Open Library API

How to Use This API

1. Get a Book by Work ID

https://openlibrary.org/works/OL12345W.json

Returns: title, authors, description, subjects, covers, first publish date, and more. The work ID can be found from search results or book pages.

2. Search for Books

https://openlibrary.org/search.json?q=the+great+gatsby

Full-text search across titles, authors, and subjects. Supports pagination with page and limit parameters.

3. Get a Book by ISBN

https://openlibrary.org/isbn/9780140328721.json

Direct lookup by ISBN-10 or ISBN-13. Returns the edition data.

4. JavaScript — Book Info Display

async function getBook(workId) {
  const resp = await fetch(
    `https://openlibrary.org/works/${workId}.json`
  );
  const book = await resp.json();
  
  // Get author name if available
  let author = 'Unknown';
  if (book.authors && book.authors[0]?.author?.key) {
    const aResp = await fetch(
      `https://openlibrary.org${book.authors[0].author.key}.json`
    );
    const aData = await aResp.json();
    author = aData.name;
  }
  
  return {
    title: book.title,
    author,
    subjects: book.subjects?.slice(0, 5) || [],
    description: book.description?.value || book.description || '',
    coverId: book.covers?.[0]
  };
}

getBook('OL45804W').then(book => {
  console.log(`${book.title} by ${book.author}`);
  console.log('Subjects:', book.subjects.join(', '));
});

5. Python — Search and Get Covers

import requests

def search_books(query):
    resp = requests.get(
        'https://openlibrary.org/search.json',
        params={'q': query, 'limit': 5}
    )
    return resp.json()['docs']

def get_cover_url(cover_id, size='M'):
    if not cover_id:
        return None
    return f'https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/{cover_id}-{size}.jpg'

books = search_books('javascript programming')
for book in books:
    title = book.get('title', 'Unknown')
    author = book.get('author_name', ['Unknown'])[0]
    cover = get_cover_url(book.get('cover_i'))
    print(f"{title} by {author}")
    if cover:
        print(f"  Cover: {cover}")