ISBN Lookup, Book Metadata & Cover Finder

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👁 ISBN Book Metadata & Cover Finder logo

At a glance: what it does is look up and enrich ISBN book metadata; input examples are ISBN-10 and ISBN-13 values; output examples are dataset rows with title, author, publisher, cover URLs, source links, and confidence; use cases include catalog enrichment; limitations, troubleshooting, and pricing/cost notes are covered below.

Look up ISBN-10 and ISBN-13 book data on Apify. This ISBN lookup and book metadata enrichment Actor validates ISBNs and enriches each book with titles, authors, publishers, publication dates, descriptions, page counts, languages, categories, cover image URLs, source links, and a confidence score.

Use it as an ISBN lookup tool, book metadata API alternative, book cover finder, ISBN validator, and batch catalog enrichment workflow for ecommerce catalogs, libraries, publishers, spreadsheets, research lists, and book data pipelines.

What You Get

For each ISBN, the Actor returns one clean dataset item with fields such as:

• Valid ISBN-10 and ISBN-13 values
• Book title, subtitle, and authors
• Publisher and publication date
• Book description, page count, language, and subjects
• Small, medium, and large cover image URLs when available
• Open Library source links
• Status, warnings, errors, and confidence score

Results can be exported from Apify as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, RSS, or HTML, or consumed directly through the Apify API.

Common Use Cases

• Enrich book catalogs from ISBN lists
• Find missing book cover image URLs
• Validate and normalize ISBN-10 and ISBN-13 values
• Add book titles, authors, publishers, and dates to spreadsheets
• Build product data for bookstore and ecommerce listings
• Create book metadata datasets without paid metadata APIs
• Run scheduled ISBN checks for catalog quality control
• Use Apify as a lightweight ISBN lookup API

No Paid Book APIs

This Actor does not use Google Books API, ISBNdb API, WorldCat API, paid APIs, LLMs, Playwright, or Puppeteer.

It uses lightweight public-source enrichment from Open Library, plus Open Library's public metadata endpoint for large-batch availability checks. This keeps runs simple, fast, and affordable.

Input

For a one-book lookup, paste the value into isbn:

{
"isbn":"9780441172719"
}

For batch ISBN enrichment, use isbns with one list item per book:

{
"isbns":[
"9780441172719",
"9780143127741",
"978-0-452-28423-4"
]
}

You can also paste ISBNs from a spreadsheet into isbnText, separated by new lines, commas, or semicolons:

{
"isbnText":"9780441172719\n9780143127741\n978-0-452-28423-4"
}

Input options:

At least one of isbn, isbns, or isbnText must contain an ISBN. Duplicate ISBN-10/ISBN-13 equivalents are processed once.

Output

Successful results are compact and only include fields that were found:

{
"input":"9780441172719",
"normalizedInput":"9780441172719",
"status":"success",
"isValidIsbn":true,
"isbn10":"0441172717",
"isbn13":"9780441172719",
"title":"Dune",
"authors":["Frank Herbert"],
"publisher":"Ace Books",
"publishedDate":"1987",
"pageCount":535,
"language":"English",
"description":"Set on the desert planet Arrakis...",
"categories":["Science Fiction","Fiction"],
"coverImages":{
"small":"https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/15166231-S.jpg",
"medium":"https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/15166231-M.jpg",
"large":"https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/15166231-L.jpg"
},
"sourceLinks":{
"openLibrary":"https://openlibrary.org/books/OL22597282M/Dune"
},
"sourcesUsed":["openLibrary"],
"confidence":1,
"scrapedAt":"2026-05-07T14:36:29.934Z"
}

If an ISBN is valid but no metadata is found:

{
"input":"9799999999990",
"normalizedInput":"9799999999990",
"status":"not_found",
"isValidIsbn":true,
"isbn13":"9799999999990",
"sourcesUsed":[],
"confidence":0,
"warnings":[
"ISBN is valid but no metadata was found from available sources."
],
"scrapedAt":"2026-05-07T14:36:31.131Z"
}

If an ISBN is invalid:

{
"input":"12345",
"normalizedInput":"12345",
"status":"failed",
"isValidIsbn":false,
"errors":[
{
"step":"isbn_validation",
"message":"Invalid ISBN checksum or length."
}
],
"scrapedAt":"2026-05-07T14:36:30.357Z"
}

Status values:

Python API Example

from apify_client import ApifyClient
client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
run_input ={
"isbns":[
"9780441172719",
"9780143127741",
"978-0-452-28423-4",
]
}
run = client.actor("thescrapelab/isbn-book-metadata-enricher-cover-finder").call(
 run_input=run_input
)
dataset_id = run["defaultDatasetId"]
for item in client.dataset(dataset_id).iterate_items():
print(item)

Data Sources

The Actor currently uses:

• Open Library ISBN pages
• Open Library public metadata endpoint for large-batch availability checks Goodreads lookups are not part of the default Console input because they are slower and can be challenge-prone. Existing API users who pass includeGoodreads: true are still supported on a best-effort basis.

Cost And Speed

This Actor is designed for low-cost batch ISBN enrichment:

• No browser automation
• No image downloads
• No full HTML storage
• Built-in bounded concurrency
• Short retries and timeouts
• One dataset item per ISBN
• Batch Open Library checks skip page requests for ISBNs that are not known by the source

Pricing depends on your Apify plan and the Actor's current Store pricing. The default configuration is optimized for low platform usage: 256 MB memory, no browser automation, no image downloads, and metadata options defaulted automatically.

Limitations

Public websites can change HTML, block requests, or return incomplete metadata. Cover images may not always be available. This Actor is optimized for fast and affordable ISBN enrichment, not for authoritative library cataloging or exhaustive bibliographic coverage.

FAQ

Can I look up one ISBN?

Yes. Enter one value in isbn, for example "9780441172719".

Can ISBNs include hyphens or labels?

Yes. Hyphens, spaces, and labels like ISBN-13: are removed before validation.

Does it validate ISBN checksums?

Yes. It validates ISBN-10 and ISBN-13 checksums and converts between ISBN-10 and ISBN-13 when possible.

Does it download book covers?

No. It returns cover image URLs only.

Does it use paid APIs?

No. It uses public pages and Open Library's public metadata endpoint only.

Can I use it as a Google Books API alternative?

Yes, for common book catalog enrichment fields such as title, authors, publisher, publication date, description, categories, cover image URLs, and source links.