How to scrape Goodreads
Goodreads is a website where you can search for and view information about books. Developers typically collect book details, ratings, and author information from its pages.
Ujeebu scrapes any public website. Not listed here? Try any URL in the Playground or ask us about a site.
32 of 32 of our checks passed in the last 7 days (100%).
Last check 2026-11-04 00:01 UTC · last pass 2026-11-04 00:01 UTC · checked with our own requests, never customer data.
Recipe one call
Use the Goodreads recipe: send the URL, get JSON
curl -G 'https://api.ujeebu.com/scrape' \
-H "ApiKey: $UJEEBU_API_KEY" \
--data-urlencode 'url=https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=project+hail+mary' \
--data-urlencode 'recipe=goodreads'
The answer is {"result": {...}} with the fields of the recipe. Billed like any /scrape call: successful responses cost credits; blocked, timed-out and failed requests are free.
Run the code on this page with your own key: 5,000 free credits for 7 days, no card. Get a free API key →
Recipe
Call the recipe by name with the recipe parameter: the Scrape API applies its extract rules and the settings that work on Goodreads. Each recipe was run on two real Goodreads pages and keeps only the fields that came back on both; it is checked again every week, and hidden if it stops working.
Search and listing pages
Validated 2026-11-01One call: recipe=goodreads 5 credits (JS) a page
curl -G 'https://api.ujeebu.com/scrape' \
-H "ApiKey: $UJEEBU_API_KEY" \
--data-urlencode 'url=https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=project+hail+mary' \
--data-urlencode 'recipe=goodreads'
The answer is {"result": {...}} with the fields below; the Ujb-Recipe header names the version (for example goodreads/listing@v1) and Ujb-Credits the cost.
Search with parameters: query, page
Instead of finding the URL, fill the parameters: the URL is built from https://www.goodreads.com/search{?q,page}, then the call is the same recipe=goodreads/listing call as above.
| Parameter | Type | What it is |
|---|---|---|
query * | text | Title, author or ISBN. |
page | number 1 to 10 | Result page, 1 is the first page. Default: 1. |
Works today, for {"query":"project hail mary"}:
curl -G 'https://api.ujeebu.com/scrape' \
-H 'ApiKey: YOUR_API_KEY' \
--data-urlencode 'url=https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=project%20hail%20mary' \
-d 'recipe=goodreads/listing'
Coming to the API (not live yet): the same search in one call, without building the URL: GET /scrape?recipe=goodreads/search&query=project%20hail%20mary. Until then, the Playground and the Request builder build the URL for you (Search mode), and the docs give the rules.
What this recipe extracts
| Field | Type | Example |
|---|---|---|
results | list of 3+ items | |
results[].url | URL | https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54493401?ref=s_s |
results[].title | text | Project Hail Mary |
results[].image | image URL | https://m.media-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/... |
Examples from www.goodreads.com/search on 2026-11-01, shortened.
Sample output (real, trimmed)
{
"results": [
{
"url": "https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54493401?ref=s_s",
"title": "Project Hail Mary",
"image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1764703833i/54493401.jpg"
},
{
"url": "https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/119255205?ref=s_s",
"title": "Project Hail Mary / Artemis/ The Martian",
"image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1676421869i/119255205.jpg"
},
{
"url": "https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/240732259?ref=s_s",
"title": "Project Hail Mary",
"image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1758769674i/240732259.jpg"
}
]
}
extract_rules (1 rule): the rules behind the recipe
The API applies these rules and the settings js=true, wait_for=8000 for you when you send recipe=goodreads. To change what comes back, send your own extract_rules (they replace the recipe's) or any setting (yours always win). Sites without a recipe work the same way with extract rules.
{
"results": {
"selector": "ul[data-testid=\"book-list-item\"] > li",
"type": "obj",
"multiple": true,
"children": {
"url": {
"selector": "a.BookCard__stretchedLink",
"type": "link"
},
"title": {
"selector": "[data-testid='book-item-title'] a",
"type": "text"
},
"image": {
"selector": "img",
"type": "image"
}
}
}
}
Code
Complete scripts: set the UJEEBU_API_KEY environment variable and run them as they are. Each one calls the recipe by name (the Go SDK has no recipe field, so the Go script sends the recipe's rules and settings itself), prints the extracted JSON, and prints the credits the request cost (the Ujb-Credits response header) on stderr. A non-200 answer stops the script with the API's error message.
Search and listing pages
Pages through 3 result pages, one at a time, and stops early when a page has no results.
pip install ujeebu-python==0.1.5 # Scrape Goodreads search and listing pages with the Ujeebu Scrape API.
# Calls the recipe goodreads: the API applies its extract rules and validated settings (validated 2026-11-01). Send extract_rules or any setting to override them.
# Uses the official SDK ujeebu-python 0.1.5: pip install ujeebu-python==0.1.5
# Run: UJEEBU_API_KEY=your_key python3 goodreads_listing_sdk.py
import json
import os
import sys
import time
from urllib.parse import parse_qsl, urlencode, urlsplit, urlunsplit
import requests
from ujeebu_python import UjeebuClient
API_KEY = os.environ.get("UJEEBU_API_KEY")
START_URL = "https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=project+hail+mary"
PAGES = 3
RECIPE = "goodreads" # rules and settings come from the recipe; add your own to override them
def page_url(page):
if page == 1:
return START_URL
parts = urlsplit(START_URL)
query = dict(parse_qsl(parts.query))
query["page"] = str(page)
return urlunsplit(parts._replace(query=urlencode(query)))
def scrape(client, url):
# a GET with recipe=: the API applies the recipe and answers {"result": {...}}
try:
response = client.scrape(url, params={"recipe": RECIPE})
except requests.RequestException as error:
sys.exit(f"Request failed for {url}: {error}")
if response.status_code != 200:
try:
message = response.json().get("message", response.text)
except ValueError:
message = response.text
sys.exit(f"HTTP {response.status_code} for {url}: {str(message)[:300]}")
print(f"Ujb-Credits: {response.headers.get('Ujb-Credits')}, Ujb-Recipe: {response.headers.get('Ujb-Recipe')}", file=sys.stderr)
return response.json()["result"]
if not API_KEY:
sys.exit("Set the UJEEBU_API_KEY environment variable.")
client = UjeebuClient(api_key=API_KEY)
for page in range(1, PAGES + 1):
result = scrape(client, page_url(page))
print(json.dumps(result, indent=2, ensure_ascii=False))
if not result.get("results"):
break
time.sleep(2) # be polite: one page at a time
npm install @ujeebu-org/ujeebu-sdk@0.1.2 // Scrape Goodreads search and listing pages with the Ujeebu Scrape API.
// Calls the recipe goodreads: the API applies its extract rules and validated settings (validated 2026-11-01). Send extract_rules or any setting to override them.
// Uses the official SDK @ujeebu-org/ujeebu-sdk 0.1.2: npm install @ujeebu-org/ujeebu-sdk@0.1.2
// Run: UJEEBU_API_KEY=your_key node goodreads_listing_sdk.mjs
import { UjeebuClient } from '@ujeebu-org/ujeebu-sdk';
const API_KEY = process.env.UJEEBU_API_KEY;
const START_URL = "https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=project+hail+mary";
const PAGES = 3;
const RECIPE = "goodreads"; // rules and settings come from the recipe; add your own to override them
function pageUrl(page) {
if (page === 1) return START_URL;
const url = new URL(START_URL);
url.searchParams.set("page", String(page));
return url.toString();
}
async function scrape(client, url) {
let res;
try {
// a GET with recipe=: the API applies the recipe and answers { result: {...} }
res = await client.scrape(url, { recipe: RECIPE });
} catch (err) {
const status = err.response?.status ?? 'error';
const message = err.response?.data?.message ?? err.message;
console.error(`HTTP ${status} for ${url}: ${String(message).slice(0, 300)}`);
process.exit(1);
}
console.error(`Ujb-Credits: ${res.headers['ujb-credits']}, Ujb-Recipe: ${res.headers['ujb-recipe']}`);
return res.data.result;
}
if (!API_KEY) {
console.error('Set the UJEEBU_API_KEY environment variable.');
process.exit(1);
}
const client = new UjeebuClient(API_KEY);
const pause = (ms) => new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
for (let page = 1; page <= PAGES; page++) {
const result = await scrape(client, pageUrl(page));
console.log(JSON.stringify(result, null, 2));
if (!result?.results?.length) break;
await pause(2000); // be polite: one page at a time
}
pip install requests # Scrape Goodreads search and listing pages with the Ujeebu Scrape API.
# Calls the recipe goodreads: the API applies its extract rules and validated settings (validated 2026-11-01). Send extract_rules or any setting to override them.
# Run: UJEEBU_API_KEY=your_key python3 goodreads_listing.py (pip install requests)
import json
import os
import sys
import time
from urllib.parse import parse_qsl, urlencode, urlsplit, urlunsplit
import requests
API_URL = "https://api.ujeebu.com/scrape"
API_KEY = os.environ.get("UJEEBU_API_KEY")
START_URL = "https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=project+hail+mary"
PAGES = 3
RECIPE = "goodreads" # rules and settings come from the recipe; add your own to override them
def page_url(page):
if page == 1:
return START_URL
parts = urlsplit(START_URL)
query = dict(parse_qsl(parts.query))
query["page"] = str(page)
return urlunsplit(parts._replace(query=urlencode(query)))
def scrape(url):
response = requests.get(
API_URL,
headers={"ApiKey": API_KEY},
params={"url": url, "recipe": RECIPE},
timeout=180,
)
if response.status_code != 200:
try:
message = response.json().get("message", response.text)
except ValueError:
message = response.text
sys.exit(f"HTTP {response.status_code} for {url}: {str(message)[:300]}")
print(f"Ujb-Credits: {response.headers.get('Ujb-Credits')}, Ujb-Recipe: {response.headers.get('Ujb-Recipe')}", file=sys.stderr)
return response.json()["result"]
if not API_KEY:
sys.exit("Set the UJEEBU_API_KEY environment variable.")
for page in range(1, PAGES + 1):
result = scrape(page_url(page))
print(json.dumps(result, indent=2, ensure_ascii=False))
if not result.get("results"):
break
time.sleep(2) # be polite: one page at a time
// Scrape Goodreads search and listing pages with the Ujeebu Scrape API.
// Calls the recipe goodreads: the API applies its extract rules and validated settings (validated 2026-11-01). Send extract_rules or any setting to override them.
// Run: UJEEBU_API_KEY=your_key node goodreads_listing.mjs (Node.js 18 or later)
const API_URL = 'https://api.ujeebu.com/scrape';
const API_KEY = process.env.UJEEBU_API_KEY;
const START_URL = "https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=project+hail+mary";
const PAGES = 3;
const RECIPE = "goodreads"; // rules and settings come from the recipe; add your own to override them
function pageUrl(page) {
if (page === 1) return START_URL;
const url = new URL(START_URL);
url.searchParams.set("page", String(page));
return url.toString();
}
async function scrape(url) {
const params = new URLSearchParams({ url, recipe: RECIPE });
const res = await fetch(`${API_URL}?${params}`, {
headers: { ApiKey: API_KEY },
signal: AbortSignal.timeout(180000),
});
const text = await res.text();
if (res.status !== 200) {
let message = text;
try {
message = JSON.parse(text).message ?? text;
} catch {}
console.error(`HTTP ${res.status} for ${url}: ${String(message).slice(0, 300)}`);
process.exit(1);
}
console.error(`Ujb-Credits: ${res.headers.get('ujb-credits')}, Ujb-Recipe: ${res.headers.get('ujb-recipe')}`);
return JSON.parse(text).result;
}
if (!API_KEY) {
console.error('Set the UJEEBU_API_KEY environment variable.');
process.exit(1);
}
const pause = (ms) => new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
for (let page = 1; page <= PAGES; page++) {
const result = await scrape(pageUrl(page));
console.log(JSON.stringify(result, null, 2));
if (!result?.results?.length) break;
await pause(2000); // be polite: one page at a time
}
#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Scrape Goodreads search and listing pages with the Ujeebu Scrape API.
# Calls the recipe goodreads: the API applies its extract rules and validated settings (validated 2026-11-01). Send extract_rules or any setting to override them.
# Run: UJEEBU_API_KEY=your_key bash goodreads_listing.sh (curl 7.76 or later)
set -euo pipefail
curl -sS --fail-with-body --max-time 180 -D headers.txt -G 'https://api.ujeebu.com/scrape' \
-H "ApiKey: ${UJEEBU_API_KEY:?Set the UJEEBU_API_KEY environment variable.}" \
--data-urlencode 'url=https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=project+hail+mary' \
--data-urlencode 'recipe=goodreads'
echo
grep -i -E '^ujb-(credits|recipe)' headers.txt >&2
<?php
// Scrape Goodreads search and listing pages with the Ujeebu Scrape API.
// Calls the recipe goodreads: the API applies its extract rules and validated settings (validated 2026-11-01). Send extract_rules or any setting to override them.
// Run: UJEEBU_API_KEY=your_key php goodreads_listing.php (PHP 7.4 or later with curl)
$apiKey = getenv('UJEEBU_API_KEY') ?: exit("Set the UJEEBU_API_KEY environment variable.\n");
$startUrl = 'https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=project+hail+mary';
$pages = 3;
$recipe = 'goodreads'; // rules and settings come from the recipe; add your own to override them
function scrape(string $url, string $apiKey, string $recipe)
{
$ch = curl_init('https://api.ujeebu.com/scrape?' . http_build_query(['url' => $url, 'recipe' => $recipe]));
$headers = [];
curl_setopt_array($ch, [
CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 180,
CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => ['ApiKey: ' . $apiKey],
CURLOPT_HEADERFUNCTION => function ($ch, $line) use (&$headers) {
if (strpos($line, ':') !== false) {
[$k, $v] = explode(':', $line, 2);
$headers[strtolower(trim($k))] = trim($v);
}
return strlen($line);
},
]);
$body = curl_exec($ch);
if ($body === false) {
fwrite(STDERR, 'Request failed: ' . curl_error($ch) . "\n");
exit(1);
}
$status = curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_RESPONSE_CODE);
if ($status !== 200) {
$message = json_decode($body, true)['message'] ?? $body;
fwrite(STDERR, "HTTP $status for $url: " . substr((string) $message, 0, 300) . "\n");
exit(1);
}
fwrite(STDERR, 'Ujb-Credits: ' . ($headers['ujb-credits'] ?? '?') . ', Ujb-Recipe: ' . ($headers['ujb-recipe'] ?? '?') . "\n");
return json_decode($body, true)['result'];
}
for ($page = 1; $page <= $pages; $page++) {
$parts = parse_url($startUrl);
parse_str($parts['query'] ?? '', $query);
$query['page'] = (string) ($page);
$url = $page === 1 ? $startUrl : $parts['scheme'] . '://' . $parts['host'] . ($parts['path'] ?? '/') . '?' . http_build_query($query);
$result = scrape($url, $apiKey, $recipe);
echo json_encode($result, JSON_PRETTY_PRINT | JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES | JSON_UNESCAPED_UNICODE), "\n";
if (empty($result['results'])) {
break;
}
sleep(2); // be polite: one page at a time
}
go mod init scraper && go get github.com/ujeebu/ujeebu-go@v0.1.8 // Scrape Goodreads search and listing pages with the Ujeebu Scrape API.
// Sends the extract rules and settings of the recipe goodreads itself: the Go SDK v0.1.8 has no recipe field and always sends js, which would override the recipe.
// Uses the official SDK github.com/ujeebu/ujeebu-go v0.1.8: go mod init scraper && go get github.com/ujeebu/ujeebu-go@v0.1.8
// Run: UJEEBU_API_KEY=your_key go run goodreads_listing.go
package main
import (
"encoding/json"
"errors"
"fmt"
"net/url"
"os"
"strconv"
"time"
ujeebu "github.com/ujeebu/ujeebu-go"
)
const startURL = "https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=project+hail+mary"
const pages = 3
// The extract rules of the recipe, as the JSON the API takes.
const extractRulesJSON = `{
"results": {
"selector": "ul[data-testid=\"book-list-item\"] > li",
"type": "obj",
"multiple": true,
"children": {
"url": {
"selector": "a.BookCard__stretchedLink",
"type": "link"
},
"title": {
"selector": "[data-testid='book-item-title'] a",
"type": "text"
},
"image": {
"selector": "img",
"type": "image"
}
}
}
}`
var extractRules map[string]any
func fail(format string, args ...any) {
fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, format+"\n", args...)
os.Exit(1)
}
func short(s string) string {
if len(s) > 300 {
return s[:300]
}
return s
}
func params(target string) ujeebu.ScrapeParams {
p := ujeebu.ScrapeParams{URL: target}
p.JS = true
p.WaitFor = "8000"
p.ExtractRules = extractRules
return p
}
func pageURL(page int) string {
if page == 1 {
return startURL
}
u, err := url.Parse(startURL)
if err != nil {
fail("Bad start URL: %v", err)
}
q := u.Query()
q.Set("page", strconv.Itoa(page))
u.RawQuery = q.Encode()
return u.String()
}
func scrape(client *ujeebu.Client, target string) map[string]any {
// the int is the credits the request cost (the Ujb-Credits header), not an HTTP status
resp, credits, err := client.Scrape(params(target))
if err != nil {
var apiErr *ujeebu.APIError
if errors.As(err, &apiErr) {
fail("HTTP %d for %s: %s", apiErr.StatusCode, target, short(apiErr.Message))
}
fail("Request failed for %s: %v", target, err)
}
fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Ujb-Credits: %d\n", credits)
result, _ := resp.Result.(map[string]any)
return result
}
func printJSON(v any) {
enc := json.NewEncoder(os.Stdout)
enc.SetEscapeHTML(false)
enc.SetIndent("", " ")
if err := enc.Encode(v); err != nil {
fail("Cannot print the result: %v", err)
}
}
func main() {
apiKey := os.Getenv("UJEEBU_API_KEY")
if apiKey == "" {
fail("Set the UJEEBU_API_KEY environment variable.")
}
if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(extractRulesJSON), &extractRules); err != nil {
fail("Bad extract rules: %v", err)
}
client, err := ujeebu.NewClient(apiKey, ujeebu.WithTimeout(180*time.Second))
if err != nil {
fail("%v", err)
}
for page := 1; page <= pages; page++ {
result := scrape(client, pageURL(page))
printJSON(result)
items, _ := result["results"].([]any)
if len(items) == 0 {
break
}
time.Sleep(2 * time.Second) // be polite: one page at a time
}
}
SDK tabs use the official Ujeebu SDKs (ujeebu-python 0.1.5, @ujeebu-org/ujeebu-sdk 0.1.2, github.com/ujeebu/ujeebu-go v0.1.8); there is no PHP SDK, so the PHP tab calls the API with curl. For agents and scripts, the same status and settings are at /scrape/goodreads.json.
Try it yourself
Run this on Goodreads with your own key
Get a free API key, set UJEEBU_API_KEY and run any script above as it is. 5,000 free credits for 7 days, no card.
URL patterns and pagination
What the URLs look like, read from the pages our checks fetched.
Search and listing pages
- Search or listing URL
https://www.goodreads.com/search?q={query}- Next pages
- add
page=2,page=3and so on. Page 2:https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=project+hail+mary&page=2 - Validated on
https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=project+hail+maryhttps://www.goodreads.com/search?q=sapiens
Settings that work today
From our health checks over the last 7 days: the cheapest settings that return the real page most of the time.
| Endpoint | /scrape |
|---|---|
js | true |
wait_for | 8000 |
| Cost | up to 5 credits a request |
| Learned | js + wait 8000 (found by our retry layer) |
For search and listing pages, change the query or the page parameter in the URL to paginate, and fetch the pages one after another rather than in bursts. Collect detail page URLs from listing pages first, then fetch each detail page. Our checks pass with JavaScript rendering on (js=true) and a wait of 8 seconds (wait_for=8000) before the snapshot: keep both. Start with the default (rotating) proxy, the cheapest one that passed most of its attempts in our checks.
Proxies we tried on Goodreads (1), attempts and passes over 7 days
| Proxy | Attempts | Passed |
|---|---|---|
| Default (rotating) | 32 | 32 |
Highlighted: the cheapest proxy that passes most of our checks of this site.
What people build with Goodreads data
- Research datasetsBuild datasets of public pages for analysis, search or LLM pipelines.More on this use case
Limits and etiquette
- Public pages only. Pages behind a login, and data shown only to signed-in users, are out of scope.
- Keep the rate modest: fetch pages one after another or with low concurrency, and cache what you already have.
- robots.txt of www.goodreads.com (read 2026-11-04): public pages asked to stay away (Disallow: /search); no crawl delay set.
- Read Goodreads's terms of service before you collect data at scale, and do not collect personal data you have no basis to process. This guide is not legal advice.
Questions
Can you scrape Goodreads with Ujeebu?
Yes. 32 of 32 checks of public Goodreads pages passed in the last 7 days with the settings on this page.
Which settings work for Goodreads?
Call /scrape with js=true, wait_for=8000. On the default (rotating) proxy, 32 of 32 attempts passed in the last 7 days. Our retry layer found that this site needs "js + wait 8000".
How many credits does a Goodreads request cost?
With these settings a request costs up to 5 credits. Only responses with HTTP 200 or 404 are billed: a blocked or timed-out request is free.
Which fields can I extract from Goodreads?
With the extraction recipes on this page, validated on real Goodreads pages through our API: search and listing pages: url, title, image. Pass the recipe as extract_rules in a POST to /scrape and the API returns those fields as JSON.
Is it allowed to scrape Goodreads?
Its robots.txt asks generic crawlers to stay away from public pages (Disallow: /search). Collect public pages only, read Goodreads's terms of service, keep your request rate modest and do not collect personal data you have no basis to process. This is not legal advice.
How fresh is this page?
The status and settings come from our own health checks of goodreads.com, which run around the clock. Last check: 2026-11-04 00:01:38 UTC; last pass: 2026-11-04 00:01:38 UTC.