Apple Books

Add a book to a collection (user-created collections and "Want to Read"). Idempotent. Requires write access and Books to be quit. Args: collection_id: The collection's numeric ID. book_id: The book's numeric ID.

Create a new collection in the user's Apple Books library. Requires write access and Books to be quit; a backup is taken automatically. Args: title: Name for the new collection. details: Optional description.

Delete a user-created collection (built-in collections are refused). The books inside are NOT deleted — only the collection. Requires write access and Books to be quit. Args: collection_id: The collection's numeric ID.

Describe a specific annotation in detail — text, note, book (with an ``Open in Books:`` link), chapter, color, creation date. For the passage around the highlight, call ``get_annotation_context`` instead. Args: annotation_id: The annotation's numeric ID.

Describe a specific book in detail — metadata (title, author, genre, page count), reading status (progress, last opened, finished date), and annotation count. Also whether the chapter tools can read its text (``Readable text:``, and why not), and an ``Open in Books:`` link (``ibooks://assetid/...``) that opens it in Apple Books. Args: book_id: The book's numeric ID.

Describe a specific collection in detail — title, details text, and the books contained in it. Args: collection_id: The collection's numeric ID.

Return the passage around a specific highlight — the text before and after, with the highlight itself wrapped in ``«...»``. Use this to expand on a highlight without fetching the whole chapter. Works for non-DRM EPUBs downloaded to this Mac; fails with a clear message for DRM-protected books, iCloud-only books, or older annotations that lack the chapter hint. Args: annotation_id: The annotation's numeric ID. chars_before: Chars of context before the highlight (0–5000). Default 500. chars_after: Chars of context after the highlight (0–5000). Default 500.

Annotations created within a date range, newest first by default. Flat rows with the creation time and book name inline. Dates and times are in the Mac's local time zone, named in the header. Row format:: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM [id] text — chapter · Book Title Args: after: Only include annotations created on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD, or YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM). before: Only include annotations created on or before this date (YYYY-MM-DD covers the whole day, or YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM). limit: Max annotations to return (1–500, default 50). offset: Annotations to skip, for paging. order_by: ``newest`` (default) or ``oldest`` first.

Get books whose genre matches the given string (substring match). Output is one row per match: ``[id] title by author (genre)``. Args: genre: The genre to search for (e.g. "Romance", "Philosophy"). limit: Max books to return (1–500, default 200). offset: Books to skip, for paging.

Get books currently being read (progress > 0% and < 100%). Output per row: ``[id] title by author`` with a progress summary below. Args: limit: Max books to return (1–500, default 200). offset: Books to skip, for paging.

Return the plain-text content of a chapter, paginated by default to protect the context window. Get ``chapter_id`` from ``list_book_chapters`` or from the ``(ch=...)`` suffix on annotation listing rows, or pass ``"current"`` (the default) for the chapter the user is reading in Apple Books. Works for non-DRM EPUBs downloaded to this Mac. Default ``max_chars=10000`` (~2500 words) fits most chapters in one call. Longer chapters return a slice with a footer naming the exact ``offset`` to pass next. At most 50000 chars are returned per call. Every response ends with a footer like one of:: (full chapter returned: 4,872 chars.) …(returned chars 0–10000 of 24,311 [10000 chars]. Call again with offset=10000 to continue; 14,311 chars remaining.) (returned chars 20000–24311 of 24311 [4311 chars]. End of chapter.) Args: book_id: The book's numeric ID. chapter_id: Chapter identifier, the 1-based chapter order as a string (e.g. ``"5"``), or ``"current"`` (the default): the chapter of the user's reading position. A chapter whose id is literally "current" wins. offset: Character offset to start from. Defaults to 0. max_chars: Max chars to return (1–50000). Default 10000.

List the books in a collection as lean rows: ``[id] title by author``. Descriptions are intentionally omitted — collections with many books would otherwise emit tens of thousands of chars of marketing blurb. Use ``describe_book(id)`` for details on any specific book. Args: collection_id: The collection's numeric ID.

Return where the user last left off reading a book — chapter title and chapter_id, no text — and an ``Open in Books:`` link to the book. Follow up with ``get_chapter_content`` for the text. Works for non-DRM EPUBs downloaded to this Mac. If Apple Books hasn't recorded a position, falls back to inferring from the user's most recent highlight (labeled as such in the output). Args: book_id: The book's numeric ID.

Get books that have been finished. Output per row: ``[id] title by author`` with a progress summary below. Args: limit: Max books to return (1–500, default 200). offset: Books to skip, for paging.

Browse highlights of a particular color, grouped by book. Output is one row per highlight: ``[id] text — chapter``. The book's name is shown once in the header, with a count of matching highlights on this page. Args: color: ``yellow``, ``green``, ``blue``, ``pink``, or ``purple``. limit: Max annotations to return (1–500, default 50). offset: Annotations to skip, for paging. order_by: ``newest`` (default) or ``oldest`` first.

Get a summary of your Apple Books library with reading stats.

Get the most recently read books, newest first (by when each was last opened or read, whichever is later). Output per row: ``[id] title by author`` with a progress summary below. Args: limit: Max books to return (1–500, default 10). offset: Books to skip, for paging.

Get books that haven't been started yet (0% progress). Output per row: ``[id] title by author`` with a progress summary below. Args: limit: Max books to return (1–500, default 200). offset: Books to skip, for paging.

Browse all annotations grouped by book, most recent first. Rows: ``[annotation_id] <text> — <chapter title> (ch=<id>)``, with the user's note, if any, on a second line prefixed with ``↳ note:``. Pass ``ch=<id>`` to ``get_chapter_content`` for the chapter, or call ``get_annotation_context(annotation_id)`` for the passage around a specific highlight. Args: limit: Max annotations to return (1–500, default 50). offset: Annotations to skip, for paging; a footer names the next offset when there are more.

List all books in my Apple Books library. Output is one row per book: ``[id] title by author``. Use ``describe_book(id)`` for details on any book. Args: limit: Max books to return (1–500, default 200). offset: Books to skip, for paging; a footer names the next offset when there are more.

List all collections in my Apple Books library. Output is one row per collection: ``[id] title``. Use ``describe_collection(id)`` for details or ``get_collection_books(id)`` to list its books. Args: limit: Max collections to return (1–500, default 200). offset: Collections to skip, for paging.

List annotations within a specific book in reading order (their position in the book). Rows are lean — ``[annotation_id] <text> — <chapter> (ch=<id>)`` — with the user's note, if any, on a second line prefixed with ``↳ note:``. Args: book_id: The book's numeric ID. limit: Max annotations to return (1–500, default 50). offset: Annotations to skip, for paging; a footer names the next offset when there are more.

List the table of contents for a book — chapter titles, order, and nesting depth. Only works for non-DRM EPUBs that have been downloaded to this Mac. Args: book_id: The book's numeric ID (from ``list_all_books`` or similar).

Most recent annotations, newest first. Flat rows with the creation time (the server's local time zone) and book name inline so Claude can see chronology across books at a glance. Row format:: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM [id] text — chapter · Book Title Args: limit: Max annotations to return (1–500, default 10). offset: Annotations to skip, for paging.

Remove a book from a collection (the book stays in the library). Idempotent. Requires write access and Books to be quit. Args: collection_id: The collection's numeric ID. book_id: The book's numeric ID.

Rename a user-created collection (built-in collections are refused). Requires write access and Books to be quit. Args: collection_id: The collection's numeric ID. new_title: The new name.

Search across every annotation field — selected (highlighted) text, the surrounding paragraph, and the user's note body. Grouped by book; a row's note, if any, is on a second line prefixed with ``↳ note:``. Use ``search_notes`` when you only want to find your own written notes. Args: text: Substring to match anywhere in an annotation. limit: Max annotations to return (1–500, default 50). offset: Annotations to skip, for paging. order_by: ``newest`` (default) or ``oldest`` first.

Search for books whose title or author contains ``query``, ignoring case, accents and quote/dash style ("don't" finds "Don’t", "godel" finds "Gödel"). Output is one row per book, by book id: ``[id] title by author``. Use ``describe_book(id)`` for details. Args: query: Text to find in the title or the author's name. limit: Max books to return (1–500, default 200). offset: Books to skip, for paging; a footer names the next offset when there are more.

Search for books by title (substring match, ignoring case, accents and quote/dash style). Output is one row per match: ``[id] title by author``. Use ``describe_book(id)`` for details, and ``search_books`` to match authors too. Args: title: The title to search for. limit: Max books to return (1–500, default 200). offset: Books to skip, for paging; a footer names the next offset when there are more.

Search for collections by title (substring match). Output is one row per match: ``[id] title``. Args: title: The title to search for.

Search user notes (not highlights) by substring, grouped by book. Output shows the highlighted passage on the primary row and the matching note on a second line prefixed with ``↳ note:``. Args: note: Substring to find inside note bodies. limit: Max annotations to return (1–500, default 50). offset: Annotations to skip, for paging. order_by: ``newest`` (default) or ``oldest`` first.