Project Gutenberg API: Get book text
Gets the plain text of a public-domain Project Gutenberg book by title, optionally matching its author and language. Chooses the most downloaded matching edition with a plain-text file, removes the Gutenberg header and license, and can cut the text after a chosen number of words.
Unofficial. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Project Gutenberg.
Inputs
Values from the run on Oct 31, 2026, shown under Output.
- Title, required
title Book title, for example Pride and Prejudice.
War and Peace
- Author optional
author Author name to distinguish books, for example Jane Austen.
Leo Tolstoy
- Language optional
language Book language, for example English or French.
English (default)
- Max Words optional
max_words Maximum number of words to include in the returned text, for example 200000.
600000
Whole number from 1 to 600000. Default
200000.
Input as JSON
{ "title": "War and Peace", "author": "Leo Tolstoy", "max_words": 600000}Output
{ "title": "War and Peace", "author": "Leo Tolstoy", "language": "English", "book_text": "WAR AND PEACE\r\n\r\n\r\nBy Leo Tolstoy/Tolstoi\r\n\r\n\r\n Contents\r\n\r\n BOOK ONE: 1805\r\n\r\n CHAPTER I\r\n\r\n CHAPTER II\r\n\r\n CHAPTER III\r\n\r\n CHAPTER IV\r\n\r\n CHAPTER V\r\n\r\n CHAPTER VI\r\n\r\n CHAPTER VII\r\n\r\n CHAPTER VIII\r\n\r\n CHAPTER IX\r\n\r\n CHAPTER X\r\n\r\n CHAPTER XI\r\n\r\n CHAPTER XII\r…" , "ebook_number": 2600, "release_date": "2001-04-01", "text_was_cut": false, "book_page_link": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2600" , "total_word_count": 563286}Code
curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"method":"gutenberg.org/get_book_text","input":{"title":"War and Peace","author":"Leo Tolstoy","max_words":600000}}' # Save as fous.py, then run: python3 fous.pyimport json, os, timefrom urllib.error import HTTPErrorfrom urllib.request import Request, urlopenAPI = "https://api.fous.com/v1/runs" KEY = os.environ["FOUS_API_KEY"]HEADERS = { "Authorization": f"Bearer {KEY}", "Content-Type": "application/json" ,}def call(url, body=None): data = json.dumps(body).encode() if body else None request = Request(url, data, HEADERS) try: with urlopen(request, timeout=120) as r: return r.status, json.load(r) except HTTPError as error: message = json.load(error)["error"]["message"] raise RuntimeError(message) from errorstatus, run = call(API, { "method": "gutenberg.org/get_book_text" , "input": { "title": "War and Peace", "author": "Leo Tolstoy", "max_words": 600000 }})# 202: still going after 30 s. Ask again until it ends.while status == 202: time.sleep(2) status, run = call(f"{API}/{run['id']}")print(json.dumps(run["data"], indent=2))// Save as fous.mjs, then run: node fous.mjsconst api = "https://api.fous.com/v1/runs" ;const headers = { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.FOUS_API_KEY}`, "Content-Type": "application/json" ,};let response = await fetch(api, { method: "POST", headers, body: JSON.stringify({ "method": "gutenberg.org/get_book_text" , "input": { "title": "War and Peace", "author": "Leo Tolstoy", "max_words": 600000 } }), signal: AbortSignal.timeout(120_000),});let run = await response.json();// 202: still going after 30 s. Ask again until it ends.while (response.status === 202) { await new Promise((done) => setTimeout(done, 2_000)); response = await fetch(`${api}/${run.id}`, { headers }); run = await response.json();}if (!response.ok) throw new Error(run.error.message);console.log(run.data);# Connect your agent to Fous once, over MCP (Streamable HTTP):# https://api.fous.com/mcp# Set FOUS_API_KEY first: create a key at https://app.fous.com/keys.# Claude Codeclaude mcp add \ --scope user \ --transport http fous https://api.fous.com/mcp \ --header "Authorization: Bearer ${FOUS_API_KEY:?Set FOUS_API_KEY to your Fous API key}"# Codexcodex mcp add fous \ --url https://api.fous.com/mcp \ --bearer-token-env-var FOUS_API_KEY# Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, Cline and morenpx -y add-mcp https://api.fous.com/mcp -g -n fous \ --header "Authorization: Bearer ${FOUS_API_KEY:?Set FOUS_API_KEY to your Fous API key}"# Then ask your agent:# "Use Fous to run gutenberg.org/get_book_text# with {"title":"War and Peace","author":"Leo Tolstoy","max_words":600000}"Over HTTP, the answer’s data holds the output. A run still going after 30 seconds answers 202 with its id: ask GET /v1/runs/{id} until it ends.
Schema
Input schema
{ "type": "object", "required": [ "title" ], "properties": { "title": { "type": "string", "minLength": 1, "description": "Book title, for example Pride and Prejudice." }, "author": { "type": "string", "description": "Author name to distinguish books, for example Jane Austen." }, "language": { "type": "string", "default": "English", "description": "Book language, for example English or French." }, "max_words": { "type": "integer", "default": 200000, "maximum": 600000, "minimum": 1, "description": "Maximum number of words to include in the returned text, for example 200000." } }}Output schema
{ "type": "object", "required": [ "title", "author", "language", "release_date", "total_word_count", "text_was_cut", "book_text", "book_page_link", "ebook_number" ], "properties": { "title": { "type": "string", "description": "Book title." }, "author": { "type": "string", "description": "Book author." }, "language": { "type": "string", "description": "Book language." }, "book_text": { "type": "string", "description": "Book text with Project Gutenberg header and license footer removed." }, "ebook_number": { "type": "integer", "description": "Project Gutenberg ebook number." }, "release_date": { "type": "string", "description": "Project Gutenberg release date." }, "text_was_cut": { "type": "boolean", "description": "Whether the returned text was shortened to max_words." }, "book_page_link": { "type": "string", "description": "Project Gutenberg book page." }, "total_word_count": { "type": "integer", "description": "Words in the full cleaned text before cutting." } }, "additionalProperties": false}- Price
- 1 credit per completed run (1¢ with pay as you go); failed runs are free.
- Method
gutenberg.org/get_book_text- Returns
- title, author, language, release date, word count, book text, book page link, ebook number
Use it from your agent
Give your agent this line. It reads SKILL.md, gets a Fous API key and connects the Fous MCP server. Its run then takes the method gutenberg.org/get_book_text with the inputs above.
Ask your agent
- Grab me the full plain text of Moby-Dick by Herman Melville from Project Gutenberg, without the license boilerplate at the top and bottom.
- I need the first 5,000 words of Les Misérables in the original French, by Victor Hugo.
- Pull the text of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley so I can run some word-frequency analysis on it. Also give me the ebook number and release date.
- Can you fetch the opening 2000 words of 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' from gutenberg.org? I want to read a bit before committing.
- Get me the German text of Die Verwandlung by Franz Kafka, capped at 30000 words, plus a link to its book page.
See more
All Project Gutenberg methodsFinds free public-domain Project Gutenberg books by title, author or topic, with authors, languages, subjects, recent downloads, and reading and download links. Public-domain status is based on the United States.
gutenberg.org/search_free_booksGets a book's catalog details from Open Library by its title, with an optional author or ISBN to identify the right book. Reading availability reflects listed editions; details may be missing when the catalog has none.
openlibrary.org/get_bookGets one Goodreads book's details, reader ratings and edition information. The book can be a title, an ISBN or a book link; a title uses the best search match.
goodreads.com/get_bookLooks up a Google Books book by title or ISBN. Returns its details, reader ratings and the Google Play ebook offer in a chosen country.
books.google.com/get_bookFinds a poem on Poetry Foundation by title (optionally by poet) and returns its full public text, poet, printed source, publication year and subject tags.
poetryfoundation.org/get_poemSearches Google Books by words, author, subject or ISBN, with language, free-ebook and newest-first options. Ratings counts are not shown by the public book feed; newest sorts the available matches by publication date.
books.google.com/search_booksReturns the full text of a Wikipedia article in ordered sections, with its last edit time, reference count and visible categories, in any language edition. Footnotes, tables and navigation material are excluded; a topic that is not an exact title uses the best search match.
wikipedia.org/get_full_articleLooks up an audiobook in an Audible store by title (optionally narrowed by author) or by Audible book link, and returns its details, narrators, length, rating, visitor price, series, publisher summary and whether that store's Plus Catalog includes it.
audible.com/get_audiobook