Notebooklm

NotebookLM — Programmatic Access

Create notebooks, add sources, query Gemini, generate content — all from CLI. Powered by notebooklm-py (unofficial Python API via reverse-engineered Google RPC).

When to Use

• Create notebooks programmatically
• Add sources: URLs, PDFs, YouTube, Google Drive, raw text
• Query notebooks with Gemini (source-grounded answers, zero hallucination)
• Generate artifacts: podcasts, videos, quizzes, flashcards, slides, reports, mind maps, infographics, data tables
• Download generated content (MP3, MP4, PDF, PNG, CSV, JSON, MD)

Setup

All commands go through run.sh which manages the uv environment and deps:

cd ~/.pi/agent/skills/notebooklm
bash run.sh status        # check auth + show active notebook
bash run.sh login         # browser opens for Google login (one-time)

⚠️ Always use run.sh

# ✅ CORRECT
cd ~/.pi/agent/skills/notebooklm && bash run.sh <command> [args...]

# ❌ WRONG — might use wrong env or not exist in PATH
notebooklm <command>
python -m notebooklm ...

Core Workflows

Check Status / List

bash run.sh status
bash run.sh list

Create Notebook + Add Sources

bash run.sh create "My Research Topic"
bash run.sh use <notebook_id>

# Add sources (auto-detects type)
bash run.sh source add "https://example.com/article"
bash run.sh source add "https://youtube.com/watch?v=..."
bash run.sh source add "./document.pdf"
bash run.sh source add-text "Title" "Raw text content here"

# Auto-discover and import sources on a topic
bash run.sh source add-research "topic query" --mode deep

Query / Chat

bash run.sh ask "What are the main themes?"
bash run.sh ask "Compare the approaches" --json    # with source refs
bash run.sh ask "Summarize" -s source_id1 -s source_id2  # specific sources only

Generate Artifacts

# Audio (podcast)
bash run.sh generate audio "Focus on practical applications" --wait
bash run.sh generate audio --format deep-dive --length long --wait
bash run.sh generate audio --format debate --wait

# Video
bash run.sh generate video --style whiteboard --wait

# Text/Visual
bash run.sh generate report --format study-guide --wait
bash run.sh generate quiz --difficulty hard --quantity more --wait
bash run.sh generate flashcards --wait
bash run.sh generate slide-deck --wait
bash run.sh generate infographic --orientation portrait --wait
bash run.sh generate mind-map
bash run.sh generate data-table "compare key concepts" --wait

Download Artifacts

bash run.sh download audio ./podcast.mp3
bash run.sh download video ./overview.mp4
bash run.sh download slide-deck ./slides.pdf
bash run.sh download report ./report.md
bash run.sh download quiz --format markdown ./quiz.md
bash run.sh download flashcards --format json ./cards.json
bash run.sh download infographic ./infographic.png
bash run.sh download mind-map ./mindmap.json
bash run.sh download data-table ./data.csv
bash run.sh download audio --all    # batch

Manage Sources

bash run.sh source list
bash run.sh source get <source_id>
bash run.sh source fulltext <source_id>         # indexed text
bash run.sh source guide <source_id>            # AI summary + keywords
bash run.sh source rename <source_id> "Better Name"
bash run.sh source refresh <source_id>          # re-fetch URL
bash run.sh source delete <source_id>

Share & Export

bash run.sh share                               # toggle public sharing
bash run.sh share --revoke

Research Agents

bash run.sh source add-research "AI safety" --mode deep --import-all
bash run.sh source add-research "market trends" --from drive
bash run.sh research status
bash run.sh research wait --import-all

Multi-Account Management

bash run.sh account list              # show all accounts
bash run.sh account add <name>        # login + save as named account
bash run.sh account use <name>        # switch to account
bash run.sh account rm <name>         # remove account

Parallel Execution

All commands accept -n <notebook_id>, enabling concurrent operations on different notebooks.

NB_A="<id_a>"
NB_B="<id_b>"

# Parallel research
(bash run.sh source add-research "topic A" -n $NB_A --mode fast --import-all &
 bash run.sh source add-research "topic B" -n $NB_B --mode fast --import-all &
 wait)

# Parallel queries
(bash run.sh ask "question" -n $NB_A --new > /tmp/a.txt &
 bash run.sh ask "question" -n $NB_B --new > /tmp/b.txt &
 wait)

Safe concurrency: 3-4 parallel. Beyond that, Google rate limits kick in.

Sourced Q&A Pipeline (ask --json)

Use --json for citation → source mapping in programmatic pipelines:

# Returns answer + references[{citation_number, source_id, cited_text}]
bash run.sh ask "When was X founded? 1-2 sentences. Cite [N]." --json --new

# Map source_id → URL
bash run.sh source list --json

Rules:

• Keep answers short ("2-3 sentences") — long answers timeout on --json
• Use --new per question — prevents context bleed
• Retry 2-3x on timeout — Google API is flaky
• 30+ sources give best results; auto-research alone gives 5-10

Timeout fix (patch after each upgrade):

# In .venv/.../notebooklm/_core.py, line ~35:
# Change: DEFAULT_TIMEOUT = 30.0
# To:     DEFAULT_TIMEOUT = float(os.environ.get("NOTEBOOKLM_TIMEOUT", "120"))
# Also add: import os

Then: NOTEBOOKLM_TIMEOUT=120 bash run.sh ask "..." --json --new

Citation chain: answer → [N] → source_id → URL (from source list --json)

Audio Formats & Styles

Python API

import asyncio
from notebooklm import NotebookLMClient

async def main():
    async with await NotebookLMClient.from_storage() as client:
        nb = await client.notebooks.create("Research")
        await client.sources.add_url(nb.id, "https://example.com")
        result = await client.chat.ask(nb.id, "Summarize")
        print(result.answer)

asyncio.run(main())

Run scripts: cd ~/.pi/agent/skills/notebooklm && source .venv/bin/activate && python my_script.py

Limitations

• Unofficial API — uses reverse-engineered Google RPC, can break
• Rate limits — free tier has daily limits
• Auth cookies expire — re-run bash run.sh login
• ~50 sources per notebook — create multiple notebooks for larger projects

Troubleshooting

Data Storage

~/.notebooklm/
├── storage_state.json     # Auth cookies
├── context.json           # Active notebook/conversation
├── browser_profile/       # Chromium profile (for login)
└── accounts/              # Multi-account storage
    ├── personal.json
    └── work.json