GET /search.json

openlibrary.org:open-library-api

Summary: Search works
Operation ID: searchWorks
Auth: none
Description

Search for books/works across Open Library's catalog. Supports general queries and field-specific searches.

Parameters (5)

fields (string, query, optional)

Comma-separated list of fields to return (default returns all)

limit (integer, query, optional, default: 20)

Number of results per page

Constraints: {'minimum': 1, 'maximum': 100}

page (integer, query, optional, default: 1)

Page number for pagination

Constraints: {'minimum': 1}

q (string, query, required)

Search query (can include title, author, ISBN, etc.)

sort (string, query, optional)

Sort order

Constraints: {'enum': ['relevance', 'editions', 'old', 'new', 'rating', 'readinglog', 'want_to_read', 'currently_reading', 'already_read']}

Examples (5)

TitleTypeURLAction
Search books and works openapi-spec https://openlibrary.org/search.json?q=the hobbit&title=the lord of the rings&author=tolkien&fields=key,title,author_name,editions&lang=en
Search for books openapi-spec https://openlibrary.org/search.json?q=the great gatsby
Search works openapi-spec https://openlibrary.org/search.json?q=the lord of the rings
Search works probe-gate https://openlibrary.org/search.json?q=the+lord+of+the+rings&page=1&limit=20
Search works probe-gate https://openlibrary.org/search.json?q=the+great+gatsby&page=1&limit=20

Probe History

Latency

Status Codes

TimeStatusLatencySize
2026-03-23 10:23:44.227320 200 950ms
2026-03-23 10:11:20.271120 200 2230ms
2026-03-23 09:45:58.023413 200 1322ms
2026-03-23 09:40:09.419721 200 1284ms
2026-03-23 09:06:40.549100 200 3306ms

Response Changes

WhenOldNew
2026-03-23 09:40:09.419721 c2fa3146ae2b 84c502bd4388
2026-03-23 09:45:58.023413 84c502bd4388 e9c60bf56a44
2026-03-23 10:11:20.271120 e9c60bf56a44 03d8b24615e4
2026-03-23 10:23:44.227320 03d8b24615e4 4211f7e724c5