book_search

Query the Google Books API to retrieve structured book metadata and preview links.

1|Updated Mar 23, 2026
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/hellonish/singularity --skill book-search-hellonish
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: book_search
Source: https://github.com/hellonish/singularity/tree/main/SKILLS/tier1_retrieval/book_search
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/hellonish/singularity --skill book-search-hellonish

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

What problem does it solve?

It eliminates the manual work of locating credible book sources and extracting key bibliographic details and previews from the Google Books catalog.

Core Features & Use Cases

  • Structured book metadata: retrieves title, authors, publisher, published date, description, ISBNs, and preview links from Google Books.
  • Preview access awareness: reports the level of preview availability (full, partial, none) for each result.
  • Use Case: For literature reviews or research planning, collects candidate books with essential metadata for quick evaluation.

Quick Start

Query the Google Books API with a search query to retrieve a curated list of books and their preview links.

Frequently Asked Questions about book_search

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I fetch book metadata and previews from Google Books?

To fetch book metadata from Google Books, query the Google Books API with a structured search input to retrieve titles, authors, publishers, published dates, descriptions, ISBNs, and preview links.

Can I retrieve ISBNs and preview links for books found via Google Books search?

Yes, querying the Google Books API returns industry identifiers like ISBNs and provides direct preview links, while filtering out non-book results to ensure a strictly bibliographic dataset.

What is the best way to collect structured book metadata for a literature review?

Collecting structured book metadata for a literature review is best done by querying the Google Books API to produce a concise, normalized dataset of candidate books with essential bibliographic details.

Does the Google Books API search show preview availability for returned books?

Yes, the Google Books API search reports the level of preview availability for each result, indicating whether a full, partial, or no preview is accessible for the returned books.

How do I filter non-book results when searching the Google Books catalog?

Filtering non-book results when searching the Google Books catalog is handled automatically by returning only items of kind books#volume, ensuring the output contains strictly book-related metadata.

What bibliographic details can I get from a Google Books API volume search?

A Google Books API volume search retrieves bibliographic details including titles, authors, publisher, publishedDate, description, industry identifiers, and preview links for quick evaluation.