canonical: https://jentic.com/apis/isbndb.com/isbndb

# ISBNdb API

The ISBNdb API looks up book, author, and publisher records from a database of millions of titles. It returns structured metadata for a book by ISBN, searches by title, author, subject, or keyword, and reports database-wide statistics. Every response is JSON keyed to the identifier or query you send, so an agent can enrich a book record, verify an ISBN, or build a reading list from a single request.

## For AI agents

Look up book, author, publisher, and subject metadata by ISBN or search query from the ISBNdb database.

## Scope

Does not sell books, manage inventory, or process orders; use it for book, author, and publisher metadata lookups only.

## Capabilities

- Retrieve full metadata for a book by its ISBN
- Search books by title, author, subject, or free-text keyword
- List the books attributed to a given author
- List the titles released by a given publisher
- Browse the books filed under a given subject
- Report database-wide totals such as book and author counts

## Use cases

### Enrich a sparse book record

Retailers, libraries, and reading apps store ISBNs but rarely the full title metadata behind them. The ISBNdb API resolves an ISBN to title, authors, publisher, publication date, binding, page count, and cover image, so a system can fill in a thin record from a single lookup. Availability of individual fields depends on what the source data holds for that title.

Example prompt: Resolve a scanned ISBN to its title, authors, publisher, and cover image and write the fields back to the product record.

### Build author and subject reading lists

Discovery features need to group titles by who wrote them or what they cover. The ISBNdb API returns the books attributed to an author and the titles filed under a subject, letting an application assemble a themed reading list without maintaining its own bibliographic database. Results are paginated for authors and subjects with large backlists.

Example prompt: Fetch every book attributed to a given author and assemble a chronological reading list from the results.

### Validate ISBNs at data entry

Data pipelines that ingest book references need to catch typos and invalid identifiers early. A lookup against the ISBNdb book endpoint confirms whether an ISBN maps to a real title and returns the canonical record, so an import job can reject or correct bad rows before they land. A missing match signals an identifier that needs review.

Example prompt: Look up each incoming ISBN and flag any that return no matching book for manual review.

### Agent-assisted book research

An AI research or shopping agent can answer questions about a book by pulling authoritative metadata on demand. Through Jentic the agent matches a request such as 'find the publisher of this ISBN' to the ISBNdb lookup, sends the identifier or query, and reads back the structured record. The API key stays in the user's Jentic One instance and never reaches the agent's prompt.

Example prompt: Given a book title from a user, search ISBNdb and return the ISBN, author, and publisher for the best match.

## Key endpoints

| Method | Path | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| GET | `/book/{isbn}` | Retrieve full metadata for a single book by its ISBN. |
| GET | `/books/{query}` | Search books by title, author, or keyword. |
| GET | `/author/{name}` | Retrieve the books attributed to a given author. |
| GET | `/publisher/{name}` | Retrieve the titles released by a given publisher. |
| GET | `/search` | Run a combined search across the database with filters. |
| GET | `/subject/{name}` | Retrieve the books filed under a given subject. |
| GET | `/stats` | Return database-wide totals such as the number of books and authors. |

## Key resources

- **Books** — Look up a book by ISBN or search the collection by title, author, subject, or keyword.
- **Authors** — Retrieve an author record and the books attributed to that author.
- **Publishers** — Retrieve a publisher record and the titles it has released.
- **Subjects** — Browse subject headings and the books filed under them.
- **Stats** — Return database-wide totals such as the number of books, authors, and publishers.

## Why Jentic

- **Setup:** Wiring ISBNdb yourself means managing an API key header on every call, paging through large author and subject result sets, and handling fields that are absent for some titles. With Jentic you install once, import ISBNdb from the API Directory, and store the key a single time.
- **Permission scoping:** Jentic lets you grant your agent only the ISBNdb lookups it needs, such as book and author queries without the statistics endpoint, and enforces that on every call.
- **Credential handling:** Your ISBNdb API key is stored once, encrypted, by your own Jentic One instance. It is injected when a call runs and never enters the agent's prompt, logs, or context.
- **Discovery method:** Agents find ISBNdb through Jentic's intent search, matching a request like 'get book details for this ISBN' to the right lookup without hardcoded endpoints.

## Related APIs

- **EAN-Search** — Barcode lookup returning product and book data from EAN, UPC, and ISBN codes.
- **OMDb API** — Movie and series metadata lookup by title or IMDb identifier.
- **MusicBrainz** — Open music metadata database for artists, releases, and recordings.

## FAQ

### What can an AI agent do with the ISBNdb API through Jentic?

An agent can resolve an ISBN to full book metadata, search by title, author, subject, or keyword, and pull author and publisher records. Through Jentic the agent finds these lookups by intent and runs them with your API key injected at execution time.

### How do I authenticate with the ISBNdb API?

ISBNdb authenticates every request with an API key sent in the `x-api-key` header. You store the key once in your Jentic One instance, and it is added to each call at run time rather than exposed to the agent.

### How current and complete is the book data?

ISBNdb aggregates records from many sources, so coverage is strong for mainstream titles but individual fields such as cover image or page count can be missing for older or niche books. Treat a missing field as unknown rather than as a definitive absence.

### Does ISBNdb document rate limits?

The OpenAPI specification does not define rate limits; request allowances depend on your ISBNdb subscription plan. Review the limits for your tier in the ISBNdb account dashboard and API documentation at https://isbndb.com/apidocs.

### Can I limit what my agent is allowed to do with the ISBNdb API?

Yes. ISBNdb is read-only, and Jentic lets you permit only the lookups your agent needs, for example book and author queries while leaving the database statistics endpoint out of reach. Your Jentic One instance enforces the boundary and keeps the API key outside the agent's context.