# Project Gutenberg API: Search free books > Finds 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. Unofficial. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Project Gutenberg. - Page: https://fous.com/methods/gutenberg.org/search-free-books - Method: `gutenberg.org/search_free_books`, version 1 - Website: gutenberg.org - Returns: title, authors, languages, subjects, downloads, read/epub/text/cover links, ebook number - Effect: read (it gets data and changes nothing) - Sign-in: none needed - Cost: 1 credit per completed run (1¢ with pay as you go); failed runs are free - Verified: Nov 2, 2026 ## Inputs | Field | Type | Required | In the run below | Description | |---|---|---|---|---| | `sort` | string | no | `"newest"` | Sort by popularity, newest release, or title; for example popular. One of "popular", "newest", "title". Default "popular". | | `query` | string | yes | `"Jane Austen"` | Book title, author, or topic, for example Sherlock Holmes. | | `language` | string | no | `"French"` | Language name or two-letter code, for example French or fr; default any. Default "any". | | `max_results` | integer | no | `5` | Maximum number of books to return, for example 20; at most 100. Default 20. | ## Output From a run on Oct 23, 2026, shortened. Its input: ```json { "sort": "newest", "query": "Jane Austen", "language": "French", "max_results": 5 } ``` Its output: ```json { "books": [ { "title": "Raison et sensibilité, ou les deux manières d'aimer (Tome 4)", "authors": [ { "name": "Austen, Jane", "birth_year": 1775, "death_year": 1817 } ], "subjects": [ "England -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction", "Inheritance and succession -- Fiction", "England -- Fiction" ], "languages": [ "French" ], "ebook_number": 37634, "book_page_link": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37634", "cover_image_link": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/37634/pg37634.cover.medium.jpg", "read_online_link": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/37634/pg37634-images.html", "epub_download_link": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37634.epub3.images", "downloads_last_30_days": 448, "plain_text_download_link": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37634.txt.utf-8" }, { "title": "Persuasion", "authors": [ { "name": "Austen, Jane", "birth_year": 1775, "death_year": 1817 } ], "subjects": [ "England -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction", "Psychological fiction", "Young women -- Fiction" ], "languages": [ "French" ], "ebook_number": 36777, "book_page_link": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36777", "cover_image_link": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/36777/pg36777.cover.medium.jpg", "read_online_link": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/36777/pg36777-images.html", "epub_download_link": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36777.epub3.images", "downloads_last_30_days": 897, "plain_text_download_link": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36777.txt.utf-8" }, { "title": "Raison et sensibilité, ou les deux manières d'aimer (Tome 3)", "authors": [ { "name": "Austen, Jane", "birth_year": 1775, "death_year": 1817 } ], "subjects": [ "England -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction", "Inheritance and succession -- Fiction", "England -- Fiction" ], "languages": [ "French" ], "ebook_number": 35163, "book_page_link": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35163", "cover_image_link": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/35163/pg35163.cover.medium.jpg", "read_online_link": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/35163/pg35163-images.html", "epub_download_link": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35163.epub3.images", "downloads_last_30_days": 618, "plain_text_download_link": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35163.txt.utf-8" } ] } ``` ## Run it From code, with a Fous API key in `FOUS_API_KEY`; the answer's `data` holds the output: ```bash curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"method":"gutenberg.org/search_free_books","input":{"sort":"newest","query":"Jane Austen","language":"French","max_results":5}}' ``` From an AI agent connected to the Fous MCP server: its `run` with the same method and input. To connect one, give it `set up https://fous.com/SKILL.md`. ## Ask your agent - Find free public domain books by Jane Austen sorted by popularity - Show me the newest free ebooks about ancient Rome in French - I need public domain novels by Mark Twain, sorted alphabetically by title, up to 50 results - Search Project Gutenberg for Sherlock Holmes stories in English with download links - Looking for free German-language books on philosophy, 10 results sorted by newest release ## Input schema ```json { "type": "object", "required": [ "query" ], "properties": { "sort": { "enum": [ "popular", "newest", "title" ], "type": "string", "default": "popular", "description": "Sort by popularity, newest release, or title; for example popular." }, "query": { "type": "string", "minLength": 1, "description": "Book title, author, or topic, for example Sherlock Holmes." }, "language": { "type": "string", "default": "any", "description": "Language name or two-letter code, for example French or fr; default any." }, "max_results": { "type": "integer", "default": 20, "maximum": 100, "minimum": 1, "description": "Maximum number of books to return, for example 20; at most 100." } } } ``` ## Output schema ```json { "type": "object", "required": [ "books" ], "properties": { "books": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "object", "properties": { "title": { "type": "string" }, "authors": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "object", "properties": { "name": { "type": "string" }, "birth_year": { "type": [ "integer", "null" ] }, "death_year": { "type": [ "integer", "null" ] } } } }, "subjects": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "languages": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "ebook_number": { "type": "integer" }, "book_page_link": { "type": "string" }, "cover_image_link": { "type": [ "string", "null" ] }, "read_online_link": { "type": [ "string", "null" ] }, "epub_download_link": { "type": [ "string", "null" ] }, "downloads_last_30_days": { "type": [ "integer", "null" ] }, "plain_text_download_link": { "type": [ "string", "null" ] } } } } } } ``` ## See more - [Project Gutenberg API: Get book text](https://fous.com/methods/gutenberg.org/get-book-text.md): 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. - [Open Library API: Search books](https://fous.com/methods/openlibrary.org/search-books.md): Finds Open Library books by search words, optionally narrowed by author and subject, sorted by relevance or publication age. Returns work-level results; free_online means at least one edition is marked public or borrowable, not that a loan is available now. - [Google API: Search Google Books](https://fous.com/methods/books.google.com/search-books.md): Searches 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. - [Open Library API: List books by author](https://fous.com/methods/openlibrary.org/list-author-books.md): Finds an Open Library author by name, link or key and lists their works with first publication year, edition count, cover and an author profile. - [Google API: Get book](https://fous.com/methods/books.google.com/get-book.md): Looks up a Google Books book by title or ISBN. Returns its details, reader ratings and the Google Play ebook offer in a chosen country. - [Bible Gateway API: Search the Bible](https://fous.com/methods/biblegateway.com/search-bible.md): Finds Bible verses on Bible Gateway that contain the search words or relate to a topic. Returns the verse text and links in Bible order. - [Open Library API: Get book details](https://fous.com/methods/openlibrary.org/get-book.md): Gets 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. - [Poetry Foundation API: Search poems](https://fous.com/methods/poetryfoundation.org/search-poems.md): Finds poems matching a topic or occasion, or poems by a named poet, in Poetry Foundation search order. Older magazine poems without public text have no first two lines; untagged poems have no themes or occasions. - [All Project Gutenberg methods](https://fous.com/methods/gutenberg.org.md)