appear as `{error: "..."}` rows. **๐Ÿค Can I use this commercially?** Yes, under Apify's standard terms and Project Gutenberg (Gutendex)'s public-data policies. **๐Ÿ“ž Where do I get help?** [Open our contact form](https://tally.so/r/BzdKgA). ### ๐Ÿ”Œ Integrate with any app Apify's full integration list: **Make** ยท **Zapier** ยท **n8n** ยท **Slack** ยท **Discord** ยท **Webhook** ยท **REST API** ยท **GitHub** ยท **Airbyte** ยท **Google Drive** ยท **Google Sheets** ยท **Gmail** ยท **HubSpot** ยท **Pipedream**. ### ๐Ÿ”— Recommended Actors | Actor | Description | |---|---| | [Wikipedia On This Day Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/wikipedia-on-this-day-scraper) | Daily Wikipedia historical events | | [Public Holidays Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/nager-public-holidays-scraper) | Holidays for 100+ countries | | [SPDX Software Licenses Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/spdx-software-licenses-scraper) | Open-source license metadata | | [ISO Country Codes Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/iban-com-bank-codes-scraper) | IBAN + ISO country codes | > ๐Ÿ’ก **Pro Tip:** browse the complete [ParseForge collection](https://apify.com/parseforge). **๐Ÿ†˜ Need Help?** [Open our contact form](https://tally.so/r/BzdKgA) > **โš ๏ธ Disclaimer:** independent tool, not affiliated with Project Gutenberg (Gutendex). Only publicly available data collected. # Actor input Schema ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Free users: Limited to 10 items (preview). Paid users: Optional, max 1,000,000 ## `searchQuery` (type: `string`): Keywords matched against titles and author names. Multiple words joined with %20 are AND-combined. ## `language` (type: `string`): ISO 639-1 language code to restrict results to one language. ## `topic` (type: `string`): Match a topic in subjects or bookshelves (e.g. children, science, philosophy, history, fiction, religion). ## `authorYearStart` (type: `integer`): Earliest author birth/death year (use negatives for BCE). ## `authorYearEnd` (type: `integer`): Latest author birth/death year. ## `bookIds` (type: `array`): Lookup specific Project Gutenberg IDs (e.g. 1342 for Pride and Prejudice). Overrides other filters. ## Actor input object example ```json { "maxItems": 10, "searchQuery": "shakespeare" } ``` # 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 = { "maxItems": 10, "searchQuery": "shakespeare" }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("parseforge/gutendex-project-gutenberg-books-scraper").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`๐Ÿ’พ 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); }); // ๐Ÿ“š Want to learn more ๐Ÿ“–? Go to โ†’ 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 = { "maxItems": 10, "searchQuery": "shakespeare", } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("parseforge/gutendex-project-gutenberg-books-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("๐Ÿ’พ Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # ๐Ÿ“š Want to learn more ๐Ÿ“–? Go to โ†’ https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "maxItems": 10, "searchQuery": "shakespeare" }' | apify call parseforge/gutendex-project-gutenberg-books-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=parseforge/gutendex-project-gutenberg-books-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Project Gutenberg Books Scraper | 70K+ Free eBooks", "description": "Export 70,000+ public-domain books from Project Gutenberg via the Gutendex API. Search by keyword, language, topic, or author lifespan, or fetch by book ID. Pull titles, authors, subjects, languages, download links, and full-text formats. Download as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML.", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "R41XpclWlK5f5pdma" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/parseforge~gutendex-project-gutenberg-books-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-parseforge-gutendex-project-gutenberg-books-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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/parseforge~gutendex-project-gutenberg-books-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-parseforge-gutendex-project-gutenberg-books-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/parseforge~gutendex-project-gutenberg-books-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-parseforge-gutendex-project-gutenberg-books-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "maxItems": { "title": "Max Items", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 1000000, "type": "integer", "description": "Free users: Limited to 10 items (preview). Paid users: Optional, max 1,000,000" }, "searchQuery": { "title": "Search Query", "type": "string", "description": "Keywords matched against titles and author names. Multiple words joined with %20 are AND-combined." }, "language": { "title": "Language", "enum": [ "en", "es", "fr", "de", "it", "pt", "ru", "zh", "ja", "ar", "nl", "la", "el", "fi", "sv", "pl", "hu", "tl", "ca", "cs" ], "type": "string", "description": "ISO 639-1 language code to restrict results to one language." }, "topic": { "title": "Topic", "type": "string", "description": "Match a topic in subjects or bookshelves (e.g. children, science, philosophy, history, fiction, religion)." }, "authorYearStart": { "title": "Author Year Start", "type": "integer", "description": "Earliest author birth/death year (use negatives for BCE)." }, "authorYearEnd": { "title": "Author Year End", "type": "integer", "description": "Latest author birth/death year." }, "bookIds": { "title": "Book IDs", "type": "array", "description": "Lookup specific Project Gutenberg IDs (e.g. 1342 for Pride and Prejudice). Overrides other filters.", "items": { "type": "string" } } } }, "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```