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io.github.cyanheads/gutenberg-mcp-server

by cyanheads · remote · local (npm) · no sign-in to list tools · v0.2.0 · published by GitHub user cyanheads

MCP server for Project Gutenberg: 78,000+ public-domain ebooks with full plain-text retrieval.

Read only
CompareRegistry entry

4 tools: 4 only read.

Scanned Oct 21, 2026

No check matched anything in the tool definitions. No finding is not a safety guarantee. How the checks work.

claude mcp add --transport http gutenberg https://gutenberg.caseyjhand.com/mcp

Tools

Open a tool for its reasons and full description. Descriptions are the publisher's own words, shown as they are.

4 tools

Only reads 4Claude Code: allow
  • gutenberg_get_bookFetch complete metadata for a Project Gutenberg book by ID — title, authors (with birth/death years), translators, editors, source bibliographic notes, subjects, bookshelves, langu…No findings

    Why it is in this group

    • The name "gutenberg_get_book" says "get": a word for reading.
    Description, as the server wrote it
    Fetch complete metadata for a Project Gutenberg book by ID — title, authors (with birth/death years), translators, editors, source bibliographic notes, subjects, bookshelves, languages, copyright status, and the full formats map with download URLs (plain text, HTML, EPUB, cover image, etc.). Use is_readable before gutenberg_get_text; source_notes may identify specific editions.

    Annotations the server declares

    • readOnlyHint: true
    • idempotentHint: true
    • openWorldHint: true
  • gutenberg_get_textRetrieve the plain-text content of a Project Gutenberg book, stripped of the standard license header and footer so the response contains only the literary work.No findings

    Why it is in this group

    • The name "gutenberg_get_text" says "get": a word for reading.
    Description, as the server wrote it
    Retrieve the plain-text content of a Project Gutenberg book, stripped of the standard license header and footer so the response contains only the literary work. For long works — novels routinely run 500KB–2MB — use offset and limit to read in chunks rather than fetching the whole book at once. The response reports totalChars and remainingChars for reliable pagination. Prefers UTF-8 plain text; falls back to an HTML edition converted to text; refuses audio books (media_type "Sound") with a clear error.

    Annotations the server declares

    • readOnlyHint: true
    • idempotentHint: true
    • openWorldHint: true
  • gutenberg_search_booksSearch the Project Gutenberg catalog of 78,000+ books.No findings

    Why it is in this group

    • The name "gutenberg_search_books" says "search": a word for reading.
    Description, as the server wrote it
    Search the Project Gutenberg catalog of 78,000+ books. Every query word matches a title or author substring; filter by topic, language, author lifespan, IDs, MIME prefix or copyright status. More than four query words require the local mirror. Empty matches succeed with criteria and a notice. Default popularity uses downloads in the last 30 days at the source snapshot. Returns IDs, titles, authors, languages, subjects, counts, and is_readable — use gutenberg_get_book for full metadata.

    Annotations the server declares

    • readOnlyHint: true
    • idempotentHint: true
    • openWorldHint: true

This is not a safety rating, and no finding is not a safety guarantee. The groups and findings come from fixed checks of the tool definitions the server returned on the date shown, not from its code or what it does when called. How the checks work.

Install

Pinned to version 0.2.0. Values in angle brackets are yours to fill in.

claude mcp add --transport http gutenberg https://gutenberg.caseyjhand.com/mcp

Run in a terminal.

Claude Code permissions

Allow the reads, ask before a change, deny the deletes. Paste into .claude/settings.json.

.claude/settings.json
{
  "permissions": {
    "allow": [
      "mcp__gutenberg__gutenberg_search_books",
      "mcp__gutenberg__gutenberg_get_book",
      "mcp__gutenberg__gutenberg_get_text",
      "mcp__gutenberg__gutenberg_browse_popular"
    ],
    "ask": [],
    "deny": []
  }
}

Tools that only read are allowed, tools that change things ask first, tools that delete or cancel are denied. It assumes the server is installed as gutenberg. Review it before you use it.