Open Library MCP Server

by 8ensmith Your server? Claim it

local only

Open Library runs on your own machine — the client starts it, so there is no endpoint to ping. 326 installs a week from npm. Last commit 30 Aug 2026.

Search books and authors on the Internet Archive's Open Library

Installs per day peak 189 · avg 12 · +304% w/w

a month agotoday

326

Installs / week

npm · mcp-open-library

Stars

1 open issues

30 Aug 2026

Last commit

0 releases in 90 days

MIT

License

TypeScript

Nothing serious here today

Today is the operative word: we check Open Library every 15 minutes and re-read its code on every release. Watch it and you find out the day that stops being true.

Connect this server

This server runs on your own machine — install it with the package manager and the client starts it for you. Package name taken from the official registry entry.

Claude Code Claude Desktop Codex Cursor VS Code

run in your terminal

claude mcp add mcp-open-library -- npx -y mcp-open-library

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-open-library": {
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-open-library"
      ],
      "command": "npx"
    }
  }
}

~/.codex/config.toml

[mcp_servers.mcp-open-library]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "mcp-open-library"]

.cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-open-library": {
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-open-library"
      ],
      "command": "npx"
    }
  }
}

.vscode/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-open-library": {
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-open-library"
      ],
      "command": "npx"
    }
  }
}

Alternatives to Open Library

same job, measured the same way

Book Search (Open Library)

by invokera

Search books and authors across Open Library, the Internet Archive open catalog.

2 tools answering

MCP Books

by smeet666

Search the Internet Archive, the Library of Congress and data.bnf.fr at once, in one answer.

402 installs/wk local only

Book Metadata

by vetnet183

Search Google Books and Open Library for book metadata, covers, and publication info.

88 installs/wk local only

MCP Archiveorg

by smeet666

Search inside digitised books, browse the Internet Archive catalogue and read Wayback captures.

583 installs/wk local only

MCP Databnf

by smeet666

Search the BnF open catalogue: authors, works, editions and links to what is digitised.

871 installs/wk local only

Open Library — questions

Answers built from our own checks of this server.

Why is there no uptime for Open Library?

Open Library runs on your own machine over stdio — there is no network address to reach, so uptime cannot be measured for it by anyone. What can be measured is adoption: the npm package mcp-open-library was installed 326 times last week.

How do I connect Open Library?

Copy the ready config from this page — we generate it for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor and VS Code, each with the file path that client actually reads. It runs locally, so the command pulls mcp-open-library straight from npm; nothing to host, nothing to sign up for.

How many people use Open Library?

The npm package mcp-open-library was installed 326 times in the last week. Week over week that is +304%. We show installs rather than GitHub stars on purpose: a star is a bookmark, an install is someone actually running it.

Is Open Library open source?

Yes — it is published under the MIT licence, written in TypeScript, 91 stars on GitHub and 1 open issue. The source link is on this page, so you can read exactly what it does with your data before you connect it.