FreeBookCentre APIfreebookcentre.net ↗
Access FreeBookCentre.net's catalog of free technical books via API. Browse categories, list books by subject, search by keyword, and retrieve full book details.
What is the FreeBookCentre API?
The FreeBookCentre.net API provides 4 endpoints for querying the site's catalog of free online technical books. Use list_categories to retrieve all top-level subject categories with their paths, list_books to pull book titles, authors, descriptions, and page counts from any category or subcategory, get_book_details for full per-book metadata including breadcrumb hierarchy, and search_books to match keywords against category names and book titles.
No input parameters required.
curl -X GET 'https://api.parse.bot/scraper/f0f71435-0337-4c81-bc20-75a6f6d8c58b/list_categories' \ -H 'X-API-Key: $PARSE_API_KEY'
Typed, relational, agent-ready
A generated client with real types, enums, and the links between objects — the structure a flat JSON response can't carry. Autocompletes in your editor and reads cleanly to coding agents.
- Fully typed · autocompletes
- Objects link to objects
- Typed errors & pagination
Typed Python client. Set up the SDK in your uv project, then pull this API’s typed client:
uv add parse-sdk uv run parse init uv run parse add --marketplace freebookcentre-net-api
uv run parse add --marketplace pulls a pinned snapshot of this canonical API — it won’t change underneath you. To customize it, subscribe and swap to your own copy.
from parse_apis.freebookcentre_net_api import FreeBookCentre, Category, BookSummary, Book
client = FreeBookCentre()
# Search for categories matching a keyword
for category in client.categories.search(query="python"):
print(category.name, category.path)
# Navigate into a specific category to browse its books
cs_category = client.category("/CompuScience/compscCategory.html")
for book_summary in cs_category.books.list():
print(book_summary.title, book_summary.author)
# Get full details for a book
book = book_summary.details()
print(book.title, book.author, book.pages, book.url)
List all main book categories available on the site. Returns category names and their URL paths for use with the list_books endpoint. Each category path can be passed to list_books to retrieve its book listings and subcategories.
No input parameters required.
{
"type": "object",
"fields": {
"total": "integer total number of categories",
"categories": "array of category objects with name and path"
},
"sample": {
"data": {
"total": 30,
"categories": [
{
"name": "Computer Science",
"path": "/CompuScience/compscCategory.html"
},
{
"name": "Languages",
"path": "/Language/langCategory.html"
},
{
"name": "Mathematics",
"path": "/SpecialCat/Free-Mathematics-Books-Download.html"
}
]
},
"status": "success"
}
}About the FreeBookCentre API
Browsing Categories and Books
The list_categories endpoint returns a flat list of all main subject categories available on FreeBookCentre.net, each with a name and a path. Those paths feed directly into list_books, which accepts a category_path parameter and returns an array of book objects — each containing title, author, description, pages, and a detail_path. Where a category page contains subcategories rather than direct book listings, the response includes a subcategories array alongside books, letting you traverse the hierarchy by feeding subcategory paths back into list_books.
Retrieving Book Details
get_book_details takes a book_path (typically obtained from the detail_path field in a list_books response) and returns the full record for a single book: title, author, description, pages, url, and a breadcrumb array that reflects the category chain the book sits under. The pages field is returned as a string or null when the count is not listed by the source.
Searching the Catalog
search_books accepts a query string and returns two result sets: matching_categories (category name and path pairs whose names contain the keyword) and matching_books (book title, author, and detail_path for matching titles). The search covers homepage-level content, so it is best suited for broad keyword discovery rather than exhaustive full-catalog queries. For deeper browsing after a category match, pass the returned path into list_books.
The FreeBookCentre API is a managed, monitored endpoint for freebookcentre.net — not a raw scraper you maintain. Every endpoint is automatically health-checked on a schedule, and when freebookcentre.net changes and a check fails, the API is automatically queued for repair and re-verified. It is built to keep working as the site underneath it changes.
This isn't an official freebookcentre.net API — it's an independent, maintained REST wrapper over public data. Where the source has no official API (or only a limited one), Parse gives you a stable contract over a source that never promised one, and keeps it current. Need a new endpoint or field? You can revise it yourself in plain English and the agent rebuilds it against the live site in minutes — contributing the change back to the shared API is free.
Will this API break when the source site changes?+
Is this an official API from the source site?+
Can I fix or extend this API myself if I need a new endpoint or field?+
What happens if I call an endpoint that has an issue?+
- Build a curated reading list tool that maps
list_categoriesoutput to subject areas for a learning platform - Aggregate free CS and programming book metadata (title, author, pages) for a developer resource directory
- Drive keyword-based book discovery by querying
search_bookswith technology names like 'python' or 'algorithms' - Populate a study guide app with structured category hierarchies by traversing subcategories from
list_books - Extract breadcrumb paths via
get_book_detailsto classify books by subject hierarchy in a knowledge graph - Monitor new additions to specific technical categories by periodically polling
list_bookson target category paths
| Tier | Price | Credits/month | Rate limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | 100 | 5 req/min |
| Hobby | $30/mo | 1,000 | 20 req/min |
| Developer | $100/mo | 5,000 | 100 req/min |
One credit = one API call regardless of which marketplace API you call. Exceeding the rate limit returns a 429 response. Authenticate with the X-API-Key header.
Does FreeBookCentre.net have an official developer API?+
What does `list_books` return when a category has subcategories instead of direct book listings?+
books array may be empty or sparse and the response will include a subcategories array with name and path for each subcategory. You pass those paths back into list_books to retrieve the actual book listings one level deeper.Does `search_books` search the full catalog or only part of it?+
query string against category names and book titles visible there. It does not perform a full index scan across every book in every subcategory. For complete coverage of a subject, use the matching category paths from matching_categories and paginate through list_books.Can I retrieve download links or direct URLs to the book files?+
Is pagination supported when listing books in a large category?+
list_books endpoint does not currently expose a page number or offset parameter; it returns what the source category page presents in a single response. Categories with very large listings may reflect only a portion of available titles. You can fork this API on Parse and revise it to add pagination support for categories that span multiple pages.