# Goodreads Books Scraper (`gio21/goodreads-scraper`) Actor

Search and scrape books from Goodreads by keyword or list URL. Extract title, author, rating, review count, pages, ISBN, genres, and description. Pay per result.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/gio21/goodreads-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Gio](https://apify.com/gio21) (community)
- **Categories:** E-commerce
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$6.00 / 1,000 book scrapeds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Goodreads Books Scraper

Search and scrape books from [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com) by keyword or list URL.

### Features

- Search books by keyword
- Scrape any Goodreads list or shelf URL
- Extract title, author, rating, ratings count, cover image
- Optional detail page scraping for ISBN, page count, genres, description
- Pay-per-event pricing
- Free tier: up to 15 results

### Input

| Field | Type | Description |
|-------|------|-------------|
| keyword | string | Search keyword (default: "machine learning") |
| listUrl | string | Goodreads list/shelf URL (optional, overrides keyword) |
| maxItems | integer | Max books to scrape (default: 50) |
| scrapeDetails | boolean | Fetch detail pages for ISBN, genres, description (default: false) |
| proxy | object | Proxy configuration |

### Output

Each book includes: title, author, authorUrl, rating, ratingsCount, reviewsCount, numberOfPages, isbn, bookFormat, language, genres, description, image, url.

### Cost

This actor uses pay-per-event pricing. You are charged per book result scraped.

# Actor input Schema

## `keyword` (type: `string`):

Keyword to search for on Goodreads (e.g., 'machine learning', 'fiction', 'Stephen King')

## `listUrl` (type: `string`):

Goodreads list or shelf URL to scrape instead of keyword search. Example: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1.Best\_Books\_Ever

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of books to scrape. Default 50.

## `scrapeDetails` (type: `boolean`):

Fetch each book detail page for extra info (ISBN, page count, genres, description). Slower but richer data.

## `proxy` (type: `object`):

Proxy settings. Goodreads usually works with datacenter proxies.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "keyword": "machine learning",
  "maxItems": 50,
  "scrapeDetails": false,
  "proxy": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "keyword": "machine learning",
    "maxItems": 50,
    "scrapeDetails": false,
    "proxy": {
        "useApifyProxy": true
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("gio21/goodreads-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "keyword": "machine learning",
    "maxItems": 50,
    "scrapeDetails": False,
    "proxy": { "useApifyProxy": True },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("gio21/goodreads-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "keyword": "machine learning",
  "maxItems": 50,
  "scrapeDetails": false,
  "proxy": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}' |
apify call gio21/goodreads-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,gio21/goodreads-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/eQpEghzSxa1nCcDmz/builds/huIevUaegmPsRbQHD/openapi.json