# Project Gutenberg Book Search: Free eBooks with EPUB Links (`smilemask/gutenberg-book-search`) Actor Search Project Gutenberg's free public-domain eBooks by title, author or topic and get the ID, authors, subjects, bookshelves, languages, download count and direct EPUB/HTML/text/cover links. Filter by language. Uses the free Gutendex API, no key needed. - **URL**: https://apify.com/smilemask/gutenberg-book-search.md - **Developed by:** [돈벼락](https://apify.com/smilemask) (community) - **Categories:** Developer tools - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $1.00 / 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/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes. 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. Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md. ## 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. Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run. For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below. Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`). # README ## Project Gutenberg Book Search: Free eBooks with EPUB Links Search Project Gutenberg's free public-domain eBooks by title, author or topic and get the ID, authors, subjects, bookshelves, languages, download count and direct EPUB/HTML/text/cover links. Filter by language. Uses the free Gutendex API, no key needed. ### What does Project Gutenberg Book Search do? Search 70,000+ public-domain eBooks: authors, subjects, languages, download counts and EPUB/text links. ### What can you use it for? - Build reading apps and reading lists of free classics. - Collect public-domain texts for NLP and education. - Find popular books by download count. - Get EPUB links for offline libraries. ### Why use this Actor? - **Fast and cheap:** lightweight HTTP-based Actor with no browser, so runs finish in seconds and cost very little. - **No API keys or accounts needed** for the data source (see notes below). - **Clean, structured JSON** that you can export as CSV, Excel, JSON or XML, or pull through the Apify API and integrations. - **Scheduling, webhooks and integrations:** run it daily and send results to Google Sheets, Slack, Zapier, Make, n8n or your own API. ### Input Configure the run in the **Input** tab (all fields have sensible defaults). | Field | Type | Required | Default | Description | |---|---|---|---|---| | `query` | string | yes | - | Title or author, e.g. dickens, pride and prejudice. | | `language` | string | no | - | Language code such as en, fr, de, fi. | | `maxResults` | integer | no | `30` | Maximum number of results. | #### Example input ```json { "query": "dickens", "maxResults": 30 } ``` ### Output Results are stored in the default dataset. Download them from the **Output** tab or via the API. #### Example result ```json { "id": 564, "title": "The Mystery of Edwin Drood", "authors": "Dickens, Charles", "languages": "en", "subjects": "Cathedrals -- Fiction, Choral conductors -- Fiction, England -- Fiction, Missing persons -- Fiction, Mystery fiction, Psychological fiction", "bookshelves": "Category: British Literature, Category: Classics of Literature, Category: Crime, Thrillers and Mystery, Category: Novels", "downloadCount": 82040, "epubUrl": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/564.epub3.images", "htmlUrl": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/564.html.images", "coverUrl": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/564/pg564.cover.medium.jpg", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/564", "license": "Public domain in the USA (Project Gutenberg)", "scrapedAt": "2026-09-26T00:46:00.167Z" } ``` #### Output fields | Field | Type | Example | |---|---|---| | `id` | number | 564 | | `title` | string | "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" | | `authors` | string | "Dickens, Charles" | | `languages` | string | "en" | | `subjects` | string | "Cathedrals -- Fiction, Choral conductors -- Fiction, Eng... | | `bookshelves` | string | "Category: British Literature, Category: Classics of Lite... | | `downloadCount` | number | 82040 | | `epubUrl` | string | "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/564.epub3.images" | | `htmlUrl` | string | "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/564.html.images" | | `coverUrl` | string | "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/564/pg564.cover.med... | | `url` | string | "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/564" | | `license` | string | "Public domain in the USA (Project Gutenberg)" | | `scrapedAt` | string | "2026-09-26T00:46:00.167Z" | ### How much does it cost? The Actor is billed by Apify according to the pricing shown on the **Pricing** tab of this page. Runs are small and fast, and the Apify Free plan includes monthly platform credits so you can try it at no cost. You can set a maximum cost per run, and the Actor stops cleanly when that limit is reached. ### Notes and limitations - Books are public domain in the USA; rules in other countries may differ. Data via gutendex.com. ### Tips - Start with a small test run, then scale up the input. - Use **Schedules** to automate recurring runs and **Webhooks** or **Integrations** to deliver the data where you need it. - Call the Actor from your code with the Apify API or the official JavaScript and Python clients. ### FAQ **How do I filter by language?** Enter a language code such as en, fr, de, ko in the language field. ### Feedback Found a bug or need an extra field? Open an issue from the **Issues** tab of this Actor and it will be looked at quickly. ### More tools from the same author - [Internet Archive Search: Books, Audio, Video & Software](https://apify.com/SmileMask/internet-archive-search) - Search archive.org collections: books, audio, video, images and software with downloads and links. - [Open Library Book Search: Books, ISBN Lookup, Ratings & Covers](https://apify.com/SmileMask/open-library-book-search) - Search books or look up ISBNs: authors, editions, publishers, subjects, ratings and cover images. - [Wikipedia Page Extractor: Text, Categories & Pageviews](https://apify.com/SmileMask/wikipedia-page-extractor) - Extract Wikipedia articles in any language: summary, full text, categories, images, Wikidata ID, pageviews. # Changelog This Actor's version history is a separate document: https://apify.com/smilemask/gutenberg-book-search/changelog.md # Actor input Schema ## `query` (type: `string`): Title or author, e.g. dickens, pride and prejudice. ## `language` (type: `string`): Language code such as en, fr, de, fi. ## `maxResults` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of results. ## Actor input object example ```json { "query": "dickens", "maxResults": 30 } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `results` (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 = { "query": "dickens", "maxResults": 30 }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("smilemask/gutenberg-book-search").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`πŸ’Ύ 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); }); // πŸ“š Want to learn more πŸ“–? Go to β†’ 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": "dickens", "maxResults": 30, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("smilemask/gutenberg-book-search").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print(f"πŸ’Ύ Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}") for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items(): print(item) # πŸ“š Want to learn more πŸ“–? Go to β†’ https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "query": "dickens", "maxResults": 30 }' | apify call smilemask/gutenberg-book-search --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,smilemask/gutenberg-book-search" } } } ``` The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer ` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations). ## OpenAPI specification Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/SiCfOuLkMdjsWGEUl/builds/IOzv2Od3Kol0adhyb/openapi.json