Notebooklm

NotebookLM

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.

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Installation

Python package (required):

pip install notebooklm-py

Skill install:

notebooklm skill install
# or
npx skills add teng-lin/notebooklm-py

Authenticate before first use:

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

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Agent setup verification

Before starting any workflow, verify the CLI is ready:

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

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When this skill activates

Explicit invocation: user says "/notebooklm", "use NotebookLM", or mentions the tool by name.

Intent detection — activate for requests like:

• "Create a podcast about [topic]"
• "Summarize these URLs/documents"
• "Generate a quiz from my research"
• "Turn this into an audio overview"
• "Create flashcards for studying"
• "Generate a video explainer"
• "Make an infographic"
• "Create a mind map of the concepts"
• "Download the quiz as markdown"
• "Add these sources to NotebookLM"

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Autonomy rules

Run automatically (no confirmation needed):

• 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 / get / set — language settings
• notebooklm artifact wait (in subagent context)
• notebooklm source wait (in subagent context)
• notebooklm research wait (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 / notebooklm source wait / notebooklm research wait — long-running (when in main conversation)
• notebooklm ask "..." --save-as-note — writes a note
• notebooklm history --save — writes a note

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Quick reference

Task	Command
Authenticate	notebooklm login
Diagnose auth issues	notebooklm auth check
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
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
Chat	notebooklm ask "question"
Chat (save answer as note)	notebooklm ask "question" --save-as-note
Show conversation history	notebooklm history
Generate podcast	notebooklm generate audio "instructions"
Generate video	notebooklm generate video "instructions"
Generate slide deck	notebooklm generate slide-deck
Generate infographic	notebooklm generate infographic
Generate report	notebooklm generate report --format briefing-doc
Generate quiz	notebooklm generate quiz
Generate flashcards	notebooklm generate flashcards
Generate mind map	notebooklm generate mind-map
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 quiz (markdown)	notebooklm download quiz --format markdown quiz.md
Download flashcards (markdown)	notebooklm download flashcards --format markdown cards.md
List languages	notebooklm language list
Set language	notebooklm language set zh_Hans
Delete notebook	notebooklm notebook delete <id>

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Generation types

All generate commands support -s, --source (specific sources), --language (output language), --json (machine-readable output), and --retry N (auto-retry on rate limits).

Type	Command	Options	Download format
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
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
Flashcards	generate flashcards	--difficulty [easy|medium|hard], --quantity [fewer|standard|more]	.json/.md

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Features beyond the web UI

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
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	Editable .pptx (web UI only offers PDF)
Slide revision	generate revise-slide "prompt" --artifact <id> --slide N	Modify individual slides
Report template append	generate report --format study-guide --append "..."	Append custom instructions
Source fulltext	source fulltext <id>	Retrieve indexed text content of any source
Save chat to note	ask "..." --save-as-note	Save Q&A answers as notebook notes

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Common workflows

Research to podcast

1. notebooklm create "Research: [topic]"
2. notebooklm source add for each URL/document
3. Wait for sources: notebooklm source list --json until all status=READY
4. notebooklm generate audio "Focus on [specific angle]" (confirm when asked)
5. Note the artifact ID returned
6. Check notebooklm artifact list for status
7. notebooklm download audio ./podcast.mp3 when complete

For automated/background generation, spawn a subagent after step 4:

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"
)

Document analysis

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

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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
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

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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> 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

Unreliable operations (may fail with rate limiting): audio, video, quiz, flashcards, infographic, slide deck generation. Workaround: retry after 5–10 minutes or use the NotebookLM web UI as fallback.

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Parallel safety

Use explicit notebook IDs in parallel workflows. Commands supporting -n shorthand: artifact wait, source wait, research wait/status, download *. For automation, prefer full UUIDs to avoid ambiguity.

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.

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Language configuration

Language setting controls output language for generated artifacts (audio, video, etc.). This is a GLOBAL setting affecting all notebooks.

notebooklm language list          # List 80+ supported languages
notebooklm language set zh_Hans   # Simplified Chinese
notebooklm language set en        # English (default)

Override per command: notebooklm generate audio --language ja