mcp open library

Local 2025-09-01 00:50:37 0

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for the Open Library API that enables AI assistants to search for book information.

Overview

This project implements an MCP server that provides a tool for AI assistants to search the Open Library for book information by title. The server returns structured data about the most relevant book match, including title, authors, publication year, and other metadata.

Features

Book Search by Title: Search for books using their title and get detailed information
Structured Response Format: Returns book information in a consistent JSON structure
Error Handling: Proper validation and error reporting
Testing: Comprehensive test coverage with Vitest

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/your-username/mcp-open-library.git
cd mcp-open-library

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build the project
npm run build

Usage

Running the Server

You can use the MCP Inspector to test the server:

npm run inspector

Access the MCP Inspector and then test the tool e.g.

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Using with an MCP Client

This server implements the Model Context Protocol, which means it can be used by any MCP-compatible AI assistant or client e.g. Claude Desktop. The server exposes the following tool:

get_book_by_title: Search for book information by title

Example input:

{
  "title": "The Hobbit"
}

Example output:

{
  "title": "The Hobbit",
  "authors": ["J.R.R. Tolkien"],
  "first_publish_year": 1937,
  "open_library_work_key": "/works/OL45883W",
  "edition_count": 120
}

An example of this tool being used in Claude Desktop can be see here:

Development

Project Structure

src/index.ts - Main server implementation
src/types.ts - TypeScript type definitions
src/index.test.ts - Test suite

Available Scripts

npm run build - Build the TypeScript code
npm run watch - Watch for changes and rebuild
npm test - Run the test suite
npm run format - Format code with Prettier
npm run inspector - Run the MCP Inspector against the server

Running Tests

npm test

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Acknowledgments

[
  {
    "description": "Search for a book by its title on Open Library.",
    "inputSchema": {
      "properties": {
        "title": {
          "description": "The title of the book to search for.",
          "type": "string"
        }
      },
      "required": [
        "title"
      ],
      "type": "object"
    },
    "name": "get_book_by_title"
  }
]