`get_book_work`

Pack: books · Connect: https://pipeworx.io/mcp (see Connect below for a single-pack URL)

No MCP client? Call it directly: GET https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/get_book_work for the schema, then POST the same URL with its arguments for the data.

Fetch the canonical Open Library “work” record (the concept of a book across all its editions), by work ID (e.g. “OL45804W”). Returns title, description, first publish date, subjects, and author keys. Use search_books to find a work_id (the W-suffixed key); use get_book for a specific edition by ISBN. (Named get_book_work to avoid colliding with Crossref get_work.)

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
`work_id`	string	yes	Open Library work ID, the W-suffixed identifier (e.g. “OL45804W”).

Example call

Arguments

{
  "work_id": "OL45804W"
}

curl

curl -X POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/books/mcp \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"get_book_work","arguments":{"work_id":"OL45804W"}}}'

TypeScript (@pipeworx/sdk)

import { Pipeworx } from '@pipeworx/sdk';
const pipeworx = new Pipeworx();

const result = await pipeworx.call('get_book_work', {
  "work_id": "OL45804W"
});

Response shape

Full JSON Schema

{
  "type": "object",
  "oneOf": [
    {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "work_id": {
          "type": "string",
          "description": "Open Library work ID"
        },
        "title": {
          "type": [
            "string",
            "null"
          ],
          "description": "Work title"
        },
        "description": {
          "type": [
            "string",
            "null"
          ],
          "description": "Work description"
        },
        "first_publish_date": {
          "type": [
            "string",
            "null"
          ],
          "description": "Date of first publication"
        },
        "authors": {
          "type": "array",
          "description": "Author IDs",
          "items": {
            "type": "string"
          }
        },
        "subjects": {
          "type": "array",
          "description": "Subject tags",
          "items": {
            "type": "string"
          }
        },
        "subject_places": {
          "type": "array",
          "description": "Place subjects",
          "items": {
            "type": "string"
          }
        },
        "subject_people": {
          "type": "array",
          "description": "Person subjects",
          "items": {
            "type": "string"
          }
        },
        "subject_times": {
          "type": "array",
          "description": "Time period subjects",
          "items": {
            "type": "string"
          }
        },
        "cover_url": {
          "type": [
            "string",
            "null"
          ],
          "description": "URL to cover image"
        },
        "open_library_url": {
          "type": "string",
          "description": "Open Library work URL"
        },
        "author_keys": {
          "type": "array",
          "items": {
            "type": "string"
          }
        },
        "found": {
          "type": "boolean",
          "enum": [
            true
          ],
          "description": "Present and true on an answer; a miss is the found:false branch."
        }
      },
      "required": [
        "work_id",
        "title",
        "description",
        "first_publish_date",
        "subjects",
        "cover_url",
        "open_library_url"
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "object",
      "description": "A miss or an unavailable upstream: found:false with a reason and a hint (the shape check-found-false-schemas.mjs expects).",
      "properties": {
        "found": {
          "type": "boolean",
          "enum": [
            false
          ]
        }
      },
      "required": [
        "found"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Connect

Add this to your MCP client config — every tool in the catalog, including this one — or use one-click install buttons:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pipeworx": {
      "url": "https://pipeworx.io/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Connect to just the books pack

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "books": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/books/mcp"
    }
  }
}

See Getting Started for client-specific install steps.

get_book_work