book-match 1.2.0

Fast, explainable book metadata matching with pluggable sources

book-match

Fast, explainable book metadata matching with pluggable sources.

Features

• Fast: RapidFuzz-powered string matching (8x faster than alternatives)
• Explainable: Human-readable explanations for every match decision
• Pluggable Sources: Query Google Books, OpenLibrary, or add your own
• Batch Processing: Deduplicate and link datasets with blocking strategies
• Domain-Aware: Understands book titles, authors, ISBNs, editions, series
• Type-Safe: Full type hints with runtime validation

Installation

# Core library (matching only)
pip install book-match

# With metadata source integrations
pip install book-match[sources]

# Everything
pip install book-match[all]

Quick Start

Basic Matching

from book_match import Book, BookMatcher

# Create books to compare
local_book = Book(
    title="The Great Gatsby",
    authors=("F. Scott Fitzgerald",),
    year=1925,
)

remote_book = Book(
    title="Great Gatsby, The: A Novel",
    authors=("Fitzgerald, F. Scott",),
    isbn_13="9780743273565",
    year=1925,
)

# Match them
matcher = BookMatcher()
result = matcher.match(local_book, remote_book)

print(f"Confidence: {result.confidence:.0%}")  # 94%
print(f"Verdict: {result.verdict}")  # MatchVerdict.AUTO_ACCEPT
print(f"Explanation: {result.explanation}")
# "Strong match (94% confidence). Title excellent match after subtitle
#  handling: "The Great Gatsby" <-> "Great Gatsby, The: A Novel". Author
#  excellent match: "F. Scott Fitzgerald" <-> "Fitzgerald, F. Scott"..."

Fast Filtering with quick_score

When you need to filter candidates before full matching:

matcher = BookMatcher()

# Returns just the confidence float, no explanation overhead
score = matcher.quick_score(local_book, remote_book)
if score > 0.7:
    full_result = matcher.match(local_book, remote_book)

With Metadata Sources

import asyncio
from book_match import Book, BookResolver, OpenLibrarySource, GoogleBooksSource

async def find_book():
    # Create resolver with multiple sources
    async with BookResolver(
        sources=[OpenLibrarySource(), GoogleBooksSource()]
    ) as resolver:
        # Your book with partial metadata
        my_book = Book(
            title="Dune",
            authors=("Frank Herbert",),
        )

        # Find matches across all sources
        matches = await resolver.resolve(my_book, min_confidence=0.8)

        for match in matches[:3]:
            print(f"{match.confidence:.0%}: {match.remote_book.title}")
            print(f"  ISBN: {match.remote_book.isbn_13}")
            print(f"  Source: {match.remote_book.source}")

asyncio.run(find_book())

Resolve Strategies

Control how multi-source results are combined:

from book_match import BookResolver, ResolveStrategy

# Best match across all sources (default)
resolver = BookResolver(sources=sources, strategy=ResolveStrategy.BEST_MATCH)

# Return as soon as one source finds a confident match
resolver = BookResolver(sources=sources, strategy=ResolveStrategy.FIRST_CONFIDENT)

# Query all sources, return all results
resolver = BookResolver(sources=sources, strategy=ResolveStrategy.ALL_SOURCES)

# Require agreement between multiple sources
resolver = BookResolver(
    sources=sources,
    strategy=ResolveStrategy.CONSENSUS,
    min_agreeing_sources=2,
)

Batch Deduplication

from book_match import Book, BatchMatcher

# Your library of books
books = [
    Book(title="The Hobbit", authors=("J.R.R. Tolkien",)),
    Book(title="Hobbit, The", authors=("Tolkien, J. R. R.",)),
    Book(title="Lord of the Rings", authors=("Tolkien",)),
    # ... thousands more
]

# Find duplicates
batch = BatchMatcher()
for duplicate in batch.deduplicate(books):
    print(f"Duplicate found ({duplicate.confidence:.0%}):")
    print(f"  {duplicate.local_book.title}")
    print(f"  {duplicate.remote_book.title}")

Dataset Linking

Match books between two datasets:

from book_match import BatchMatcher

# Link your catalog against a reference dataset
batch = BatchMatcher()
for match in batch.link(my_catalog, reference_dataset):
    print(f"Linked ({match.confidence:.0%}):")
    print(f"  Local:  {match.local_book.title}")
    print(f"  Remote: {match.remote_book.title}")

Core Concepts

Books

The Book dataclass represents book metadata:

from book_match import Book

book = Book(
    title="The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring",
    authors=("J.R.R. Tolkien",),
    isbn_10="0618346252",
    isbn_13="9780618346257",
    language="en",
    year=1954,
    publisher="Houghton Mifflin",
    source="google_books",  # Where this data came from
    source_id="abc123",     # ID in that source
)

Match Results

Every match returns detailed, explainable results:

result = matcher.match(book1, book2)

# Overall confidence (0.0 to 1.0)
result.confidence  # 0.87

# Verdict: AUTO_ACCEPT, REVIEW, or REJECT
result.verdict  # MatchVerdict.REVIEW

# Match classification
result.match_kind  # MatchKind.SAME_WORK

# Human-readable explanation
result.explanation  # "Possible match (87% confidence)..."

# Individual factors
for factor in result.factors:
    print(f"{factor.name}: {factor.similarity:.0%}")
    print(f"  Weight: {factor.weight}")
    print(f"  Details: {factor.details}")

Match Kinds

Matches are classified by type:

from book_match import MatchKind

MatchKind.SAME_EDITION   # Same book, same edition
MatchKind.SAME_WORK      # Same book, different edition
MatchKind.UNCERTAIN      # Cannot determine edition relationship

Configuration

Customize matching behavior:

from book_match import BookMatcher, MatchConfig

# Strict matching (fewer false positives)
strict_matcher = BookMatcher(MatchConfig.strict())

# Lenient matching (fewer false negatives)
lenient_matcher = BookMatcher(MatchConfig.lenient())

# ISBN-only matching
isbn_matcher = BookMatcher(MatchConfig.isbn_only())

# Custom configuration
custom_config = MatchConfig(
    title_weight=0.6,
    author_weight=0.3,
    auto_accept_threshold=0.95,
    strip_subtitles=True,
)

ISBN Handling

Proper ISBN validation with checksums:

from book_match import (
    is_valid_isbn,
    is_valid_isbn10,
    is_valid_isbn13,
    validate_isbn,
    isbn10_to_isbn13,
    isbn13_to_isbn10,
    normalize_isbn,
    normalize_to_isbn13,
    extract_isbns,
    compare_isbns,
)

# Validation (checks checksum!)
is_valid_isbn("9780306406157")  # True
is_valid_isbn("1234567890")     # False (invalid checksum)

# Specific format validation
is_valid_isbn10("0306406152")   # True
is_valid_isbn13("9780306406157")  # True

# Detailed validation with error reason
valid, reason = validate_isbn("1234567890")
# valid=False, reason="Invalid ISBN-10 checksum"

# Conversion
isbn10_to_isbn13("0306406152")  # "9780306406157"
isbn13_to_isbn10("9780306406157")  # "0306406152"
normalize_to_isbn13("0306406152")  # "9780306406157" (auto-detects format)

# Comparison (handles format differences)
compare_isbns("0306406152", "9780306406157")  # True (same book)

# Extract from text
text = "ISBN: 978-0-306-40615-7 and also 0-306-40615-2"
extract_isbns(text)  # ["9780306406157", "0306406152"]

Custom Metadata Sources

Add your own sources by extending BaseSource:

from book_match import BaseSource, Book, SearchQuery

class MyLibrarySource(BaseSource):
    @property
    def name(self) -> str:
        return "my_library"

    async def search(self, query: SearchQuery, limit: int = 10) -> list[Book]:
        # Query your database/API
        results = await my_api.search(
            title=query.title,
            author=query.authors[0] if query.authors else None,
        )
        return [
            Book(
                title=r["title"],
                authors=tuple(r["authors"]),
                isbn_13=r.get("isbn"),
                source=self.name,
                source_id=r["id"],
            )
            for r in results
        ]

    async def fetch_by_isbn(self, isbn: str) -> Book | None:
        result = await my_api.get_by_isbn(isbn)
        if result:
            return Book(...)
        return None

# Use it
resolver = BookResolver(sources=[MyLibrarySource()])

You can also implement the MetadataSource protocol directly if you prefer structural typing over inheritance.

Batch Processing

For large datasets, use blocking to avoid O(n^2) comparisons:

from book_match import (
    BatchMatcher,
    BatchConfig,
    TitlePrefix,
    TitleFirstWord,
    FirstAuthorSurname,
    ISBN13Prefix,
    YearRange,
    LanguageBlock,
    CompositeBlock,
)

# Custom blocking rules
batch = BatchMatcher(
    blocking_rules=[
        TitlePrefix(4),          # Group by first 4 chars of title
        FirstAuthorSurname(),    # Group by author surname
    ],
    batch_config=BatchConfig(
        min_confidence=0.7,
        max_results_per_book=5,
    ),
)

# Deduplicate with progress
def on_progress(progress):
    print(f"{progress.percent_complete:.1f}% - {progress.matches_found} matches")

duplicates = list(batch.deduplicate(books, on_progress=on_progress))

Available Blocking Rules

Rule	Description
TitlePrefix(n)	Groups by first n characters of the title
TitleFirstWord()	Groups by the first significant word (skips articles)
FirstAuthorSurname()	Groups by the first author's surname
ISBN13Prefix(n)	Groups by ISBN-13 prefix (default 7 = same publisher)
YearRange(n)	Groups by year range (default 5 years)
LanguageBlock()	Groups by language code
CompositeBlock(rules)	Combines multiple rules into a single blocking key

Preset Configurations

from book_match import BatchConfig

# Fast processing (lower quality, more speed)
batch = BatchMatcher(batch_config=BatchConfig.fast())

# Thorough processing (higher quality, more comparisons)
batch = BatchMatcher(batch_config=BatchConfig.thorough())

Performance

Benchmarks on a MacBook Pro M2:

Operation	book-match	Alternative
Single match	~50us	~400us (jellyfish)
10k deduplication	~2s	~15s (naive)
ISBN validation	~1us	~5us (isbnlib)

API Reference

Core Types

• Book - Immutable book metadata
• MatchResult - Complete match result with explanation
• MatchFactor - Individual scoring factor
• MatchVerdict - AUTO_ACCEPT, REVIEW, REJECT
• MatchKind - SAME_EDITION, SAME_WORK, UNCERTAIN
• SearchQuery - Query object for metadata sources
• BatchProgress - Progress tracking for batch operations

Configuration

• MatchConfig - Matching engine configuration (with .strict(), .lenient(), .isbn_only() presets)
• BatchConfig - Batch processing configuration (with .fast(), .thorough() presets)
• SourceConfig - Metadata source configuration (timeouts, retries, caching)

Matching

• BookMatcher - Core matching engine
  • .match() - Full match with explanation
  • .match_many() - Match against multiple candidates
  • .quick_score() - Fast confidence score (no explanation overhead)

Sources

• BookResolver - Multi-source orchestrator with strategy support
• GoogleBooksSource - Google Books API
• OpenLibrarySource - OpenLibrary.org API
• BaseSource - Abstract base class for custom sources
• MetadataSource - Protocol for structural typing
• ResolveStrategy - BEST_MATCH, FIRST_CONFIDENT, ALL_SOURCES, CONSENSUS

Batch Processing

• BatchMatcher - Batch deduplication and dataset linking
  • .deduplicate() - Find duplicates within a dataset
  • .link() - Match between two datasets
  • .find_matches() - Match a single book against candidates
• BlockingRule - Abstract base class for blocking strategies
• 7 built-in blocking rules (see Batch Processing section)

ISBN

• is_valid_isbn(), is_valid_isbn10(), is_valid_isbn13() - Validation
• validate_isbn() - Validation with error reason
• isbn10_to_isbn13(), isbn13_to_isbn10() - Conversion
• normalize_isbn(), normalize_to_isbn13() - Normalization
• compare_isbns() - Format-agnostic comparison
• extract_isbns() - Extract from text

Normalization

• normalize_title(), normalize_author(), normalize_authors() - Domain-specific normalization
• strip_subtitle(), strip_series_markers(), extract_series_info() - Title processing

Similarity

• jaro_similarity(), jaro_winkler_similarity() - Character-level similarity
• token_set_ratio(), token_sort_ratio() - Token-level similarity
• hybrid_similarity() - Blended similarity tuned for book titles
• quick_ratio() - Fast pre-filter

Exceptions

• BookMatchError - Base exception
• ISBNError, InvalidISBNError - ISBN validation errors
• SourceError, SourceNotFoundError, SourceRequestError, SourceRateLimitError - Source errors
• ConfigurationError, BatchError, BlockingError - Configuration and batch errors

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please read our contributing guidelines first.

# Setup development environment
git clone https://github.com/bibliostack/book-match
cd book-match
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Run tests
pytest

# Run linter
ruff check .

# Type checking
mypy src/

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

Acknowledgments

• RapidFuzz for fast string matching
• OpenLibrary for free book metadata
• Splink for record linkage inspiration