novel-txt-finder

Search and download free novel TXT files from public sources. Works for Chinese and English novels.

Workflow

Step 1: Identify the novel

Ask the user for the novel name. If they only give a partial name, search to find the exact title.

Step 2: Search for download sources

Use web_search to find free TXT download sources:

query: "小说名 txt 下载 免费"

Filter results: prefer .txt file links or sites known for free novel downloads. Avoid paid or DRM-protected sources.

Step 3: Evaluate candidate URLs

For each candidate URL, use web_fetch with maxChars: 2000 to check:

• Is it a direct TXT file?
• Is it a directory listing with .txt files?
• Is it a search results page that might have TXT links?

Step 4: Download the TXT file

When a direct .txt URL is found:

curl -L -o "/tmp/{novel-name}.txt" "URL"

Use the novel name (sanitized) as filename. Save to /tmp/ first.

Step 5: Verify the file

file "/tmp/{novel-name}.txt"
wc -c "/tmp/{novel-name}.txt"
head -5 "/tmp/{novel-name}.txt"

Validate:

• File size > 10KB (meaningful content)
• Contains Chinese text or novel content (not HTML error page)
• Correct encoding (try iconv -f GBK -t UTF-8 if garbled)

Step 6: Fix encoding if needed

Chinese novels often come in GBK/GB2312 encoding:

iconv -f GBK -t UTF-8 "/tmp/{novel-name}.txt" -o "/tmp/{novel-name}-utf8.txt" 2>/dev/null && mv "/tmp/{novel-name}-utf8.txt" "/tmp/{novel-name}.txt"

Step 7: Save to target location

Ask user where to save, or default to ~/Downloads/{novel-name}.txt.

Step 8: Report

✅ 下载完成！

书名：《》
作者：未知
文件：/Users/mac/Downloads/.txt
大小：X MB
来源：URL

Search strategies by source type

Direct TXT sites

Known free novel sites:

• wocaibook.com
• quedian.org
• booktxt.net
• ia找人看书 txt org (ia.org)

GitHub raw TXT

Many Chinese novels are archived on GitHub:

query: "site:github.com "小说名" txt"

Look for raw content at raw.githubusercontent.com

Wenku8 (文库8)

For Chinese web novels:

query: "小说名 site:wenkub.com OR site:wenku8.net"

Fallback: Google/Baidu search

query: ""小说名" 下载 txt"

Edge cases

• No results found: Try alternative titles, author names, or partial names.
• Multiple volumes: Download the most complete volume first, report other volumes.
• Blocked site: Try with browser tool or report failure.
• Suspicious redirect: Always verify final URL with web_fetch.
• Very small file (<10KB): Likely an error page or redirect, try another source.
• HTML instead of TXT: Try lynx -dump URL or search for a cleaner source.

Safety rules

• Only download from publicly available free sources.
• Do not use paid ebook platforms (Kindle, Douban books, etc.).
• Do not bypass paywalls or DRM.
• Do not redistribute downloaded files beyond personal use.