Bible Index

bibleIndex returns the structure of a translation — every book, its localized name, how many chapters it has, and how many verses are in each chapter. No verse text.

This is what you build navigation from.

GraphQL

query {
  bibleIndex(translation: "eng-web") {
    bookId
    name
    chapterCount
  }
}

cURL

curl https://bibleql.org/graphql \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BIBLEQL_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data '{"query":"query { bibleIndex(translation: \"eng-web\") { bookId name chapterCount } }"}'

Ruby

require "bibleql"

client = BibleQL::Client.new(
  api_key: ENV.fetch("BIBLEQL_API_KEY"),
  api_url: "https://bibleql.org/graphql"
)

index = client.bible_index(translation: "eng-web")

index.each { |book| puts "#{book.name}: #{book.chapter_count} chapters" }

Node.js

import { BibleQLClient } from "bibleql-js";

const client = new BibleQLClient({
  apiKey: process.env.BIBLEQL_API_KEY!,
  apiUrl: "https://bibleql.org/graphql",
});

const index = await client.bibleIndex({
  translation: "eng-web",
});

index.forEach((b) => console.log(b.name, b.chapterCount));

Response

{
  "data": {
    "bibleIndex": [
      {
        "bookId": "GEN",
        "name": "Genesis",
        "chapterCount": 50
      },
      {
        "bookId": "EXO",
        "name": "Exodus",
        "chapterCount": 40
      },
      {
        "bookId": "LEV",
        "name": "Leviticus",
        "chapterCount": 27
      },
      // ... 63 more
    ]
  }
}

Full structure in one request

query {
  bibleIndex(translation: "eng-web") {
    bookId
    name
    testament
    position
    chapterCount
    chapters {
      number
      verseCount
    }
  }
}

That is enough to render a complete book → chapter → verse picker without touching the text at all. Fetch it once, cache it, and drive your whole navigation from it.

Do not select verses here

Chapter also exposes a verses field. Asking for it across the whole index means requesting every verse of the entire Bible in one query, which will exceed the complexity budget — and if it did not, it would be an enormous response.

Use bibleIndex for structure, then chapter to fetch the text of the one chapter your user opened.

Verse counts differ between translations

Do not hard-code them. Chapter and verse counts vary — some translations merge or split verses, and versification genuinely differs between editions. Always read counts from the index for the translation you are displaying.

This is also why you should not assume a reference valid in one translation resolves in another.

Structure versus canonical books

Query	Returns	Scope
books	66 canonical books, English names	Translation-independent
bibleIndex(translation:)	Books present in that translation, localized names, with chapter structure	One translation

Use books for a canonical list; use bibleIndex when the answer depends on the translation.

GraphQL

query {
  books {
    bookId
    name
    testament
    position
  }
}

cURL

curl https://bibleql.org/graphql \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BIBLEQL_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data '{"query":"query { books { bookId name testament position } }"}'

Ruby

require "bibleql"

client = BibleQL::Client.new(
  api_key: ENV.fetch("BIBLEQL_API_KEY"),
  api_url: "https://bibleql.org/graphql"
)

client.books.each { |b| puts "#{b.book_id} — #{b.name}" }

Node.js

import { BibleQLClient } from "bibleql-js";

const client = new BibleQLClient({
  apiKey: process.env.BIBLEQL_API_KEY!,
  apiUrl: "https://bibleql.org/graphql",
});

const books = await client.books();

books.forEach((b) => console.log(b.bookId, b.name));

Response

{
  "data": {
    "books": [
      {
        "bookId": "GEN",
        "name": "Gen",
        "testament": "OT",
        "position": 1
      },
      {
        "bookId": "EXO",
        "name": "Exod",
        "testament": "OT",
        "position": 2
      },
      {
        "bookId": "LEV",
        "name": "Lev",
        "testament": "OT",
        "position": 3
      },
      // ... 63 more
    ]
  }
}