Uooks

What uooks does

The uooks MCP server exposes Open Library data for book-focused research and retrieval. It belongs to the 🔎 Search & Data Extraction category and is intended for agents that need structured bibliographic information rather than general web search.

The service provides four book-related tools:

• search_books finds books using a title, author, or keyword query. Results include titles, authors, publication years, ISBNs, and cover image URLs.
• get_book retrieves information about a particular edition using an ISBN-10 or ISBN-13. Its response can include the title, publication date, page count, up to 10 subjects, a description, a cover URL, and author keys.
• get_author retrieves an Open Library author profile from an author key such as OL23919A. Results include the name, life dates when available, a biographical summary, and a Wikipedia URL.
• get_book_work retrieves the canonical work record identified by a work ID such as OL45804W. This represents the book concept across editions and returns its title, description, first publication date, subjects, and author keys.

How it works

The uooks MCP server can be accessed through the Pipeworx gateway at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/books/mcp, or through the full gateway at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/mcp. The pack endpoint lists the four book tools along with shared Pipeworx meta-tools. Its initialize response is the authoritative source for the tools available at a given time.

A typical lookup starts with search_books. An agent can then use an ISBN from the search result with get_book, or use a W-suffixed work ID with get_book_work. Author keys returned by book or work lookups can be passed to get_author. The gateway also supports the ask_pipeworx meta-tool for questions in plain English and exposes HTTP tool calls under the gateway's /v1/tools/ path.

Setup and configuration

The gateway connection requires an MCP client that accepts a remote URL. No account is needed for the first gateway calls. Open Library access is described as free and requiring no authentication.

The uooks MCP server also runs locally through the package @pipeworx/mcp-books:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "books": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@pipeworx/mcp-books"]
    }
  }
}

This local mode communicates over stdin and stdout and exposes only the pack's four tools. It does not include the shared gateway meta-tools or gateway routing. Running npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-books directly can be used to confirm that the local server starts.

Tools and capabilities

Use search_books for discovery, especially when you do not yet have an ISBN or Open Library identifier. Use get_book when edition-specific details matter, since different editions can have different publication dates, page counts, descriptions, or covers. Use get_book_work when the request concerns a title across editions, and get_author for author biography data connected to a result.

The gateway can also be called without an MCP client by sending JSON over HTTP. For example, the README uses POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/books_search_books with a JSON query. This provides an alternative for applications that can make HTTP requests but do not directly speak MCP.

Limitations and notes

The integration is independent and unofficial; it is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or published by Open Library. Edition lookups require an ISBN, while work and author lookups require the relevant Open Library identifiers. The gateway pack endpoint includes additional shared tools, so its reported tool count is larger than the four book tools. Use the standalone package when only the book tools are wanted without those shared gateway capabilities.