media

Media: Extraction & Generation

This skill combines two capabilities: extracting metadata, transcripts, comments, chapters, and media from YouTube videos, and generating podcasts, videos, quizzes, reports, and more from research papers using Google NotebookLM.

YouTube Extraction

Instructions and tools for extracting metadata, transcripts, comments, chapters, and media from YouTube videos.

Prerequisites

pip install yt-dlp youtube-transcript-api youtube-comment-downloader

All three packages are pip-installable. No API keys required.

Dependency	Used for
yt-dlp	Metadata, video/audio download
youtube-transcript-api	Captions and transcripts
youtube-comment-downloader	Comment scraping

Commands

Extract everything (metadata + transcript + comments)

uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/extract.py all "$ARGUMENTS" --max-comments 20 --lang en

Extract metadata only

uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/extract.py metadata "$ARGUMENTS"

Extract transcript only

uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/extract.py transcript "$ARGUMENTS" --lang en

Extract comments

uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/extract.py comments "$ARGUMENTS" --max 20

Extract for research (compact summary with style hints)

uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/extract.py research "$ARGUMENTS" --lang en

Download video

uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/extract.py download-video "$ARGUMENTS" --quality 720p --output ./cache/downloads

Download audio (WAV)

uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/extract.py download-audio "$ARGUMENTS" --output ./cache/downloads

Extract chapters as scenes

uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/extract.py chapters "$ARGUMENTS" --lang en

Output

All commands output JSON to stdout by default. Use --output <file.json> to save to a file. Add --no-pretty to disable pretty-printing.

Guidelines

• Start with metadata to check the video exists and get basic info.
• Use transcript for lecture analysis, summarization, or content extraction.
• Use research for a compact, LLM-friendly summary with style hints and top comments.
• Use chapters to get chapter-aligned transcript segments.
• Only use download-video or download-audio when the user explicitly needs local media files.
• Always cite: video title, channel, and URL in any summary.

Content Generation (NotebookLM)

Generate podcasts, videos, quizzes, reports, and more from research papers using Google NotebookLM. This section covers both quick paper-to-podcast workflows and full NotebookLM CLI automation.

Prerequisites

NotebookLM requires a one-time browser login to Google. Check auth status before generating:

uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/auth.py check

If not authenticated, guide the user to run:

uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/auth.py login

This opens a browser for Google SSO. Credentials are cached at ~/.notebooklm/storage_state.json.

Required package: pip install notebooklm (or uv pip install notebooklm)

Agent Setup Verification

Before starting workflows, verify the CLI is ready:

1. notebooklm status -- Should show "Authenticated as: email@..."
2. notebooklm list --json -- Should return valid JSON (even if empty notebooks list)
3. If either fails -- Run notebooklm login

CI/CD, Multiple Accounts, and Parallel Agents

For automated environments, multiple accounts, or parallel agent workflows:

Variable	Purpose
NOTEBOOKLM_HOME	Custom config directory (default: ~/.notebooklm)
NOTEBOOKLM_AUTH_JSON	Inline auth JSON - no file writes needed

CI/CD setup: Set NOTEBOOKLM_AUTH_JSON from a secret containing your storage_state.json contents.

Multiple accounts: Use different NOTEBOOKLM_HOME directories per account.

Parallel agents: The CLI stores notebook context in a shared file (~/.notebooklm/context.json). Multiple concurrent agents using notebooklm use can overwrite each other's context.

Solutions for parallel workflows:

1. Always use explicit notebook ID (recommended): Pass -n <notebook_id> (for wait/download commands) or --notebook <notebook_id> (for others) instead of relying on use
2. Per-agent isolation: Set unique NOTEBOOKLM_HOME per agent: export NOTEBOOKLM_HOME=/tmp/agent-$ID
3. Use full UUIDs: Avoid partial IDs in automation (they can become ambiguous)

Available scripts

Script	Usage
auth.py	uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/auth.py check
generate.py	uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/generate.py podcast paper.pdf -o podcast.mp3
manage.py	uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/manage.py list

Quick Reference

Task	Command
Authenticate	notebooklm login
Diagnose auth issues	notebooklm auth check
Diagnose auth (full)	notebooklm auth check --test
List notebooks	notebooklm list
Create notebook	notebooklm create "Title"
Set context	notebooklm use <notebook_id>
Show context	notebooklm status
Add URL source	notebooklm source add "https://..."
Add file	notebooklm source add ./file.pdf
Add YouTube	notebooklm source add "https://youtube.com/..."
List sources	notebooklm source list
Delete source by ID	notebooklm source delete <source_id>
Delete source by exact title	notebooklm source delete-by-title "Exact Title"
Wait for source processing	notebooklm source wait <source_id>
Web research (fast)	notebooklm source add-research "query"
Web research (deep)	notebooklm source add-research "query" --mode deep --no-wait
Check research status	notebooklm research status
Wait for research	notebooklm research wait --import-all
Chat	notebooklm ask "question"
Chat (specific sources)	notebooklm ask "question" -s src_id1 -s src_id2
Chat (with references)	notebooklm ask "question" --json
Chat (save answer as note)	notebooklm ask "question" --save-as-note
Chat (save with title)	notebooklm ask "question" --save-as-note --note-title "Title"
Show conversation history	notebooklm history
Save all history as note	notebooklm history --save
Continue specific conversation	notebooklm ask "question" -c <conversation_id>
Save history with title	notebooklm history --save --note-title "My Research"
Get source fulltext	notebooklm source fulltext <source_id>
Get source guide	notebooklm source guide <source_id>
Generate podcast	notebooklm generate audio "instructions"
Generate podcast (JSON)	notebooklm generate audio --json
Generate podcast (specific sources)	notebooklm generate audio -s src_id1 -s src_id2
Generate video	notebooklm generate video "instructions"
Generate report	notebooklm generate report --format briefing-doc
Generate report (append instructions)	notebooklm generate report --format study-guide --append "Target audience: beginners"
Generate quiz	notebooklm generate quiz
Revise a slide	notebooklm generate revise-slide "prompt" --artifact <id> --slide 0
Check artifact status	notebooklm artifact list
Wait for completion	notebooklm artifact wait <artifact_id>
Download audio	notebooklm download audio ./output.mp3
Download video	notebooklm download video ./output.mp4
Download slide deck (PDF)	notebooklm download slide-deck ./slides.pdf
Download slide deck (PPTX)	notebooklm download slide-deck ./slides.pptx --format pptx
Download report	notebooklm download report ./report.md
Download mind map	notebooklm download mind-map ./map.json
Download data table	notebooklm download data-table ./data.csv
Download quiz	notebooklm download quiz quiz.json
Download quiz (markdown)	notebooklm download quiz --format markdown quiz.md
Download flashcards	notebooklm download flashcards cards.json
Download flashcards (markdown)	notebooklm download flashcards --format markdown cards.md
Delete notebook	notebooklm notebook delete <id>
List languages	notebooklm language list
Get language	notebooklm language get
Set language	notebooklm language set zh_Hans

Parallel safety: Use explicit notebook IDs in parallel workflows. Commands supporting -n shorthand: artifact wait, source wait, research wait/status, download *. Download commands also support -a/--artifact. Other commands use --notebook. For chat, use -c <conversation_id> to target a specific conversation.

Partial IDs: Use first 6+ characters of UUIDs. Must be unique prefix (fails if ambiguous). Works for ID-based commands such as use, source delete, and wait. For exact source-title deletion, use source delete-by-title "Title". For automation, prefer full UUIDs to avoid ambiguity.

Workflow

1. Generate a podcast from a paper

# From a local PDF
uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/generate.py podcast ./papers/attention.pdf -o podcast.mp3

# From a URL (arXiv, web page, etc.)
uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/generate.py podcast https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.12345 -o podcast.mp3

# Debate format (two speakers arguing perspectives)
uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/generate.py podcast paper.pdf -o debate.mp3 --format debate

# Deep dive (20-30 min detailed analysis)
uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/generate.py podcast paper.pdf -o deep.mp3 --format deep-dive --length long

# With custom focus instructions
uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/generate.py podcast paper.pdf -o podcast.mp3 \
  --instructions "Focus on the methodology and experimental results, skip the related work"

# In another language
uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/generate.py podcast paper.pdf -o podcast.mp3 --language ja

2. Generate other content types

# Video overview (MP4 with AI visuals)
uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/generate.py video paper.pdf -o overview.mp4 --style cinematic

# Quiz from paper content
uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/generate.py quiz paper.pdf -o quiz.json --difficulty hard

# Flashcards for study
uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/generate.py flashcards paper.pdf -o cards.json

# Report (study guide, briefing doc, or blog post)
uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/generate.py report paper.pdf -o guide.md --format study-guide

# Slide deck
uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/generate.py slides paper.pdf -o slides.pdf

# Infographic
uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/generate.py infographic paper.pdf -o infographic.png

3. Manage notebooks and artifacts

# List all notebooks
uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/manage.py list

# List artifacts in a notebook
uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/manage.py artifacts <notebook_id>

# Download an existing artifact
uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/manage.py download <notebook_id> --artifact <artifact_id> -o output.mp3

# Delete a notebook
uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/manage.py delete <notebook_id>

4. Multi-source notebooks (combine papers)

# Create a notebook, add multiple papers, then generate
uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/generate.py podcast \
  paper1.pdf paper2.pdf paper3.pdf \
  -o combined_podcast.mp3 \
  --title "Survey of Attention Mechanisms" \
  --format deep-dive \
  --instructions "Compare and contrast the approaches across all papers"

5. Research to podcast (automated with subagent)

When the user wants full automation (generate and download when ready):

1. Create notebook and add sources as usual
2. Wait for sources to be ready (use source wait or check source list --json)
3. Run notebooklm generate audio "..." --json -- parse artifact_id from output
4. Spawn a background agent using Task tool:

   Task(
     prompt="Wait for artifact {artifact_id} in notebook {notebook_id} to complete, then download.
             Use: notebooklm artifact wait {artifact_id} -n {notebook_id} --timeout 600
             Then: notebooklm download audio ./podcast.mp3 -a {artifact_id} -n {notebook_id}",
     subagent_type="general-purpose"
   )
   

5. Main conversation continues while agent waits

Error handling in subagent:

• If artifact wait returns exit code 2 (timeout): Report timeout, suggest checking artifact list
• If download fails: Check if artifact status is COMPLETED first

6. Bulk import with source waiting (subagent pattern)

When adding multiple sources and needing to wait for processing before chat/generation:

1. Add sources with --json to capture IDs:

   notebooklm source add "https://url1.com" --json  # -> {"source_id": "abc..."}
   notebooklm source add "https://url2.com" --json  # -> {"source_id": "def..."}
   

2. Spawn a background agent to wait for all sources:

   Task(
     prompt="Wait for sources {source_ids} in notebook {notebook_id} to be ready.
             For each: notebooklm source wait {id} -n {notebook_id} --timeout 120
             Report when all ready or if any fail.",
     subagent_type="general-purpose"
   )
   

3. Main conversation continues while agent waits
4. Once sources are ready, proceed with chat or generation

Why wait for sources? Sources must be indexed before chat or generation. Takes 10-60 seconds per source.

7. Deep web research (subagent pattern)

Deep research finds and analyzes web sources on a topic:

1. Create notebook: notebooklm create "Research: [topic]"
2. Start deep research (non-blocking):

   notebooklm source add-research "topic query" --mode deep --no-wait
   

3. Spawn a background agent to wait and import:

   Task(
     prompt="Wait for research in notebook {notebook_id} to complete and import sources.
             Use: notebooklm research wait -n {notebook_id} --import-all --timeout 300
             Report how many sources were imported.",
     subagent_type="general-purpose"
   )
   

4. Main conversation continues while agent waits
5. When agent completes, sources are imported automatically

Alternative (blocking): For simple cases, omit --no-wait:

notebooklm source add-research "topic" --mode deep --import-all
# Blocks for up to 5 minutes

When to use each mode:

• --mode fast: Specific topic, quick overview needed (5-10 sources, seconds)
• --mode deep: Broad topic, comprehensive analysis needed (20+ sources, 2-5 min)

Research sources:

• --from web: Search the web (default)
• --from drive: Search Google Drive

Generation Types

All generate commands support:

• -s, --source to use specific source(s) instead of all sources
• --language to set output language (defaults to configured language or 'en')
• --json for machine-readable output (returns task_id and status)
• --retry N to automatically retry on rate limits with exponential backoff

Type	Command	Options	Download
Podcast	generate audio	--format [deep-dive|brief|critique|debate], --length [short|default|long]	.mp3
Video	generate video	--format [explainer|brief], --style [auto|classic|whiteboard|kawaii|anime|watercolor|retro-print|heritage|paper-craft]	.mp4
Slide Deck	generate slide-deck	--format [detailed|presenter], --length [default|short]	.pdf / .pptx
Slide Revision	generate revise-slide "prompt" --artifact <id> --slide N	--wait, --notebook	(re-downloads parent deck)
Infographic	generate infographic	--orientation [landscape|portrait|square], --detail [concise|standard|detailed], --style [auto|sketch-note|professional|bento-grid|editorial|instructional|bricks|clay|anime|kawaii|scientific]	.png
Report	generate report	--format [briefing-doc|study-guide|blog-post|custom], --append "extra instructions"	.md
Mind Map	generate mind-map	(sync, instant)	.json
Data Table	generate data-table	description required	.csv
Quiz	generate quiz	--difficulty [easy|medium|hard], --quantity [fewer|standard|more]	.json/.md/.html
Flashcards	generate flashcards	--difficulty [easy|medium|hard], --quantity [fewer|standard|more]	.json/.md/.html

Audio format reference

Format	Description	Best for
brief	Quick 5-10 min overview (default)	Getting the gist of a paper
deep-dive	Detailed 20-30 min analysis	Thorough understanding
critique	Critical examination of methodology	Paper review prep
debate	Two-speaker debate format	Exploring multiple perspectives

Length	Duration
short	5-10 minutes
default	10-20 minutes
long	20-30+ minutes

Video style reference

Style	Description
auto	AI selects best style (default)
classic	Clean, professional
whiteboard	Hand-drawn whiteboard aesthetic
cinematic	AI-generated documentary footage
anime	Anime-inspired visuals
watercolor	Watercolor painting style
retro	Vintage aesthetic
kawaii	Cute, Japanese-inspired style
heritage	Traditional, historical aesthetic
paper-craft	Paper cutout style
retro-print	Retro print aesthetic

Features Beyond the Web UI

These capabilities are available via CLI but not in NotebookLM's web interface:

Feature	Command	Description
Batch downloads	download <type> --all	Download all artifacts of a type at once
Quiz/Flashcard export	download quiz --format json	Export as JSON, Markdown, or HTML (web UI only shows interactive view)
Mind map extraction	download mind-map	Export hierarchical JSON for visualization tools
Data table export	download data-table	Download structured tables as CSV
Slide deck as PPTX	download slide-deck --format pptx	Download slide deck as editable .pptx (web UI only offers PDF)
Slide revision	generate revise-slide "prompt" --artifact <id> --slide N	Modify individual slides with a natural-language prompt
Report template append	generate report --format study-guide --append "..."	Append custom instructions to built-in format templates without losing the format type
Source fulltext	source fulltext <id>	Retrieve the indexed text content of any source
Save chat to note	ask "..." --save-as-note / history --save	Save Q&A answers or conversation history as notebook notes
Programmatic sharing	share commands	Manage sharing permissions without the UI

Command Output Formats

Commands with --json return structured data for parsing:

Create notebook:

$ notebooklm create "Research" --json
{"id": "abc123de-...", "title": "Research"}

Add source:

$ notebooklm source add "https://example.com" --json
{"source_id": "def456...", "title": "Example", "status": "processing"}

Generate artifact:

$ notebooklm generate audio "Focus on key points" --json
{"task_id": "xyz789...", "status": "pending"}

Chat with references:

$ notebooklm ask "What is X?" --json
{"answer": "X is... [1] [2]", "conversation_id": "...", "turn_number": 1, "is_follow_up": false, "references": [{"source_id": "abc123...", "citation_number": 1, "cited_text": "Relevant passage from source..."}, {"source_id": "def456...", "citation_number": 2, "cited_text": "Another passage..."}]}

Source fulltext (get indexed content):

$ notebooklm source fulltext <source_id> --json
{"source_id": "...", "title": "...", "char_count": 12345, "content": "Full indexed text..."}

Extract IDs: Parse the id, source_id, or task_id field from JSON output.

Status values:

• Sources: processing -> ready (or error)
• Artifacts: pending or in_progress -> completed (or unknown)

Language Configuration

Language setting controls the output language for generated artifacts (audio, video, etc.).

Important: Language is a GLOBAL setting that affects all notebooks in your account.

# List all 80+ supported languages with native names
notebooklm language list

# Show current language setting
notebooklm language get

# Set language for artifact generation
notebooklm language set zh_Hans  # Simplified Chinese
notebooklm language set ja       # Japanese
notebooklm language set en       # English (default)

Common language codes:

Code	Language
en	English
zh_Hans	Simplified Chinese
zh_Hant	Traditional Chinese
ja	Japanese
ko	Korean
es	Spanish
fr	French
de	German
pt_BR	Portuguese (Brasil)

Override per command: Use --language flag on generate commands:

notebooklm generate audio --language ja   # Japanese podcast
notebooklm generate video --language zh_Hans  # Chinese video

Offline mode: Use --local flag to skip server sync:

notebooklm language set zh_Hans --local  # Save locally only
notebooklm language get --local  # Read local config only

Integration with research skill

The research skill downloads papers to ./papers/. Feed them directly:

# Step 1: Download paper (research skill)
uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../research/scripts/download.py 2401.12345 -o ./papers/

# Step 2: Generate podcast
uv run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/generate.py podcast ./papers/2401.12345.pdf -o podcast.mp3

Processing Times

Operation	Typical time	Suggested timeout
Source processing	30s - 10 min	600s
Research (fast)	30s - 2 min	180s
Research (deep)	15 - 30+ min	1800s
Notes	instant	n/a
Mind-map	instant (sync)	n/a
Quiz, flashcards	5 - 15 min	900s
Report, data-table	5 - 15 min	900s
Audio generation	10 - 20 min	1200s
Video generation	15 - 45 min	2700s

Polling intervals: When checking status manually, poll every 15-30 seconds to avoid excessive API calls.

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Action
Auth/cookie error	Session expired	Run notebooklm auth check then notebooklm login
"No notebook context"	Context not set	Use -n <id> or --notebook <id> flag (parallel), or notebooklm use <id> (single-agent)
"No result found for RPC ID"	Rate limiting	Wait 5-10 min, retry
GENERATION_FAILED	Google rate limit	Wait and retry later
Download fails	Generation incomplete	Check artifact list for status
Invalid notebook/source ID	Wrong ID	Run notebooklm list to verify
RPC protocol error	Google changed APIs	May need CLI update

On failure, offer the user a choice:

1. Retry the operation
2. Skip and continue with something else
3. Investigate the error

Exit Codes

All commands use consistent exit codes:

Code	Meaning	Action
0	Success	Continue
1	Error (not found, processing failed)	Check stderr, see Error Handling
2	Timeout (wait commands only)	Extend timeout or check status manually

Examples:

• source wait returns 1 if source not found or processing failed
• artifact wait returns 2 if timeout reached before completion
• generate returns 1 if rate limited (check stderr for details)

Rules

Autonomy rules

Run automatically (no confirmation):

• notebooklm status - check context
• notebooklm auth check - diagnose auth issues
• notebooklm list - list notebooks
• notebooklm source list - list sources
• notebooklm artifact list - list artifacts
• notebooklm language list - list supported languages
• notebooklm language get - get current language
• notebooklm language set - set language (global setting)
• notebooklm artifact wait - wait for artifact completion (in subagent context)
• notebooklm source wait - wait for source processing (in subagent context)
• notebooklm research status - check research status
• notebooklm research wait - wait for research (in subagent context)
• notebooklm use <id> - set context (single-agent only -- use -n flag in parallel workflows)
• notebooklm create - create notebook
• notebooklm ask "..." - chat queries (without --save-as-note)
• notebooklm history - display conversation history (read-only)
• notebooklm source add - add sources

Ask before running:

• notebooklm delete - destructive
• notebooklm generate * - long-running, may fail
• notebooklm download * - writes to filesystem
• notebooklm artifact wait - long-running (when in main conversation)
• notebooklm source wait - long-running (when in main conversation)
• notebooklm research wait - long-running (when in main conversation)
• notebooklm ask "..." --save-as-note - writes a note
• notebooklm history --save - writes a note

General rules

• Always check auth status before first generation attempt
• Generation takes 1-5 minutes -- use --wait (default) to poll until complete
• NotebookLM has rate limits -- add delays between bulk generations
• Session cookies expire -- if auth fails, re-run auth.py login
• Downloaded audio is MP3, video is MP4
• Multi-source notebooks produce richer podcasts -- combine related papers when possible
• The --instructions flag is powerful -- use it to focus on specific sections or perspectives

Troubleshooting

notebooklm --help              # Main commands
notebooklm auth check          # Diagnose auth issues
notebooklm auth check --test   # Full auth validation with network test
notebooklm notebook --help     # Notebook management
notebooklm source --help       # Source management
notebooklm research --help     # Research status/wait
notebooklm generate --help     # Content generation
notebooklm artifact --help     # Artifact management
notebooklm download --help     # Download content
notebooklm language --help     # Language settings

Diagnose auth: notebooklm auth check - shows cookie domains, storage path, validation status Re-authenticate: notebooklm login Check version: notebooklm --version Update skill: notebooklm skill install