Aladdin Books

You deploy an MCP server that lets clients search Aladdin’s book catalog, fetch detailed information by ISBN, and explore popular lists and categories. This server integrates with the MCP protocol to expose a consistent set of tools for downstream clients to query Aladdin data efficiently.

How to use

You interact with the Aladdin Books MCP Server through an MCP client. Use the provided tools to perform book searches by title, author, publisher, or keyword; retrieve detailed book information via ISBN; browse bestsellers and new releases, including category-scoped results; and format the results into a table for easy display. All interactions adhere to the MCP tools and parameters described in the server’s tool set.

How to install

Prerequisites: you need Node.js installed on your machine. Ensure you have an MCP client ready to connect to the server.

Install dependencies and build the server package.

npm install
npm run build

MCP configuration and runtime

Configure the MCP client to start the Aladdin Books server. The server is run as a local process using Node.js and its built output.

The following configuration snippet shows how to wire the server into the MCP client. It sets the runtime command, the path to the built entry, and the required API key environment variable.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "aladin_books": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "<경로>/mcp-aladin-books-server/dist/index.js"
      ],
      "env": {
        "ALADIN_TTB_KEY": "알라딘_TTB_키"
      }
    }
  }
}

Environment variables

You must provide the Aladdin TTB API key in the ALADIN_TTB_KEY environment variable. Use a strong, private key obtained from the Aladdin API key issuance process.

Tools overview

The server exposes a set of tools that you can call from your MCP client. Each tool accepts a defined set of parameters to perform searches, retrieve details, or format results.

Development notes

This server leverages Node.js and TypeScript with the MCP SDK for protocol handling, axios for HTTP calls, and zod for validation. The build output is placed in the dist directory and can be started via the configured runtime command.

Security and usage tips

Keep your ALADIN_TTB_KEY confidential. Do not expose it in client code or public deploys. If you rotate the API key, update the environment variable in your MCP client configuration accordingly.

Available tools

search_books

Search for books by query with a specified search type (Title, Author, Publisher, Keyword) and control the maximum results and starting index.

get_book_detail

Retrieve detailed information for a book using its ISBN (10 or 13 digits).

get_bestsellers

Fetch a list of bestseller books, with optional category filtering and pagination.

get_new_books

Get the latest releases with optional category filtering and pagination.

get_special_new_books

Retrieve notable new books with optional category filtering and pagination.

get_editor_choice

Obtain editor's choice recommendations with optional category filtering and pagination.

get_blogger_best

Fetch blogger bestseller lists; domestic books only, with optional category filtering and pagination.

search_categories

Search for book categories, prioritizing top-level categories.

get_popular_categories

List frequently used major categories, prioritizing top-level categories.

format_books_table

Format book information into a table for display, supporting multiple types of lookups such as search, isbn, bestseller, new_books, special_new_books, editor_choice, and blogger_best.