Open Library MCP server

The Open Library MCP server integrates with Open Library, a free, open-source book and author catalog run by the Internet Archive. It provides read-only tools for discovering books and authors, retrieving details, and fetching cover images — all without authentication.

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When should you use this server

Use the Open Library MCP server when you want an agent to:

• Search for books by title
• Search for authors by name
• Fetch detailed author information
• Retrieve author photos
• Get book cover images by ISBN or other identifiers

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Key features

• No authentication required — uses Open Library’s public API
• Simple, read-only operations for book and author discovery
• Cover image retrieval for books and authors
• ISBN lookup and bibliographic information
• Ideal for demos, prototypes, and educational use

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Authentication

• None required — this server uses Open Library’s public API

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Tools provided

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get_book_by_title

Search for books using their title. Arguments:

• title (string, required) — the book title to search for.

Returns:

• List of matching books with metadata.

Example usage:

• “Find books with ‘Lord of the Rings’ in the title.”
• “Search for science textbooks about quantum physics.”

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get_authors_by_name

Search for authors using their name. Arguments:

• name (string, required) — the author name to search for.

Returns:

• List of matching authors with basic information.

Example usage:

• “Find authors named Margaret Atwood.”
• “Search for writers with ‘Smith’ in their name.”

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get_author_info

Retrieve detailed information for a specific author using their Open Library key. Arguments:

• author_key (string, required) — Open Library author key (OLID).

Returns:

• Detailed author information including birth/death dates, biography, and works.

Example usage:

• “Get detailed information about author OL26320A.”
• “Tell me more about this author.”

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get_author_photo

Get the URL for an author’s photo using their Open Library ID (OLID). Arguments:

• olid (string, required) — Open Library author ID.
• size (string, optional) — image size (S, M, L), defaults to L.

Returns:

• URL to the author’s photo.

Example usage:

• “Get the photo of author OL26320A.”
• “Show me what this author looks like.”

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get_book_cover

Get the URL for a book’s cover image using identifiers such as ISBN, OCLC, LCCN, OLID, or internal ID. Arguments:

• key (string, required) — identifier type (ISBN, OCLC, LCCN, OLID, ID).
• value (string, required) — identifier value.
• size (string, optional) — image size (S, M, L), defaults to L.

Returns:

• URL to the book’s cover image.

Example usage:

• “Get the cover image for ISBN 9780547928227.”
• “Show me the book cover for The Hobbit.”

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Rate limits

• Controlled by Open Library’s public API rate limits (sufficient for typical usage)
• Avoid bulk or automated scraping

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Notes

• All tools are read-only
• Records may be incomplete or inconsistent, since data is community-maintained
• Great for lightweight demos and testing MCP connectivity, since it requires no credentials

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