• DATA
  • CONTENT
  • ORGANIZATION
  • HUMAN

How to find author bibliographies with your AI

Connect Project Gutenberg to your AI client to pull complete lists of public domain works. Once connected, your agent handles the searching and data retrieval.

Ask AI about this page

Short answer

How can I get a list of books by a specific author?

Tell your AI to search for a specific author within the Project Gutenberg collection. Your agent will use the search tool to find and list all available works by that person. You'll get a clean bibliography ready for analysis or reading.

The results

What you get from this task

The AI handles the heavy lifting of searching the database so you can focus on the literature.

DATA

Complete bibliographies

The AI pulls every available title by your chosen author. You get a structured list of works from the public domain.

CONTENT

Ready to read

Once the list is generated, you can ask your agent to summarize specific titles or find themes across the collection.

ORGANIZATION

Cleaned lists

The agent filters through raw database results to give you a readable list of titles and authors.

HUMAN

Your final selection

You decide which books to download or study. The AI provides the catalog, but you make the editorial choices.

The workflow

What your AI does when the request arrives.

The AI acts as a bridge between your chat interface and the Project Gutenberg database.

  1. Identify the author

    Your agent parses your request to isolate the specific author name you want to investigate.

    search_author

  2. Query the collection

    The agent uses the search tool to scan the Project Gutenberg library for matches.

    search_author

  3. Compile the results

    The AI gathers all matching titles into a single, organized list.

    search_author

  4. Present the bibliography

    The agent delivers the final list of books directly into your chat window.

    search_author

Try it

Copy these to start.

Use these prompts to trigger the search immediately.

Starting points

Swap out the author names for whoever you are researching.

Project Gutenberg Connector

You're all set. Choose your MCP client and follow the setup instructions.

Connector linkhttps://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_0UktRYYvxXRVxECo3RB57XwgWKF70ROrXUkcrxsH/mcp

Claude Desktop

Follow the steps below to connect in seconds.

  1. 1In Claude Desktop, open Settings → Connectors.
  2. 2Click “Add custom connector” and paste the connector link above as the remote MCP server URL.
  3. 3Click Add and start a new chat — Project Gutenberg capabilities are ready to use.
Configuration · claude_desktop_config.jsonCopy
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "project-gutenberg-mcp": {
      "url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_0UktRYYvxXRVxECo3RB57XwgWKF70ROrXUkcrxsH/mcp"
    }
  }
}
Copy into chat04

  • Find all available works by Jane Austen in Project Gutenberg.

  • Give me a bibliography for Edgar Allan Poe from the collection.

  • List every book by Mark Twain that is in the public domain.

  • Search Project Gutenberg for all titles written by Oscar Wilde.

  • Claude
  • ChatGPT
  • Cursor
  • VS Code
  • Windsurf
  • Claude Code
  • JetBrains
  • Cline

Start here

Connect Project Gutenberg once, then ask.

Click the link to connect the MCP to your client. Your credentials stay encrypted, and you can start searching right away.

Connect Project Gutenberg to your AI

FAQ

How this task behaves

  • 01

    Can the AI download the books for me?

    No. The AI can find the titles and provide information about them, but you must download the files yourself.

  • 02

    Does it find books not in the public domain?

    No. This tool only accesses the Project Gutenberg collection, which consists of public domain works.

  • 03

    Can I ask for books by a specific genre instead of an author?

    This specific task is designed to search by author name. You should use an author-based prompt to get the best results.

  • 04

    Will the AI change the original text of the books?

    No. The AI only retrieves the metadata and lists of works. It does not modify the source files.

  • 05

    How many books can it find at once?

    The AI will return all matching entries found within the Project Gutenberg database for that author.

  • More questions about Project Gutenberg? See everything the Project Gutenberg Connector can do

Connect Project Gutenberg to Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT & more