Project Gutenberg Books – Catalog & Full Text

Search 70,000+ public-domain books: title, authors, languages, subjects, download counts, EPUB/text links and optional full text for LLM datasets.

Why this actor

• Optional full text in the row, sorted by popularity.
• Pay only for results: $0.50 per 1,000 books, no start fee, failed lookups are free.
• Robust: automatic retries with exponential backoff, respects Retry-After, per-item error rows instead of crashed runs.
• Clean, flat JSON/CSV/Excel output ready for Google Sheets, Make, Zapier, n8n, Clay, or the Apify API.

Use cases

• LLM training/eval corpora (public domain)
• Reading apps
• Literary research

How to use Project Gutenberg Books

1. Configure search, topic, languages in the Input tab (or leave the prefilled sample values to test immediately).
2. Optionally set maxItems to cap the number of results and control spend.
3. Click Start and export structured results as JSON, CSV, Excel, or connect directly via API / MCP / n8n / Make.

Input

Field	Type	Description
search	string	Title/author words.
topic	string	Subject/bookshelf contains (e.g. children, science fiction).
languages	array	en, fr, de...
sort	string	Order.
includeText	boolean	Public-domain full text for LLM datasets (large).
maxResults	integer	Cap.
maxItems	integer	0 = no limit. Caps cost.

Example input:

{
  "search": "dickens"
}

Output

Each dataset item looks like this (real sample from a test run, long fields trimmed):

{
  "id": 1342,
  "title": "Pride and Prejudice",
  "authors": [
    "Austen, Jane"
  ],
  "authorBirthYear": 1775,
  "languages": [
    "en"
  ],
  "subjects": [
    "Courtship -- Fiction",
    "Domestic fiction",
    "England -- Fiction",
    "\u2026"
  ],
  "bookshelves": [
    "Best Books Ever Listings",
    "Category: British Literature",
    "Category: Classics of Literature",
    "\u2026"
  ],
  "downloads": 190246,
  "copyright": false,
  "epubUrl": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1342.epub3.images",
  "textUrl": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1342.txt.utf-8",
  "coverUrl": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1342/pg1342.cover.medium.jpg",
  "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1342",
  "fetchedAt": "2026-10-15T00:09:02+00:00"
}

Rows that could not be processed contain an error field and are not charged.

Extracted output fields

Every dataset row includes structured fields ready for spreadsheets, CRMs, and AI pipelines:

• Fields: id, title, authors, authorBirthYear, languages, subjects, bookshelves, downloads, copyright, epubUrl, textUrl, coverUrl, url, fetchedAt

Comparison: Project Gutenberg Books vs alternatives

Feature	This Actor (shawndunn/project-gutenberg-books)	Typical alternatives
Pricing model	$0.50 / 1,000 results, $0.00 start fee	$20–$49/mo subscription or per-run start fees
Failed / error lookups	$0.00 (never charged)	Often billed by compute time even on failures
API keys / proxies required	None (works out of the box)	Often requires paid third-party keys or residential proxies
AI Agent & MCP ready	Yes (mcp.apify.com compatible, optional defaults)	Strict required schemas that reject agent calls

Pricing

Pay-per-event: $0.0005 per book (= $0.50 / 1,000). Use Max results to cap spend. Apify's free plan credit covers thousands of results per month.

Integrations & API

Run on a schedule in Apify Console, call via the Apify API / Python & JS clients, or connect to Make, Zapier, n8n, Google Sheets, Slack and webhooks. Works as a tool for AI agents via Apify MCP.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Project Gutenberg Books is configured for zero-config AI agent tool use via the Apify MCP Server (no required-field blocking on defaulted inputs).

Streamable HTTP endpoint:

https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=shawndunn/project-gutenberg-books

Claude Desktop / Cursor / Windsurf mcpServers config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify-project-gutenberg-books": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=shawndunn/project-gutenberg-books",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Direct synchronous API call:

POST https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/shawndunn~project-gutenberg-books/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>

FAQ

Is this an official tool? No. It is an independent actor and is not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by the data source or any trademark owner named here.

Is it legal? The actor only reads publicly available data from public endpoints, without logins, and does not bypass paywalls or access controls. You are responsible for using the data in line with applicable laws (e.g. GDPR) and the source sites' terms.

Something broke? Open an issue in the Issues tab; we typically respond within 24 hours and ship fixes fast.

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