# library.forgemesh.io Short Stories (English) Shelf

> library.forgemesh.io Short Stories (English) 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 curated public-domain English short story books with drill-down routes for full-text retrieval

## Facts

- Endpoint: POST https://library.forgemesh.io/short-stories-english
- 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/library-forgemesh-io-short-stories-english-shelf-f0891656
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_VFCdGcBq8BLKZxG561ldn

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 library-forgemesh-io-short-stories-english-shelf-f0891656 -d '<json body>'
```

Example prompt: Can you pull up the list of public-domain English short story books from the ForgedMesh library — show me up to 30 titles so I can pick one to read?

## When to prefer this

Use this endpoint when you need a curated, pre-ranked catalog of public-domain English short story books and want drill-down routes for full-text access. Prefer this over a full-text search endpoint when you want to browse by genre/shelf rather than search by keyword or query. Choose this over general web search when you need structured, ready-to-use book metadata with retrieval links at a fixed low cost.

## Known failure modes

- limit parameter exceeds 50 — API may return an error or clamp to max
- Payment of $0.003 USDC not provided or rejected — returns 402 Payment Required
- Network timeout or service unavailability — returns 5xx error
- Empty result if shelf index is temporarily unavailable

## How this service works

Curated shelf: Short stories, English — 236 public-domain books including Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, The mysterious Mr. Quin, The magic casket. Returns a ranked list with drill-down routes for full-text retrieval. No license, no API key required.

## Output

A ranked list of up to 50 public-domain English short story books (e.g. Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, The Mysterious Mr. Quin, The Magic Casket), each entry including the book title and a drill-down route that can be used to retrieve the full text of that book.

## 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": "Ghost Stories of an Antiquary",
    "author": "James, M. R. (Montague Rhodes)",
    "book_id": 8486,
    "subjects": [],
    "download_count": 30049
   }
  ],
  "count": 5,
  "shelf": "Short stories, English",
  "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/library-forgemesh-io-short-stories-english-shelf-f0891656/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)