notebooklm

NotebookLM Automation

Complete programmatic access to Google NotebookLM—including capabilities not exposed in the web UI. Create notebooks, add sources (URLs, YouTube, PDFs, audio, video, images), chat with content, generate all artifact types, and download results in multiple formats.

Installation

From PyPI (Recommended):

pip install notebooklm-py

From GitHub (use latest release tag, NOT main branch):

# Get the latest release tag (using curl)
LATEST_TAG=$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/teng-lin/notebooklm-py/releases/latest | grep '"tag_name"' | cut -d'"' -f4)
pip install "git+https://github.com/teng-lin/notebooklm-py@${LATEST_TAG}"

⚠️ DO NOT install from main branch (pip install git+https://github.com/teng-lin/notebooklm-py). The main branch may contain unreleased/unstable changes. Always use PyPI or a specific release tag, unless you are testing unreleased features.

Prerequisites

IMPORTANT: Before using any command, you MUST authenticate:

notebooklm login          # Opens browser for Google OAuth
notebooklm list           # Verify authentication works

If commands fail with authentication errors, re-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_PROFILE	Active profile name (default: default)
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 named profiles (notebooklm profile create work, then notebooklm -p work login). Alternatively, 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 via profiles: export NOTEBOOKLM_PROFILE=agent-$ID (each profile gets its own context file)
3. Per-agent isolation via home: Set unique NOTEBOOKLM_HOME per agent: export NOTEBOOKLM_HOME=/tmp/agent-$ID
4. Use full UUIDs: Avoid partial IDs in automation (they can become ambiguous)

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

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
• notebooklm profile list - list profiles
• notebooklm profile create - create profile
• notebooklm profile switch - switch active profile
• notebooklm doctor - check environment health

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

Quick Reference

For a complete command reference, see references/quick-reference.md.

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..."}

Understanding citations: The cited_text in references is often a snippet or section header, not the full quoted passage. The start_char/end_char positions reference NotebookLM's internal chunked index, not the raw fulltext. Use SourceFulltext.find_citation_context() to locate citations:

fulltext = await client.sources.get_fulltext(notebook_id, ref.source_id)
matches = fulltext.find_citation_context(ref.cited_text)  # Returns list[(context, position)]
if matches:
    context, pos = matches[0]  # First match; check len(matches) > 1 for duplicates

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

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

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

Common Workflows

Research to Podcast (Interactive)

Time: 5-10 minutes total

1. notebooklm create "Research: [topic]" — if fails: check auth with notebooklm login
2. notebooklm source add for each URL/document — if one fails: log warning, continue with others
3. Wait for sources: notebooklm source list --json until all status=READY — required before generation
4. notebooklm generate audio "Focus on [specific angle]" (confirm when asked) — if rate limited: wait 5 min, retry once
5. Note the artifact ID returned
6. Check notebooklm artifact list later for status
7. notebooklm download audio ./podcast.mp3 when complete (confirm when asked)

Research to Podcast (Automated with Subagent)

Time: 5-10 minutes, but continues in background

When 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

Benefits: Non-blocking, user can do other work, automatic download on completion

Document Analysis

Time: 1-2 minutes

1. notebooklm create "Analysis: [project]"
2. notebooklm source add ./doc.pdf (or URLs)
3. notebooklm ask "Summarize the key points"
4. notebooklm ask "What are the main arguments?"
5. Continue chatting as needed

Bulk Import

Time: Varies by source count

1. notebooklm create "Collection: [name]"
2. Add multiple sources:

   notebooklm source add "https://url1.com"
   notebooklm source add "https://url2.com"
   notebooklm source add ./local-file.pdf
   

3. notebooklm source list to verify

Source limits: Varies by plan—Standard: 50, Plus: 100, Pro: 300, Ultra: 600 sources per notebook. See NotebookLM plans for details. The CLI does not enforce these limits; they are applied by your NotebookLM account. Supported types: PDFs, YouTube URLs, web URLs, Google Docs, text files, Markdown, Word docs, audio files, video files, images

Bulk Import with Source Waiting (Subagent Pattern)

Time: Varies by source count

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.

Deep Web Research (Subagent Pattern)

Time: 2-5 minutes, runs in background

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

Output Style

Progress updates: Brief status for each step

• "Creating notebook 'Research: AI'..."
• "Adding source: https://example.com..."
• "Starting audio generation... (task ID: abc123)"

Fire-and-forget for long operations:

• Start generation, return artifact ID immediately
• Do NOT poll or wait in main conversation - generation takes 5-45 minutes (see timing table)
• User checks status manually, OR use subagent with artifact wait

JSON output: Use --json flag for machine-readable output:

notebooklm list --json
notebooklm auth check --json
notebooklm source list --json
notebooklm artifact list --json

JSON schemas (key fields):

notebooklm list --json:

{"notebooks": [{"id": "...", "title": "...", "created_at": "..."}]}

notebooklm auth check --json:

{"checks": {"storage_exists": true, "json_valid": true, "cookies_present": true, "sid_cookie": true, "token_fetch": true}, "details": {"storage_path": "...", "auth_source": "file", "cookies_found": ["SID", "HSID", "..."], "cookie_domains": [".google.com"]}}

notebooklm source list --json:

{"sources": [{"id": "...", "title": "...", "status": "ready|processing|error"}]}

notebooklm artifact list --json:

{"artifacts": [{"id": "...", "title": "...", "type": "Audio Overview", "status": "in_progress|pending|completed|unknown"}]}

Status values:

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

Error Handling

On failure, offer the user a choice:

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

Error decision tree:

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

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)

Known Limitations

Rate limiting: Audio, video, quiz, flashcards, infographic, and slide deck generation may fail due to Google's rate limits. This is an API limitation, not a bug.

Reliable operations: These always work:

• Notebooks (list, create, delete, rename)
• Sources (add, list, delete)
• Chat/queries
• Mind-map, study-guide, report, data-table generation

Unreliable operations: These may fail with rate limiting:

• Audio (podcast) generation
• Video generation
• Quiz and flashcard generation
• Infographic and slide deck generation

Workaround: If generation fails:

1. Check status: notebooklm artifact list
2. Retry after 5-10 minutes
3. Use the NotebookLM web UI as fallback

Processing times vary significantly. Use the subagent pattern for long operations:

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.

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	中文（简体） - Simplified Chinese
zh_Hant	中文（繁體） - Traditional Chinese
ja	日本語 - Japanese
ko	한국어 - Korean
es	Español - Spanish
fr	Français - French
de	Deutsch - German
pt_BR	Português (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

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 Refresh a CLI-managed install: notebooklm skill install