Search Open Library across titles, authors, subjects, places, people, publishers and ISBNs. Provide at least one search criterion: q, title, author, subject, place, person, publisher, isbn; combining several narrows the search. Returns at most limit results (default 10) together with num_found, the total number of matches; page through them with offset. Each result carries best_edition — one edition of the work, with its isbn_13/isbn_10 where Open Library has them, and its edition_key, which can be passed to get_book_by_id as { idType: "olid" } for that edition's full record.

Search for a book by its title on Open Library. Returns at most limit results (default 10) together with num_found, the total number of matches; page through them with offset. Each result carries best_edition — one edition of the work, with its isbn_13/isbn_10 where Open Library has them, and its edition_key, which can be passed to get_book_by_id as { idType: "olid" } for that edition's full record.

Get detailed information about a book using its identifier (ISBN, LCCN, OCLC, OLID).

Search for author information on Open Library. Returns at most limit authors (default 10) together with num_found, the total number of matches; page through them with offset. Each result's key can be passed to get_author_info for that author's full record.

Get detailed information for a specific author using their Open Library Author Key (e.g. OL23919A).

Get the URL for an author's photo using their Open Library Author ID (OLID e.g. OL23919A). Reports when no photo exists rather than returning a URL to a blank placeholder.

Get the URL for a book's cover image using a key (ISBN, OCLC, LCCN, OLID, ID) and value. Reports when no cover exists rather than returning a URL to a blank placeholder.