openlibrary-mcp-server
Search books and authors, fetch editions, browse subjects, and resolve cover images.
Community: Submitted by a user or imported; check the owner before granting accessOnlineNo sign-inGlobalFreeRead-only
What it can do
- Openlibrary Search Books: Full-text book search across Open Library works. Supports field filters (title, author, subject, publisher, ISBN, language) and returns work-level records with edition counts
- Openlibrary Get Work: Fetch a work by Open Library Work ID (OL…W). Returns title, description, subjects, cover IDs, and linked author IDs for follow-up lookups. Works represent the abstract book conce
- Openlibrary Get Editions: List editions of a work — different publishers, languages, formats, and print runs. Returns ISBNs, publisher, language, page count, and edition OLIDs. Use after openlibrary_g
What data it sees
Do you need an account
No: the server works without sign-in
Search books and authors, fetch editions, browse subjects, and resolve cover images.
Server tool list (9)
Raw names from tools/list. Only developers need these.
| openlibrary_search_books | Full-text book search across Open Library works. Supports field filters (title, author, subject, publisher, ISBN, language) and returns work-level records with edition counts, cover IDs, and reading availability. Use query for general search or combine specific field filters. Results are work-level — drill into editions via openlibrary_get_editions. |
| openlibrary_get_work | Fetch a work by Open Library Work ID (OL…W). Returns title, description, subjects, cover IDs, and linked author IDs for follow-up lookups. Works represent the abstract book concept independent of any specific edition. Note: author names are not included — use openlibrary_get_author or openlibrary_search_books for names. |
| openlibrary_get_editions | List editions of a work — different publishers, languages, formats, and print runs. Returns ISBNs, publisher, language, page count, and edition OLIDs. Use after openlibrary_get_work or openlibrary_search_books to find a specific printing. |
| openlibrary_get_edition | Fetch a single edition by identifier: ISBN-10, ISBN-13, OCLC, LCCN, or Open Library Edition ID (OL…M). Returns full edition metadata including authors, publisher, language, all identifier types, and the parent work ID. Use for ISBN lookups — pass id_type "isbn" for both ISBN-10 and ISBN-13. |
| openlibrary_search_authors | Search Open Library authors by name. Returns Open Library Author IDs, names, birth/death dates, top works, and subject associations. Use author IDs for openlibrary_get_author (bio, remote IDs) or openlibrary_get_author_works (list of works). |
| openlibrary_get_author | Fetch author detail by Open Library Author ID (OL…A). Returns bio, birth/death dates, photo IDs, and linked identifiers from Wikidata, VIAF, ISNI, Goodreads, and LibraryThing. Use openlibrary_search_authors to find an author ID first. |
| openlibrary_get_author_works | List works by an author. Returns titles, cover IDs, and work OLIDs for drilling into editions or details. Use openlibrary_get_author for author bio and details, or openlibrary_get_editions to explore specific printings. |
| openlibrary_get_subject | Browse works by subject. Returns matching works with edition counts and cover IDs, plus the total work count for the subject. Subjects are user-contributed and may be inconsistent ("science fiction", "Science fiction", "SF" are separate tags). Try lowercase forms first. |
| openlibrary_get_cover_url | Resolve a cover image URL for a book or author photo. Returns a direct HTTPS URL in the requested size (S/M/L). The Covers API always returns HTTP 200 — missing covers return a 1×1 placeholder GIF, not a 404. URLs can be embedded in markdown as . |