# MIT API: Search courses > Finds free MIT OpenCourseWare courses matching a topic, in relevance order, optionally limited to a course level or courses with lecture videos. Unofficial. Not affiliated with or endorsed by MIT. - Page: https://fous.com/methods/ocw.mit.edu/search-courses - Method: `ocw.mit.edu/search_courses`, version 1 - Website: ocw.mit.edu - Returns: title, course number, instructors, department, level, semester, materials, description, course link - 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 | |---|---|---|---|---| | `level` | string | no | | Course level, for example undergraduate. One of "any", "undergraduate", "graduate". Default "any". | | `topic` | string | yes | `"linear algebra"` | Topic or search words, for example linear algebra. | | `max_results` | integer | no | | Maximum courses to return, for example 20. Default 20. | | `with_video_lectures` | boolean | no | | Only include courses with lecture videos, for example true. Default false. | ## Output From a run on Oct 23, 2026, shortened. Its input: ```json { "topic": "linear algebra" } ``` Its output: ```json { "courses": [ { "level": "Undergraduate", "title": "Linear Algebra", "department": "Mathematics", "course_link": "https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/18-06sc-linear-algebra-fall-2011/", "description": "This course covers matrix theory and linear algebra, emphasizing topics useful in other disciplines such as physics, economics and social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering. It parallels the combination of theory and applications in Professor Strang’s textbook Introduction to Linear Algebra…", "instructors": [ "Prof. Gilbert Strang" ], "course_number": "18.06SC", "semester_year": "Fall 2011", "available_materials": [ "Lecture Videos", "Lecture Notes", "Problem-solving Videos" ] }, { "level": "Undergraduate", "title": "Linear Algebra", "department": "Mathematics", "course_link": "https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/18-700-linear-algebra-fall-2013/", "description": "This course offers a rigorous treatment of linear algebra, including vector spaces, systems of linear equations, bases, linear independence, matrices, determinants, eigenvalues, inner products, quadratic forms, and canonical forms of matrices. Compared with 18.06 Linear Algebra, more emphasis is pla…", "instructors": [ "David Vogan" ], "course_number": "18.700", "semester_year": "Fall 2013", "available_materials": [ "Problem Sets" ] }, { "level": "Undergraduate", "title": "A Vision of Linear Algebra", "department": "Mathematics", "course_link": "https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/res-18-010-a-2020-vision-of-linear-algebra-spring-2020/", "description": "This collection of videos presents Professor Strang’s updated vision of how linear algebra could be taught.", "instructors": [ "Prof. Gilbert Strang" ], "course_number": "RES.18-010", "semester_year": "Spring 2020", "available_materials": [ "Lecture Videos" ] } ] } ``` ## 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":"ocw.mit.edu/search_courses","input":{"topic":"linear algebra"}}' ``` 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 undergraduate linear algebra courses with lecture videos - Show me graduate-level machine learning courses from MIT OpenCourseWare - I need up to 10 courses on organic chemistry, any level - List MIT open courses about thermodynamics that include video lectures - Search OCW for beginner-friendly introductory programming courses, limit 5 results ## Input schema ```json { "type": "object", "required": [ "topic" ], "properties": { "level": { "enum": [ "any", "undergraduate", "graduate" ], "type": "string", "default": "any", "description": "Course level, for example undergraduate." }, "topic": { "type": "string", "minLength": 1, "description": "Topic or search words, for example linear algebra." }, "max_results": { "type": "integer", "default": 20, "maximum": 100, "minimum": 1, "description": "Maximum courses to return, for example 20." }, "with_video_lectures": { "type": "boolean", "default": false, "description": "Only include courses with lecture videos, for example true." } } } ``` ## Output schema ```json { "type": "object", "required": [ "courses" ], "properties": { "courses": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "object", "required": [ "title", "course_number", "instructors", "department", "level", "semester_year", "available_materials", "description", "course_link" ], "properties": { "level": { "type": [ "string", "null" ] }, "title": { "type": "string" }, "department": { "type": [ "string", "null" ] }, "course_link": { "type": "string" }, "description": { "type": [ "string", "null" ] }, "instructors": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "course_number": { "type": [ "string", "null" ] }, "semester_year": { "type": [ "string", "null" ] }, "available_materials": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "string" } } }, "additionalProperties": false }, "description": "Matching courses in relevance order." } }, "additionalProperties": false } ``` ## See more - [Coursera API: Search courses](https://fous.com/methods/coursera.org/search-courses.md): Finds Coursera courses, specializations, professional certificates, degrees and guided projects on a topic, in Coursera's search order. - [Udemy API: Search courses by topic](https://fous.com/methods/udemy.com/search-courses.md): Searches Udemy courses on a topic and returns US visitor prices in USD, ratings, lecture counts and course details. - [Coursera API: Get course details](https://fous.com/methods/coursera.org/get-course.md): Looks up a Coursera course, specialization or professional certificate by name or link and returns its providers, instructors, rating, enrollment, modules, skills, languages and publicly shown price. - [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. - [Meetup API: Search events](https://fous.com/methods/meetup.com/search-events.md): Finds upcoming public Meetup events by topic and city, sorted by start time. Only events that mention the topic are included; external costs and undisclosed venues may not be shown. - [OpenAlex API: Search scholarly papers](https://fous.com/methods/openalex.org/search-papers.md): Searches OpenAlex scholarly works by topic, with optional institution, publication-year and open-access filters, ranked by relevance, citations or newest date. - [Substack API: Search newsletters](https://fous.com/methods/substack.com/search-newsletters.md): Finds public Substack newsletters matching a topic, in Substack's search order. Subscriber counts are null when Substack does not display one. - [loc.gov API: Search Library of Congress collections](https://fous.com/methods/loc.gov/search-collections.md): Searches Library of Congress digital collections by keywords, material format and date range, in Library search relevance order. Rights notes may be unavailable for some records.