| name | notebooklm |
| description | Complete API for Google NotebookLM - full programmatic access including features not in the web UI. Create notebooks, add sources, generate all artifact types, download in multiple formats. Activates on explicit /notebooklm or intent like "create a podcast about X" |
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 for AI agents — Python-version-aware):
pip install "notebooklm-py[browser]"
if python -c "import sys; sys.exit(0 if sys.version_info < (3, 13) else 1)"; then
pip install "notebooklm-py[cookies]"
else
echo "Skipping [cookies] on Python 3.13+ (rookiepy unavailable). Use 'notebooklm login' interactively."
fi
Full install matrix (extras, headless servers, contributor flow): Installation guide on GitHub.
From GitHub (use latest release tag, NOT main branch):
LATEST_TAG=$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/teng-lin/notebooklm-py/releases/latest | grep '"tag_name"' | cut -d'"' -f4)
pip install "notebooklm-py[browser] @ git+https://github.com/teng-lin/notebooklm-py@${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.
Skill install methods:
notebooklm skill install installs this skill into the supported local agent directories managed by the CLI.npx skills add teng-lin/notebooklm-py installs this skill from the GitHub repository into compatible agent skill directories.- If you are already reading this file inside an agent skill directory, the skill is already installed. You only need the Python package and authentication below.
CLI-managed install:
notebooklm skill install
Cross-platform install (macOS / Windows / Linux)
The [browser] extra + the first notebooklm login download Chromium automatically (~170 MB, 30–90 s, no progress bar — wait it out). No manual playwright install chromium step is needed on macOS, Windows, or standard Linux.
Prerequisites
IMPORTANT: Before using any command, you MUST authenticate:
notebooklm login
notebooklm list
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 per profile (~/.notebooklm/profiles/<profile>/context.json, with a legacy fallback to ~/.notebooklm/context.json for the implicit default profile). Multiple concurrent agents that share a profile and use notebooklm use can overwrite each other's context — use one of the isolation strategies below.
Solutions for parallel workflows:
- 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
- Per-agent isolation via profiles:
export NOTEBOOKLM_PROFILE=agent-$ID (each profile gets its own context file)
- Per-agent isolation via home: Set unique
NOTEBOOKLM_HOME per agent: export NOTEBOOKLM_HOME=/tmp/agent-$ID
- Use full UUIDs: Avoid partial IDs in automation (they can become ambiguous)
Agent Setup Verification
Before starting workflows, verify auth is in place. Use --test --json (not bare --json) — bare --json only proves the cookie file parses; --test makes a network call and proves the cookies still authenticate against Google.
notebooklm auth check --test --json → require BOTH "status": "ok" AND "checks.token_fetch": true. Bare "status": "ok" (without --test) is a false-positive trap — a stale cookie file passes the parse check.notebooklm list --json → expect valid JSON (may be empty for new accounts).- If auth fails or is missing → run
notebooklm login first. This is the primary auth path: opens a browser, the user signs in to Google once, and the resulting storage_state.json is reused on every subsequent run. Works on any environment with a display.
- For headless contexts where opening a browser is not feasible, use
notebooklm login --browser-cookies <browser> instead — extracts the user's already-logged-in cookies from Chrome/Firefox/etc. (requires the [cookies] extra; rookiepy may not install on Python 3.13+). Use chrome::<profile-name-or-directory> to target one Chromium user-profile, or firefox::<container-name> / firefox::none to target one Firefox container.
- To survey signed-in Google accounts before picking one:
notebooklm auth inspect --browser <browser> (read-only; pass -v to see which Chromium user-profile each account came from, or --json for tooling). Scoped forms such as notebooklm auth inspect --browser 'chrome::Profile 1' inspect only that browser profile.
- Re-run step 1 after login to confirm.
- If auth was working but cookies went stale (Google rotated SIDTS, or you signed in fresh in the browser) → refresh the active profile in place instead of full re-login:
notebooklm auth refresh — server-side SIDTS refresh against the existing storage_state.json. Cheap and silent; safe to run on a schedule (cron / launchd / systemd) at 15–20 min cadence to keep an unattended profile warm.notebooklm auth refresh --browser-cookies <browser> — re-extract cookies from a running browser and match them back to the profile's recorded email in context.json. Use when the on-disk storage_state.json is too stale for the server-side refresh path but you've just signed back into Google in the browser. For Chromium-family browsers with multiple user-profiles (Chrome's Default, Profile 1, …), refresh fans out across all profiles to find the email — same path as auth inspect (issue #571). Use chrome::<profile-name-or-directory> when you already know the exact browser profile.- Both forms preserve the same
--profile (no new profile is created).
Note: notebooklm status reports context state (selected notebook); do not use it to verify auth.
When This Skill Activates
Explicit: User says "/notebooklm", "use notebooklm", or mentions the tool by name
Intent detection: Recognize 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"
Autonomy Rules
Run automatically (no confirmation):
notebooklm status - check contextnotebooklm auth check - diagnose auth issuesnotebooklm auth inspect - list Google accounts visible to a browser (read-only)notebooklm auth refresh - server-side SIDTS refresh of the active profile (no new profile, no destructive writes)notebooklm auth refresh --browser-cookies <browser> - re-extract cookies from a browser into the active profile (rebuilds storage_state.json for the same --profile, not a new one)notebooklm list - list notebooksnotebooklm source list - list sourcesnotebooklm artifact list - list artifactsnotebooklm language list - list supported languagesnotebooklm language get - get current languagenotebooklm 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 statusnotebooklm 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 notebooknotebooklm ask "..." - chat queries (without --save-as-note)notebooklm history - display conversation history (read-only)notebooklm source add - add sourcesnotebooklm profile list - list profilesnotebooklm profile create - create profilenotebooklm profile switch - switch active profilenotebooklm doctor - check environment health
Ask before running:
notebooklm delete / source delete / note delete / share remove / profile delete - destructive. Once approved, pass --yes/-y to skip the confirmation prompt (uniform across every destructive command). On the commands that also expose --json (e.g. delete, source delete, note delete, share remove), --json implies --yes so non-interactive callers never hang on the prompt; profile delete has no --json, so pass --yes explicitly there.notebooklm generate * - long-running, may failnotebooklm download * - writes to filesystemnotebooklm 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 notenotebooklm history --save - writes a note
Quick Reference
| Task | Command |
|---|
| Authenticate | notebooklm login |
| Authenticate from browser cookies | notebooklm login --browser-cookies <browser> |
| Authenticate from one Chromium profile | notebooklm login --browser-cookies 'chrome::Profile 1' |
| Authenticate from one Firefox container | notebooklm login --browser-cookies 'firefox::Work' |
| Import every signed-in account into its own profile | notebooklm login --browser-cookies <browser> --all-accounts |
| Inspect signed-in accounts (read-only, by email) | notebooklm auth inspect --browser <browser> |
| Inspect one browser profile/container | notebooklm auth inspect --browser 'chrome::Profile 1' |
| Diagnose auth issues | notebooklm auth check |
| Diagnose auth (full) | notebooklm auth check --test |
| Refresh active profile in place (server-side) | notebooklm auth refresh |
| Refresh active profile from a re-signed-in browser | notebooklm auth refresh --browser-cookies <browser> |
| Refresh from one Chromium profile | notebooklm auth refresh --browser-cookies 'chrome::Profile 1' |
| One-shot cookie keepalive (for cron) | notebooklm auth refresh --quiet |
| 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 |
| Web research (query from file) | notebooklm source add-research --prompt-file research_query.txt --mode deep |
| Check research status | notebooklm research status |
| Wait for research | notebooklm research wait --import-all |
| Chat | notebooklm ask "question" |
| Chat (long prompt from file) | notebooklm ask --prompt-file question.txt |
| 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 (long prompt from file) | notebooklm generate audio --prompt-file instructions.txt |
| 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 cinematic video | notebooklm download cinematic-video ./cinematic.mp4 (alias for download video) |
| Download infographic | notebooklm download infographic ./infographic.png |
| 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 delete -n <id> (add --yes to skip the prompt non-interactively) |
| List languages | notebooklm language list |
| Get language | notebooklm language get |
| Set language | notebooklm language set zh_Hans |
| List profiles | notebooklm profile list |
| Create profile | notebooklm profile create work |
| Switch profile | notebooklm profile switch work |
| Delete profile | notebooklm profile delete old --yes (-y; --confirm is a deprecated alias) |
| Rename profile | notebooklm profile rename old new |
| Use profile (one-off) | notebooklm -p work list |
| Health check | notebooklm doctor |
| Health check (auto-fix) | notebooklm doctor --fix |
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.
Command Output Formats
Commands with --json return structured data for parsing:
Create notebook:
$ notebooklm create "Research" --json
{"notebook": {"id": "abc123de-...", "title": "Research", "created_at": null}}
Add source:
$ notebooklm source add "https://example.com" --json
{"source": {"id": "def456...", "title": "Example", "type": "SourceType.WEB_PAGE", "url": "https://example.com"}}
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": "...", "content": "Full indexed text...", "_type_code": null, "url": null, "char_count": 12345}
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)
if matches:
context, pos = matches[0]
Extract IDs: Singular endpoints wrap their result in an envelope —
parse .notebook.id (from create), .source.id (from source add),
or .task_id (from generate *). The chat --json references list uses
.references[].source_id.
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 (supported on all subcommands except mind-map)--prompt-file PATH to read description/query from a file (supported on ask, generate subcommands except mind-map, and source add-research; mutually exclusive with positional argument; use for long prompts)
| Type | Command | Options | Download |
|---|
| Podcast | generate audio | --format [deep-dive|brief|critique|debate], --length [short|default|long] | .mp3 |
| Video | generate video | --format [explainer|brief|cinematic] (⁴), --style [auto|classic|whiteboard|kawaii|anime|watercolor|retro-print|heritage|paper-craft] | .mp4 |
| Slide Deck | generate slide-deck | --format [detailed|presenter], --length [default|short] (²) | .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" (¹) | .md |
| Mind Map | generate mind-map | --kind [interactive|note-backed] (³) (default: note-backed; flips to interactive in v0.8.0) | .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 |
¹ --append only customizes the built-in templates. With --format custom, pass the prompt as the positional DESCRIPTION argument (notebooklm generate report "PROMPT" --format custom); --append is silently ignored in that mode (the CLI prints a warning).
³ Two kinds of mind map (issue #1256). generate mind-map --kind note-backed (today's default) creates the note-backed kind — a JSON node tree, generated synchronously. generate mind-map --kind interactive creates the newer interactive studio artifact (what the web app now makes); it is polled to completion. Both emit the same {mind_map, note_id, kind} JSON, list under artifact list --type mind-map, and export via download mind-map. --instructions applies only to the note-backed kind. The default --kind switches to interactive in v0.8.0; omitting --kind prints a one-time stderr notice (silence with NOTEBOOKLM_QUIET_DEPRECATIONS=1).
⁴ Cinematic video (Veo 3). generate video --format cinematic generates AI documentary footage via Veo 3; it ignores --style, takes ~30-40 min, and requires a Google AI Ultra subscription. Also exposed as the generate cinematic-video alias (which forces --format cinematic and a longer default timeout). Download with download video or the download cinematic-video alias.
² Portrait / vertical slide decks via prompt. Slide-deck has no --orientation flag (unlike infographic). Treat portrait decks as skill-level prompt guidance, not a typed CLI/API contract: NotebookLM currently honors orientation cues written into the DESCRIPTION positional argument. Including phrases like "9:16 portrait", "vertical layout", "portrait mobile format", or "vertical 9:16 layout" can make NotebookLM render each slide as a 9:16 portrait image. Empirically:
- The
.pptx canvas itself may stay 16:9, but each slide's embedded image can be rendered as 9:16 portrait — useful for vertical/mobile video material extracted via python-pptx.
- Orientation is steered once at generation time.
generate revise-slide edits content within an existing slide but does not change its orientation; if a slide falls back to landscape (occasional inconsistency), regenerate the whole deck rather than revising the single page.
- Combine with an explicit page count in the prompt (e.g.
"Create exactly 8 pages, using a vertical 9:16 portrait layout") for the most predictable output.
notebooklm generate slide-deck "Create an 8-page deck in 9:16 portrait orientation for mobile viewing" --length default
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
notebooklm create "Research: [topic]" — if fails: check auth with notebooklm loginnotebooklm source add for each URL/document — if one fails: log warning, continue with others- Wait for sources:
notebooklm source list --json until all status=READY — required before generation
notebooklm generate audio "Focus on [specific angle]" (confirm when asked) — if rate limited: wait 5 min, retry once- Note the artifact ID returned
- Check
notebooklm artifact list later for status
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):
- Create notebook and add sources as usual
- Wait for sources to be ready (use
source wait or check source list --json)
- Run
notebooklm generate audio "..." --json → parse task_id from output
- Spawn a background agent using Task tool:
Task(
prompt="Wait for artifact {task_id} in notebook {notebook_id} to complete, then download.
Use: notebooklm artifact wait {task_id} -n {notebook_id} --timeout 1200
Then: notebooklm download audio ./podcast.mp3 -a {task_id} -n {notebook_id}",
subagent_type="general-purpose"
)
- 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
notebooklm create "Analysis: [project]"notebooklm source add ./doc.pdf (or URLs)notebooklm ask "Summarize the key points"notebooklm ask "What are the main arguments?"- Continue chatting as needed
Bulk Import
Time: Varies by source count
notebooklm create "Collection: [name]"- Add multiple sources:
notebooklm source add "https://url1.com"
notebooklm source add "https://url2.com"
notebooklm source add ./local-file.pdf
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, EPUB, 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:
- Add sources with
--json to capture IDs (parse with jq -r .source.id):
notebooklm source add "https://url1.com" --json
notebooklm source add "https://url2.com" --json
- 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 600
Report when all ready or if any fail.",
subagent_type="general-purpose"
)
- Main conversation continues while agent waits
- Once sources are ready, proceed with chat or generation
Why wait for sources? Sources must be indexed before chat or generation. Takes ~30 seconds to several minutes per source (see the processing-times table below).
Deep Web Research (Subagent Pattern)
Time: 15-30+ minutes, runs in background
Deep research finds and analyzes web sources on a topic:
- Create notebook:
notebooklm create "Research: [topic]"
- Start deep research (non-blocking):
notebooklm source add-research "topic query" --mode deep --no-wait
- 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 1800
Report how many sources were imported.",
subagent_type="general-purpose"
)
- Main conversation continues while agent waits
- When agent completes, sources are imported automatically
Alternative (blocking): For simple cases, omit --no-wait:
notebooklm source add-research "topic" --mode deep --import-all
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, 15-30+ 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 --test --json
notebooklm source list --json
notebooklm artifact list --json
JSON schemas (key fields):
notebooklm list --json:
{"notebooks": [{"index": 1, "id": "...", "title": "...", "is_owner": true, "created_at": "..."}], "count": 1}
notebooklm auth check --test --json (use --test to drive the network token-fetch — bare --json would leave "token_fetch": null):
{"status": "ok", "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:
{"notebook_id": "...", "notebook_title": "...", "sources": [{"index": 1, "id": "...", "title": "...", "type": "SourceType.WEB_PAGE", "url": "...", "status": "ready|processing|error", "status_id": 1, "created_at": "..."}], "count": 1}
notebooklm artifact list --json:
{"notebook_id": "...", "notebook_title": "...", "artifacts": [{"index": 1, "id": "...", "title": "...", "type": "Audio", "type_id": 1, "status": "in_progress|pending|completed|unknown", "status_id": 1, "created_at": "..."}], "count": 1}
Status values:
- Sources:
processing → ready (or error)
- Artifacts:
pending or in_progress → completed (or unknown)
Error Handling
On failure, offer the user a choice:
- Retry the operation
- Skip and continue with something else
- 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 failedartifact wait returns 2 if timeout reached before completiongenerate returns 1 if rate limited (check stderr for details)
Long Prompts
When a prompt or query exceeds shell command-line length limits, use --prompt-file to read it from a file:
notebooklm ask --prompt-file ./long_question.txt
notebooklm generate report --prompt-file ./custom_report_prompt.txt
notebooklm source add-research --prompt-file ./research_query.txt --mode deep
--prompt-file is mutually exclusive with the positional text argument. The file is read as UTF-8 with trailing whitespace stripped. Supported on: ask, all generate subcommands (except mind-map), and source add-research.
Note: --prompt-file reads a prompt/query text file, not a source document. To upload a file as a notebook source, use source add ./file.pdf.
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:
- Check status:
notebooklm artifact list
- Retry after 5-10 minutes
- 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.
notebooklm language list
notebooklm language get
notebooklm language set zh_Hans
notebooklm language set ja
notebooklm language set en
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
notebooklm generate video --language zh_Hans
Offline mode: Use --local flag to skip server sync:
notebooklm language set zh_Hans --local
notebooklm language get --local
Troubleshooting
notebooklm --help
notebooklm auth check
notebooklm auth check --test
notebooklm source --help
notebooklm research --help
notebooklm generate --help
notebooklm artifact --help
notebooklm download --help
notebooklm language --help
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
