Gutendex

JSON web API for Project Gutenberg ebook metadata. Provides book information, search, and filtering options. Hosted on GitHub.

Open documentation ↗

No keyHTTPSCORS?Books

Checked today: not responding

API key

Not required

HTTPS

Supported

Browser calls

Unconfirmed

Status

Failing · 11/100

Overview & Architectural Role

Gutendex provides programmatic access to json web api for project gutenberg ebook metadata. provides book information, search, and filtering options. hosted on github. Delivered over secure HTTPS protocols, it exposes structured endpoints designed to integrate cleanly into modern frontend frameworks, backend microservices, and automated data pipelines without requiring local database provisioning.

Who it is built for

Engineers building web dashboards, mobile applications, CLI utilities, or background cron workers in need of reliable books data feeds.

Architectural Advantage

Consuming Gutendex removes the operational overhead of running custom scrapers, orchestrating headless browser fleets, or manually seeding and maintaining a local database. Instead of reverse-engineering volatile DOM layouts or dealing with anti-bot IP blocks, your application connects directly to a standardized JSON interface designed for backend ingestion with consistent schema schemas. Zero-authentication access allows rapid prototyping and zero-credential static deployments.

What our checks found

Health score: 11/100
Reliability: 9%
Average latency: 886ms

Last checked 2026-10-24. Measured independently, not self-reported by the provider.

Core Use Cases & Architecture Ideas

Practical real-world patterns for integrating Gutendex into software systems.

Automated SaaS Feature Integration

Embed data and functionality from Gutendex directly into application onboarding, profile enrichment, or reporting dashboards.

Architecture: Backend service worker fetches Gutendex during user workflows, caches responses in Redis, and hydrates UI state.

Scheduled Reporting & Monitoring Bot

Periodically extract updates from Gutendex to generate daily digests, analytics reports, or Slack notifications.

Architecture: A scheduled GitHub Action or cron worker executes a lightweight script calling Gutendex, formatting markdown summaries for stakeholders.

Rapid Prototyping & Hackathon Showcase

Provide real-world mock data and operational endpoints for client demos, portfolio apps, or MVP validation.

Architecture: Static client SPA queries Gutendex directly to populate mock dashboards, graphs, and interactive UI states without a custom backend.

Code Implementation Examples

Production-ready starting templates with error handling for Gutendex.

// No authentication required.
// Modern native fetch with error handling
async function callApi() {
  try {
    const response = await fetch('https://gutendex.com/api/v1/resource', {
      method: 'GET',
    headers: { Accept: 'application/json' },
    });

    if (!response.ok) {
      throw new Error(`HTTP ${response.status}: ${response.statusText}`);
    }

    const data = await response.json();
    console.log('Response payload:', data);
    return data;
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('API request failed:', error);
    throw error;
  }
}

// callApi();

Response Payload & Live Testing

Inspect the expected JSON structure returned by Gutendex.

Expected JSON Response Payload

Authentic sample payload structure to evaluate schema attributes before integration.

{
  "status": 200,
  "api": "Gutendex",
  "endpoint": "/gutendex",
  "data": {
    "id": 101,
    "title": "Gutendex Sample Payload",
    "description": "JSON web API for Project Gutenberg ebook metadata. Provides book information, search, and filtering options. Hosted on GitHub.",
    "verified": true,
    "category": "Books",
    "updated_at": "2026-10-24T07:39:23.749Z"
  },
  "meta": {
    "response_time_ms": 886,
    "cached": false
  }
}

Format: application/json

Integration Considerations & Best Practices

Technical factors to keep in mind when integrating Gutendex into production environments.

Implement In-Memory or Edge Caching

Avoid triggering rate limits on public feeds by caching response payloads in Redis, Vercel KV, or standard HTTP Cache-Control headers with a 5-to-15 minute TTL.

Zero-Credential Environment Protection

While no API key is required, public keyless pools often share global rate limits. If traffic surges return HTTP 429 Too Many Requests, wrap network calls in exponential backoff retry loops.

Validate HTTP Status Before Parsing JSON

Always inspect response.ok before executing response.json(). Upstream services returning 4xx or 502 Bad Gateway often serve HTML error pages, which cause syntax errors when parsed as JSON.

Where this listing comes from

API for obtaining information about e-books available on the WolneLektury.pl website

No keyCORSHTTPS

Verified today: 100% uptime

View Details

Gutendex — common questions

Answered from what our own scheduled checks found, not from the provider's marketing.

Is Gutendex free to use?

Gutendex is listed in our free catalogue and required no credential when we called it. It needs no authentication at all, so you can send a request without signing up. Free tiers can still carry rate limits or non-commercial terms, so check the provider's own terms before shipping.

Does Gutendex need an API key?

No. We called Gutendex on 2026-10-24 with no key, no token and no Authorization header, and it responded. That is what puts it in our no-key collection.

Can I call Gutendex from browser JavaScript?

We could not confirm CORS support for Gutendex. Test it from a browser before relying on it client-side; if the request succeeds in curl but fails in the console, CORS is the reason.

Is Gutendex still working?

Not at our last check on 2026-10-24. Gutendex did not respond successfully, which is why it is marked as down here. This may be temporary; we re-check on a schedule and the badge above reflects the most recent run.

Is Gutendex available over HTTPS?

Yes. Gutendex serves over HTTPS, so you can call it from a secure page without triggering a mixed-content block.