Book Catalogs
Browse and search Project Gutenberg, the Internet Archive, and any OPDS feed from inside MacGet, then send a book straight to the download queue.
MacGet has a built-in book browser. Press ⇧⌘B (or use the toolbar button) to search a catalog, pick a format, and drop the result into the same queue as every other download.
Nothing special happens to the download itself — a book is an ordinary HTTPS file, so it goes through the same multi-threaded engine, resume, and checksum paths as anything else.
Built-in catalogs
| Catalog | What's in it | Ready to use |
|---|---|---|
| Project Gutenberg | ~75,000 public-domain books | Yes |
| Internet Archive | Millions of scanned texts and collections | Yes |
| Standard Ebooks | Carefully typeset public-domain editions | Needs a patron account |
Why Standard Ebooks is off by default
Standard Ebooks gates every one of its OPDS feeds behind a
Patrons Circle donation —
an anonymous client gets a 401. It ships switched off so a new install
doesn't greet you with an authentication error. If you're a patron, turn it on
in Settings → Catalogs.
Adding your own catalog
MacGet speaks OPDS, the open catalog standard, so it isn't limited to the built-ins. In Settings → Catalogs, paste any feed URL:
- A Calibre server's OPDS endpoint (usually
http://<host>:8080/opds) - A university or public library's OPDS catalog
- Any other OPDS 1.2 (Atom) or OPDS 2.0 (JSON) feed
Both wire formats are supported. Project Gutenberg has announced it is retiring its XML feeds in 2027, which is why the JSON path exists from the start.
Choosing a format
Selecting a book shows every format it offers — EPUB, PDF, MOBI, plain text —
ranked with EPUB first. MacGet names the file after the book rather than the
catalog's own identifier, so you get Moby Dick - Herman Melville.epub instead
of 2701.epub.
Some editions can't be downloaded, and the detail pane says which case applies:
- DRM-protected. The link is an Adobe ADEPT or Readium LCP license file, not the book. Fetching it would leave you with an unusable token, so MacGet doesn't offer it.
- For sale. Priced entries link out to the seller instead.
- Loan-only. Borrowing happens on the library's own site.
Internet Archive items over BitTorrent
Every archive.org item has a .torrent covering all of its files. On an
Internet Archive result, Whole item via torrent fetches the lot in one go —
much kinder to the Archive's servers than pulling files individually over HTTP.
This needs torrent support switched on.
What MacGet doesn't do
MacGet browses catalogs that publish an open feed. It does not index, search, or provide access to pirated books, and it has no shadow-library integration.