Read Project Gutenberg books via MCP. Search, fetch metadata, and retrieve text in passages.
{
"mcpServers": {
"io-github-bobbyhouse-project-gutenberg-mcp": {
"command": "<see-readme>",
"args": []
}
}
}No install config available. Check the server's README for setup instructions.
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Read Project Gutenberg books via MCP. Search, fetch metadata, and retrieve text in passages.
Is it safe?
No package registry to scan.
No authentication — any process on your machine can connect.
License not specified.
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Last commit 14 days ago.
Will it work with my client?
Transport: stdio. Works with Claude Desktop, Cursor, Claude Code, and most MCP clients.
No automated test available for this server. Check the GitHub README for setup instructions.
No known vulnerabilities.
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An MCP server for reading books from Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg's robot access policy states that the site is intended for human users only. Automated access may result in your IP being blocked.
To use this MCP server you must run your own mirror. Project Gutenberg explicitly supports and encourages mirroring — see their mirroring guide for details.
This repository includes a ready-to-run mirror server in the mirror/ directory.
The mirror server downloads the Project Gutenberg catalog on startup (~5 MB compressed) and caches book files locally on first access. It exposes the URL structure that this MCP server expects.
Runs the mirror and MCP server together. The MCP server is exposed on HTTP at port 8081.
docker compose up
The mirror is available at http://localhost:8080 and the MCP server at http://localhost:8081/mcp.
Build and start just the mirror, then connect an MCP client via stdio.
task build:mirror
task start:mirror
The mirror runs at http://localhost:8080. Example MCP client config (stdio):
{
"mcpServers": {
"project-gutenberg-mcp": {
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run", "-i", "--rm",
"-e", "GUTENBERG_BASE_URL=http://host.docker.internal:8080",
"-e", "GUTENBERG_TOOLS=search_books,get_book_metadata,list_passages,get_passage",
"roberthouse224/project-gutenberg-mcp"
]
}
}
}
All configuration is via environment variables.
| Variable | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| GUTENBERG_BASE_URL | Yes | Base URL of your Gutenberg mirror (see Mirror Setup above) |
| GUTENBERG_TOOLS | Yes | Comma-separated list of tools to expose (see below) |
| GUTENBERG_BOOK_ID | No | Project Gutenberg book ID to use as default |
| GUTENBERG_CHUNK_SIZE | No | Passage size in bytes (default: 4096) |
| GUTENBERG_LANGUAGE | No | Default ISO 639-1 language code for search_books (default: en) |
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| search_books | Search for books by title or author |
| get_book_metadata | Fetch metadata (title, authors, formats) for a book |
| fetch_book_text | Download the full plain text of a book |
| list_passages | List fixed-size passage keys for a book |
| get_passage | Fetch a specific passage by its key |
When GUTENBERG_BOOK_ID is set, tools that take a book ID will use it as the default. When it is not set, include search_books in your tools list so an agent can discover IDs first.
GUTENBERG_BASE_URL=http://localhost:8080 \
GUTENBERG_BOOK_ID=2680 \
GUTENBERG_TOOLS=get_book_metadata,list_passages,get_passage \
./project-gutenberg-mcp --transport stdio
GUTENBERG_BASE_URL=http://localhost:8080 \
GUTENBERG_BOOK_ID=2680 \
GUTENBERG_TOOLS=get_book_metadata,list_passages,get_passage \
./project-gutenberg-mcp --transport http --addr :8081
# MCP server
docker pull roberthouse224/project-gutenberg-mcp:1.2.0
# Mirror
docker pull roberthouse224/gutenberg-mirror:1.2.0
Both Dockerfiles use Docker Hardened Images (DHI) for enhanced security. Building requires authentication to Docker Hub:
docker login
Then build:
# Build MCP server
docker build -t project-g
... [View full README on GitHub](https://github.com/bobbyhouse/project-gutenberg-mcp#readme)