Bring your own LLM key for recognize_bookshelf; only gemini is accepted. Set together with SPINES_LLM_API_KEY
SPINES_LLM_API_KEY
No
-
Your provider API key. With both set, recognition uses your key and no SPINES credits
Tools
Read Tools
Tool
Description
search_books
Search for books by title, author, or ISBN
get_book_details
Get full details for a specific book
get_collection
Get a book collection with all its books
list_collections
List your collections with optional filters
list_categories
List all approved book categories
get_persona
Get details about a persona
get_book_pairings
Find books commonly shelved together with a book (Shelfology)
check_credits
Check your daily recognition credit balance
Write Tools
Tool
Description
add_to_reading_list
Add a book to a reading list
remove_from_reading_list
Remove a book from a reading list
recognize_bookshelf
Recognize books from one or more bookshelf photos and save them as a collection (uses credits)
Tool Details
search_books
query: string - Search query (title, author, or ISBN)
limit?: number - Max results (1-50, default 10)
get_book_details
book_id: string - The book's unique ID
get_collection
collection_id: string - The collection's unique ID
list_collections
limit?: number - Max results (1-50, default 20)
cursor?: string - Pagination cursor
persona_id?: string - Filter by persona
category_id?: string - Filter by category
list_categories
(no arguments)
get_persona
persona_id: string - The persona's unique ID
get_book_pairings
book_id: string - The book to find pairings for
limit?: number - Max results (1-50, default 10)
check_credits
(no arguments)
add_to_reading_list
book_id: string - The book to add
list_name?: string - List name (default: "want_to_read")
remove_from_reading_list
entry_id: string - The reading list entry ID to remove
recognize_bookshelf
image_url?: string - URL of a single photo
image_base64?: string - Base64-encoded single photo
images?: array - Several photos of one bookshelf, saved as ONE collection;
each entry is { image_url } or { image_base64 }
cover_index?: number - Zero-based index into images of the cover photo (default 0)
title?: string - Title for the new collection
Send either image_url / image_base64orimages, not both. Example:
Photo limit: 4 per request with a regular key. A book that appears on two photos is kept once.
Credits: each photo uses one credit; the request needs at least one to start. With SPINES_LLM_PROVIDER / SPINES_LLM_API_KEY set, no credits are used.
Prefer URLs. Base64 photos over 4 MB in total do not fit in one request.
Duplicates: a photo already in SPINES fails the whole request (RECOGNIZE_IMAGE_DUPLICATE, with the index of that photo).
Timing: the tool waits while the server reads every photo, then polls until book matching finishes (up to 2 minutes). It returns the finished collection, or the job's current status (with its job_id) if matching is still running or its status could not be read. If the first step times out (5 minutes), the collection may still be created: check list_collections before trying again, since a retry uses credits again.
Resources
URI
Description
spines://collection/{id}
A book collection with metadata
spines://book/{id}
Full book details
spines://persona/{id}
Persona profile and collections
spines://reading-lists
User's reading lists
Prompts
Prompt
Description
analyze_shelf
Analyze a collection for themes and reading patterns
recommend_books
Get recommendations based on your library
compare_collections
Compare two collections for similarities
Troubleshooting
Problem
Solution
"SPINES_API_KEY is required"
Set the env var in your MCP client config
401 errors
Check your API key is valid and not expired
403 errors
Your key may lack required scopes
429 errors
Rate limited — wait and retry
TIMEOUT from recognize_bookshelf
The server may still be working; check list_collections before resending
Tools not appearing
Restart your MCP client
Development
git clone https://github.com/GetSpines/mcp-server
cd mcp-server
npm install
npm run build
npm test