# ForgeMesh Library – American Literature Shelf

> ForgeMesh Library – American Literature Shelf is a paid API for AI agents from library.forgemesh.io, paid per call via x402, $0.003/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-09-13).

Returns a ranked list of up to 50 public-domain American literature books with drill-down routes for full-text retrieval.

## Facts

- Endpoint: POST https://library.forgemesh.io/american-literature
- Price: $0.003/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-09-13
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/forgemesh-library-american-literature-shelf-cf8d68e9
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_Erfq30v1Hg_4Urms9DxUb

Status and success rate cover calls made through Zero and Zero's own probes. Third-party monitors may report differently.

## How to call it through Zero

Zero handles the 402 payment challenge and records the run. With the Zero CLI installed (`npm i -g @zeroxyz/cli`):

```sh
zero fetch --capability forgemesh-library-american-literature-shelf-cf8d68e9 -d '<json body>'
```

Example prompt: Can you pull up the top 30 American literature classics from the ForgeMesh public-domain library — I'm looking for a ranked list of titles I can explore further?

## When to prefer this

Choose this endpoint when you need a curated, ranked catalog of public-domain American literature titles specifically (e.g. Scarlet Letter, Moby-Dick, Huckleberry Finn) and want drill-down routes for full-text access. It is better than general web search when you need a clean, structured list without scraping, and better than a generic library API when you specifically want American literary canon with no API key required.

## Known failure modes

- Limit parameter exceeds 50 — API may cap or reject the request
- Network or payment failure (x402 micropayment not processed) — no results returned
- Invalid input type for limit field — likely a 400 error
- Service unavailable — empty or error response

## How this service works

Curated shelf: American Literature — 7572 public-domain books including Moby Dick; Or, The Whale, Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, Bidwell's Travels, from Wall Street to London Prison: Fifteen Years in Solitude. Returns a ranked list with drill-down routes for full-text retrieval. No license, no API key required.

## Output

A ranked list of public-domain American literature books (up to the requested limit, default 20, max 50), including titles, authors, and drill-down routes that can be followed to retrieve full text for each work.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "properties": {
  "limit": {
   "type": "integer",
   "description": "Max books to return (default 20, max 50)"
  }
 }
}
```

## Response schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "json",
 "example": {
  "books": [
   {
    "year": null,
    "title": "Moby Dick; Or, The Whale",
    "author": "Melville, Herman",
    "book_id": 2701,
    "subjects": [],
    "download_count": 160099
   }
  ],
  "count": 5,
  "shelf": "American Literature",
  "coverage": {
   "target": 61015,
   "indexed": 61015
  },
  "drill_down": [
   "/book-metadata",
   "/book-chapter",
   "/book-quotes",
   "/literature-search"
  ]
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/forgemesh-library-american-literature-shelf-cf8d68e9/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from library.forgemesh.io](https://www.zero.xyz/host/library.forgemesh.io/llms.txt)