pp-open-library

Open Library - Printing Press CLI

Prerequisites: Install the CLI

This skill drives the open-library-pp-cli binary. You must verify the CLI is installed before invoking any command from this skill. If it is missing, install it first:

1. Install via the Printing Press installer. It defaults binaries to $HOME/.local/bin on macOS/Linux and %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\PrintingPress\bin on Windows:

   npx -y @mvanhorn/printing-press-library install open-library --cli-only
   

2. Verify: open-library-pp-cli --version
3. Ensure the reported install directory is on $PATH for the agent/runtime that will invoke this skill.

If the npx install fails (no Node, offline, etc.), fall back to a direct Go install (requires Go 1.26.6 or newer). This installs into $GOPATH/bin (default $HOME/go/bin), so add that directory to $PATH instead:

go install github.com/mvanhorn/printing-press-library/library/media-and-entertainment/open-library/cmd/open-library-pp-cli@latest

If --version reports "command not found" after install, the runtime cannot see the binary directory on $PATH. Do not proceed with skill commands until verification succeeds.

When To Use

Use open-library-pp-cli when an agent needs source-backed Open Library metadata:

• Search for book/work candidates by title or keyword phrase.
• Resolve ISBNs to Open Library edition metadata.
• Find an author record and fetch a bounded sample of their works.
• Fetch canonical work metadata by Open Library work ID.
• List bounded editions for a known work.
• Browse subject works and optional subject facets.

When Not To Use

• Do not use it for borrowing, waitlists, patron data, account actions, or catalog edits.
• Do not use it for bulk harvesting; use Open Library data dumps for bulk access.
• Do not scrape Open Library HTML pages.
• Do not treat subject facets as stable; Open Library documents the Subjects API as experimental.

Setup

No API key is required.

The module declares go 1.26.4 so environments with Go toolchain auto-download disabled should use Go 1.26.4 or newer for direct installs.

For regular or frequent use, configure a request identity:

export OPEN_LIBRARY_USER_AGENT="my-research-tool"
export OPEN_LIBRARY_CONTACT_EMAIL="you@example.org"

Without OPEN_LIBRARY_CONTACT_EMAIL, keep requests near Open Library's documented non-identified rate posture of 1 request per second.

Recipes

Book Search

open-library-pp-cli book "Designing Data-Intensive Applications" --limit 5 --agent

Use this to seed a bibliography with compact work candidates, author names, first publish year, edition count, ISBN hints, and source URLs.

ISBN Lookup

open-library-pp-cli isbn 9780131103627 --agent

Use this when the workflow has an ISBN and needs edition-level metadata.

Author Works

open-library-pp-cli author "Ursula K. Le Guin" --limit 5 --agent

Use this to identify an author and fetch a bounded sample of works.

Work Metadata

open-library-pp-cli work OL45804W --agent

Use this when a workflow already has an Open Library work ID.

Editions

open-library-pp-cli editions OL45804W --limit 10 --agent

Use this to compare editions for a known work without bulk-fetching every record.

Subjects

open-library-pp-cli subjects "distributed systems" --details --limit 10 --agent

Use this for adjacent-book discovery. Keep the experimental Subjects API caveat with downstream notes.

Source Coverage

open-library-pp-cli sources --agent
open-library-pp-cli doctor --agent

Use these before a larger workflow to confirm rate-limit posture, optional request identity, source coverage, and non-goals.