My Amazon (Kindle) Library Ebook Lookup & Download Overview
Internal tool to search and download ebooks from my personal Amazon (Kindle) library, i.e., titles I’ve purchased/added to my account (plus any personal documents synced into my library), across available formats.
Note: This skill is meant for my own licensed content. It does not bypass DRM. If a title can’t be downloaded in an accessible file format, use Amazon’s official reading/export options instead.
Prerequisites
IMPORTANT: Downloads require an Amazon-library access key for my account.
Before using download functionality, the user must:
Have access to their Amazon (Kindle) library (purchased titles / content library) Set their API key/token: export LIBRARY_KEY="your-key"
The key is found in your internal library-proxy/account settings (or whatever system you use to authenticate access to your Amazon library index). Search works without a key, but downloads will fail.
If key is not set: Inform the user they need to set LIBRARY_KEY and provide the setup instructions above.
When to Use
User asks to find/download a book from their Amazon library
Need to look up content from a published book they own
Searching for a specific edition or format that exists in their library
"Get me the PDF of Clean Code (from my Kindle library)"
"Find the latest edition of Design Patterns (that I own)"
Quick Reference
Task Command
Search python3 scripts/library.py search "query" --format pdf
Get details python3 scripts/library.py details
The key is found in your Amazon library access setup (internal proxy/token settings).
Workflow digraph download_flow { rankdir=TB; node [shape=box];
search [label="Search by title/author"];
verify [label="Verify correct book\n(check title, author, year)"];
multiple [label="Multiple editions?" shape=diamond];
prefer_recent [label="Prefer most recent\nunless specific edition requested"];
format_ok [label="Preferred format available?" shape=diamond];
download [label="Download via fast API"];
convert [label="Use ebook-extractor\nto convert to text"];
search -> verify;
verify -> multiple;
multiple -> prefer_recent [label="yes"];
multiple -> format_ok [label="no"];
prefer_recent -> format_ok;
format_ok -> download [label="yes"];
format_ok -> search [label="no - try different format"];
download -> convert;
}
Common Patterns Find and download a book
Search with format preference
python3 scripts/library.py search "Clean Code Robert Martin" --format pdf --limit 5
Verify it's the right book, get details
python3 scripts/library.py details adb5293cf369256a883718e71d3771c3
Download
python3 scripts/library.py download adb5293cf369256a883718e71d3771c3 --output ./books/
Handle multiple editions
When search returns multiple editions:
Check year - prefer most recent unless user specified edition Check format - match user's preference (pdf/epub) Verify author matches exactly Format Priority
Default priority when user doesn't specify: pdf > epub > mobi > azw3 > djvu
API Details
These endpoints refer to your internal Amazon-library index / proxy service (backed by your own Amazon account/library data), not a public “find-any-book” catalog.
Search endpoint: https://library-archive.org/search
q - query string ext - format filter (pdf, epub, mobi, azw3, djvu) sort - year_desc for most recent first
Fast download API: https://library-archive.org/dyn/api/fast_download.json
md5 - book identifier key - from LIBRARY_KEY env var Common Mistakes Mistake Fix Key not set Check echo $LIBRARY_KEY Wrong edition Use --verify flag with expected title Format mismatch Explicitly set --format Book not found Try shorter query, author name variations Converting to Text
Downloaded files are in their original format (PDF, EPUB, MOBI, etc.). To convert to plain text for analysis or processing, use the ebook-extractor skill after downloading.
Typical workflow:
Download with this skill → books/Clean_Code.pdf Convert with ebook-extractor → books/Clean_Code.txt Mirror Fallback
The script automatically tries multiple mirror domains if the primary domain is unavailable:
library-archive.org (primary) library-archive.li library-archive.se library-archive.in library-archive.pm
The first working mirror is cached for the session. You'll see Using mirror:
Error Handling "Invalid md5" - MD5 hash is malformed or doesn't exist "Not a member" - Key is invalid or expired (i.e., your Amazon-library access token isn’t valid) No results - Broaden search terms, try author-only search "Could not connect to any mirror" - All mirrors are down, try again later Troubleshooting SSL Certificate Error on macOS
If you see this error:
[SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed: unable to get local issuer certificate
This happens because Python can't find the system's CA certificate bundle on macOS.
Quick Fix:
Install certifi:
pip3 install certifi
Find your certificate path:
python3 -c "import certifi; print(certifi.where())"
Add to ~/.zshrc:
export SSL_CERT_FILE=/path/from/step/2/cacert.pem
Reload shell: source ~/.zshrc
Verify it works:
python3 -c "import urllib.request; urllib.request.urlopen('https://google.com')"
Why this happens: macOS uses Keychain for certificates, but Python doesn't use it by default. Framework installs (like /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework) often lack certificate configuration.
Do NOT use verify=False or PYTHONHTTPSVERIFY=0 - this disables SSL entirely and is insecure.