open-notebook

name	open-notebook
description	Self-hosted NotebookLM alternative — organize research, chat with content, generate podcasts
version	1.0.0
author	Hermes Agent
license	MIT
platforms	["linux","macos"]
metadata	{"hermes":{"tags":["research","knowledge-management","podcast","llm","selfhosted"],"related_skills":["crawl4ai","youtube-content"]}}

Open Notebook

Open-source, privacy-focused alternative to Google NotebookLM. Supports 18+ AI providers, multi-modal content, and podcast generation.

Prerequisites

• Docker and Docker Compose
• An AI provider API key (OpenAI, Anthropic, Ollama, etc.)
• Git

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/lfnovo/open-notebook
cd open-notebook
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env to add your AI provider API key
docker compose up -d
# Open http://localhost:8000

Usage Examples

Add Content Sources

• Paste URLs (web pages, YouTube videos)
• Upload PDFs, audio files, images
• The system auto-processes and indexes content

Chat with Your Research

• Use the web UI to ask questions about your content
• The AI uses your uploaded content as context
• Supports full-text and vector search

Generate Podcasts

• Select notebook entries to include
• Choose 1-4 speakers with custom voice profiles
• Generates a multi-speaker podcast from your research

Configuration

AI Providers

Configure in .env or the web UI:

• OpenAI (GPT-4, etc.)
• Anthropic (Claude)
• Ollama (local models)
• LM Studio
• 15+ other providers

Content Sources

Edit sources.toml to add RSS feeds or URLs for automatic ingestion.

Common Pitfalls

• API costs: Podcast generation uses significant tokens. Start with short notebooks.
• Docker resources: The vector search needs RAM. Allocate 2GB+ to Docker.
• First run slow: Initial content processing takes time depending on volume.

Verification

# Check container is running
docker compose ps

# Test the API
curl http://localhost:8000/api/health

# Check web UI
open http://localhost:8000

Links

• GitHub: https://github.com/lfnovo/open-notebook
• Website: https://www.open-notebook.ai
• Discord: https://discord.gg/37XJPXfz2w