io.github.cyanheads/openlibrary-mcp-server
Search books and authors, fetch editions, browse subjects, and resolve cover images.
Open source Repository Open in the app JSON README (API)
About
Search books and authors, fetch editions, browse subjects, and resolve cover images.
Details
- Kind
- MCP servers
- Topic
- No topic detected
- Publisher
- cyanheads
- Origin
- official
- Category
- ferramentas
- Transport
- http
- Version
- 0.2.4
- Stars
- 3
- Last push
- 2026-08-25T02:36:10Z
- Repository state
- ativo
- Language
- TypeScript
- License
- Apache-2.0
- Added
- 2026-08-29 03:02:39
- Updated
- 2026-08-29 03:02:39
- Origin id
io.github.cyanheads/openlibrary-mcp-server
README
<div align="center">
<h1>@cyanheads/openlibrary-mcp-server</h1>
<p><b>Search books and authors, fetch editions, browse subjects, and resolve cover images from Open Library via MCP. STDIO or Streamable HTTP.</b>
<div>10 Tools • 2 Resources</div>
</p>
</div>
<div align="center">
[](./CHANGELOG.md) [](./LICENSE) [](https://github.com/users/cyanheads/packages/container/package/openlibrary-mcp-server) [](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/) [](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@cyanheads/openlibrary-mcp-server) [](https://www.typescriptlang.org/) [](https://bun.sh/)
</div>
<div align="center">
[](https://github.com/cyanheads/openlibrary-mcp-server/releases/latest/download/openlibrary-mcp-server.mcpb) [](https://cursor.com/en/install-mcp?name=openlibrary-mcp-server&config=eyJjb21tYW5kIjoibnB4IiwiYXJncyI6WyIteSIsIkBjeWFuaGVhZHMvb3BlbmxpYnJhcnktbWNwLXNlcnZlciJdfQ==) [](https://vscode.dev/redirect?url=vscode:mcp/install?%7B%22name%22%3A%22openlibrary-mcp-server%22%2C%22command%22%3A%22npx%22%2C%22args%22%3A%5B%22-y%22%2C%22%40cyanheads%2Fopenlibrary-mcp-server%22%5D%7D)
[](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core)
**Public Hosted Server:** [https://openlibrary.caseyjhand.com/mcp](https://openlibrary.caseyjhand.com/mcp)
</div>
---
## Tools
10 tools for working with Open Library's catalog of 20M+ books, editions, authors, and subjects:
| Tool | Description |
|:---|:---|
| `openlibrary_search_books` | Full-text book search with field filters (title, author, subject, publisher, ISBN, language), sort options, pagination, and optional live reading availability |
| `openlibrary_get_work` | Fetch a work by Open Library Work ID (OL…W) — title, description, subjects, cover IDs, and author IDs |
| `openlibrary_get_editions` | List editions of a work — publishers, languages, formats, ISBNs, and print run details |
| `openlibrary_get_edition` | Resolve up to 50 editions in one call by ISBN-10, ISBN-13, OCLC, LCCN, or Open Library Edition ID (OL…M), reporting per-identifier misses |
| `openlibrary_search_authors` | Search authors by name — returns Author IDs, birth/death dates, top works, and subject associations |
| `openlibrary_get_author` | Fetch author detail by Open Library Author ID (OL…A) — bio, dates, photo IDs, and linked identifiers from Wikidata, VIAF, ISNI, Goodreads, and LibraryThing |
| `openlibrary_get_author_works` | List works by an author — titles, cover IDs, and Work OLIDs for drilling into editions or details |
| `openlibrary_get_subject` | Browse works by subject tag — returns matching works with edition counts and cover IDs plus the total work count |
| `openlibrary_search_inside` | Full-text search inside the scanned text of Internet Archive books — returns matching items with snippets |
| `openlibrary_get_cover_url` | Resolve a cover image URL for a book or author photo in S/M/L size — returns a direct HTTPS URL embeddable in markdown |
### `openlibrary_search_books`
Full-text book search across Open Library works.
- Free-text query with Solr field prefixes: `title:`, `author:`, `subject:`, `publisher:`, `isbn:`, `language:`
- Dedicated filter parameters for title, author, subject, publisher, ISBN, and language
- Sort by relevance, newest, oldest, community rating, or edition count
- Pagination via offset for paging through large result sets
- Optional live reading availability from Internet Archive (borrow/browse/read status) — adds ~200ms latency; off by default
- Returns work-level records with edition counts, cover IDs, Internet Archive identifiers, and e-book access status
---
### `openlibrary_get_work`
Fetch a work by Open Library Work ID (OL…W).
- Title, description, subjects, cover IDs, and linked author IDs
- Works represent the abstract book concept independent of any specific edition
- 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
- Pagination via offset
- Use after `openlibrary_get_work` or `openlibrary_search_books` to find a specific printing
---
### `openlibrary_get_edition`
Resolve one or more editions by identifier.
- Accepts ISBN-10, ISBN-13, OCLC, LCCN, or Open Library Edition ID (OL…M)
- Takes 1–50 identifiers per call, all of the same `id_type`, resolved in a single upstream request — a bibliography or shelf export costs one call rather than one per book
- Pass `id_type "isbn"` for both ISBN-10 and ISBN-13
- Returns full edition metadata: authors, publisher, language, all identifier types, and the parent work ID
- Partial success: identifiers that resolve come back in `editions`, the rest in `unresolved` with a reason (`invalid_identifier` for a value that cannot be the given type, `not_found` for one Open Library holds no record for). The call fails only when nothing resolved
---
### `openlibrary_search_authors`
Search Open Library authors by name.
- Partial names and alternate names work
- 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).
- Bio, birth/death dates, photo IDs
- Linked external identifiers: 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 tag.
- 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_search_inside`
Full-text search inside books scanned by the Internet Archive.
- Answers "which book contains this passage?" — the one question the metadata tools cannot
- Quote a phrase for an exact-phrase match; unquoted terms match independently
- Returns Internet Archive items with the matching passages as snippets and a relevance score
- Snippets are capped in the text output and complete in `structuredContent`, with the omitted count disclosed
- Seconds-slow against the live index, an order of magnitude above the metadata endpoints — reach for it deliberately
- Results key on Internet Archive items, not Open Library works: match the returned `ia_identifier` against the `ia_identifiers` on `openlibrary_search_books` results to reach the catalogue record
---
### `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)
- URLs can be embedded in markdown as ``
- The Covers API always returns HTTP 200 — missing covers return a 1×1 placeholder GIF, not a 404, so the identifier format is validated locally first: `id` must be numeric, `isbn` 10 or 13 digits, `olid` an edition OLID (OL…M) for target `book` and an author OLID (OL…A) for target `author`
## Resources
| Type | Name | Description |
|:---|:---|:---|
| Resource | `openlibrary://works/{work_id}` | Work detail by Open Library Work ID — title, description, subjects, cover IDs, and author IDs as injectable context |
| Resource | `openlibrary://authors/{author_id}` | Author detail by Open Library Author ID — name, bio, dates, photo IDs, and linked external identifiers as injectable context |
## Features
Built on [`@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core`](https://github.com/cyanheads/mcp-ts-core):
- Declarative tool definitions — single file per tool, framework handles registration and validation
- Unified error handling across all tools
- Pluggable auth (`none`, `jwt`, `oauth`)
- Swappable storage backends: `in-memory`, `filesystem`, `Supabase`, `Cloudflare KV/R2/D1`
- Structured logging with optional OpenTelemetry tracing
- Runs locally (stdio/HTTP) or on Cloudflare Workers from the same codebase
Open Library-specific:
- Complete Open Library REST API integration — Search API, Search Inside (full-text) API, Books API, Authors API, Subjects API, Covers API
- Configurable `User-Agent` header for well-behaved bot identification per community convention
- Work → editions → edition drill-down pattern with explicit linking between OLIDs across tools
- Internet Archive availability lookup (opt-in) for borrow/read status on search results
Agent-friendly output:
- Explicit recovery hints on empty results — echoes search criteria and suggests how to broaden
- All OLID cross-links surfaced in responses so agents can chain tool calls without re-searching
- Cover URLs rendered as embeddable markdown image syntax
## Getting started
### Self-Hosted / Local
Add the following to your MCP client configuration file.
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"openlibrary-mcp-server": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "bunx",
"args": ["@cyanheads/openlibrary-mcp-server@latest"],
"env": {
"MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
"MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
}
}
}
}
```
Or with npx (no Bun required):
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"openlibrary-mcp-server": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@cyanheads/openlibrary-mcp-server@latest"],
"env": {
"MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
"MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
}
}
}
}
```
Or with Docker:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"openlibrary-mcp-server": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "docker",
"args": ["run", "-i", "--rm", "-e", "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=stdio", "ghcr.io/cyanheads/openlibrary-mcp-server:latest"]
}
}
}
```
For Streamable HTTP, set the transport and start the server:
```sh
MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=http MCP_HTTP_PORT=3010 bun run start:http
# Server listens at http://localhost:3010/mcp
```
### Prerequisites
- [Bun v1.3.0](https://bun.sh/) or higher (or Node.js ≥ 24.0.0).
- No API key required — Open Library is a free, public API.
### Installation
1. **Clone the repository:**
```sh
git clone https://github.com/cyanheads/openlibrary-mcp-server.git
```
2. **Navigate into the directory:**
```sh
cd openlibrary-mcp-server
```
3. **Install dependencies:**
```sh
bun install
```
## Configuration
All configuration is validated at startup via Zod schemas in `src/config/server-config.ts`. Key environment variables:
| Variable | Description | Default |
|:---|:---|:---|
| `MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE` | Transport: `stdio` or `http` | `stdio` |
| `MCP_HTTP_PORT` | HTTP server port | `3010` |
| `MCP_HTTP_ENDPOINT_PATH` | HTTP endpoint path where the MCP server is mounted | `/mcp` |
| `MCP_PUBLIC_URL` | Public origin override for TLS-terminating reverse-proxy deployments | none |
| `MCP_AUTH_MODE` | Authentication: `none`, `jwt`, or `oauth` | `none` |
| `MCP_LOG_LEVEL` | Log level (`debug`, `info`, `warning`, `error`, etc.) | `info` |
| `MCP_GC_PRESSURE_INTERVAL_MS` | Opt-in Bun-only forced-GC pressure loop (ms). Recommended starting point if heap growth is observed: `60000`. | `0` (disabled) |
| `LOGS_DIR` | Directory for log files (Node.js only) | `<project-root>/logs` |
| `STORAGE_PROVIDER_TYPE` | Storage backend: `in-memory`, `filesystem`, `supabase`, `cloudflare-kv/r2/d1` | `in-memory` |
| `OPENLIBRARY_USER_AGENT` | User-Agent sent with all Open Library API requests. Include a contact email per community convention. | `openlibrary-mcp-server/1.0 (openlibrary@archive.org)` |
| `OTEL_ENABLED` | Enable OpenTelemetry | `false` |
## Running the server
### Local development
- **Build and run the production version**:
```sh
# One-time build
bun run rebuild
# Run the built server
bun run start:http
# or
bun run start:stdio
```
- **Run checks and tests**:
```sh
bun run devcheck # Lints, formats, type-checks, and more
bun run test # Runs the test suite
```
## Project structure
| Directory | Purpose |
|:---|:---|
| `src/mcp-server/tools` | Tool definitions (`*.tool.ts`). Ten tools across Search, Books, Authors, Subjects, and Covers. |
| `src/mcp-server/resources` | Resource definitions. Work and Author resources. |
| `src/services/open-library` | Open Library service layer — API client and domain types. |
| `src/config` | Server-specific environment variable parsing and validation with Zod. |
| `tests/` | Unit and integration tests, mirroring the `src/` structure. |
## Development guide
See [`CLAUDE.md`](./CLAUDE.md) for development guidelines and architectural rules. The short version:
- Handlers throw, framework catches — no `try/catch` in tool logic
- Use `ctx.log` for logging, `ctx.state` for storage
- Register new tools and resources in the `createApp()` arrays
## Contributing
Issues and pull requests are welcome. Run checks and tests before submitting:
```sh
bun run devcheck
bun run test
```
## License
This project is licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. See the [LICENSE](./LICENSE) file for details.