| name | notebooklm |
| description | Browser automation skill for controlling Google's NotebookLM. Use when the user wants anything done in NotebookLM (e.g., 'open NotebookLM', 'check my [name] notebook', 'ask my notebook about X', 'add [source] to NotebookLM', 'generate a Video Overview from my notebook', 'use NotebookLM Studio'). Handles reading and querying notebooks, adding sources (URLs, text, files, YouTube links, synthesized content), generating Studio outputs (Audio/Video Overviews, Mind Maps, Reports incl. Briefing Doc/Study Guide/FAQ, Flashcards, Quiz, slide decks, infographics — discover the exact set from the live Studio panel; the UI evolves fast), and creating new notebooks. Requires browser automation environment — fails gracefully when unavailable. |
| license | MIT |
| metadata | {"source_spec":"megaprompts/03-notebooklm-megaprompt.md","build_pattern":"Path B (direct conversion)","shape":"browser-automation (distinct from research-pack convention)","version":"1.0.0"} |
NotebookLM — Browser Automation
Requires: A browser automation environment (Claude Code CLI with computer-use, Claude Chrome Extension, or equivalent). Skill will gracefully fail in non-automation contexts with a clear "not supported" message.
Critical: This skill is the only browser-automation skill in the v2 collection. It does NOT follow the research-pack Agent Integrity Rules convention. Different constraints apply (UI dynamics, async generation, login walls).
Step 0: Browser Context Setup (Mandatory)
Before any other action, verify browser automation is available:
- Check whether browser-control tools are loaded in the harness (screenshot, click, find-element, navigate)
- If unavailable → halt with clear message: "This skill requires browser automation. Currently in {context}. Cannot proceed. Use Claude Code CLI with computer-use, Claude Chrome Extension, or equivalent."
- If available → take initial screenshot, navigate to https://notebooklm.google.com
- Detect login wall via screenshot. If login screen detected: halt with "Please log in to NotebookLM in the browser, then re-invoke this skill." Never attempt to handle login automatically.
Phase 0: Grill-Me Intake (Action-Routing)
Up to 4 forcing questions, one at a time, dependency-ordered. Most invocations stop at Q3.
Q1 (root) — Action
What do you want me to do? Pick one:
- Read / extract — ask a question of an existing notebook
- Add a source — push content (URL, text, file, Google Doc, or synthesized content) into a notebook
- Generate a Studio output — Audio/Video Overview, Mind Map, Report (Briefing Doc, Study Guide, FAQ, Timeline), Flashcards, Quiz, Infographic, or Slides — the exact set comes from the live Studio panel
- Create a new notebook — initialize with title + initial sources
Why I'm asking: Each action takes a different path through the UI and requires different parameters. Naming the action upfront prevents wasted screenshots and lets me ask only the follow-up questions that apply.
Forcing choice. If the user says "open NotebookLM" without specifying an action, refuse to start and re-ask Q1.
Q2 (depends on Q1) — Notebook identity
Which notebook? (asked for actions 1, 2, 3 — not for "create new")
Why I'm asking: If you give me a name, I'll search the homepage; if you give me a URL, I'll navigate directly. Names that are ambiguous will get a disambiguation prompt with screenshots.
For action 4 (create new): replace with "What's the title for the new notebook?"
Q3 (depends on Q1) — Action-specific parameter
Action 1 (read/extract):
"What's the question to ask the notebook? Use natural phrasing — the notebook's chat handles it best."
Action 2 (add source):
"What source type? Pick one:
- URL / website / YouTube link
- Copied text (paste here or point at content)
- File upload (provide absolute path)
- Google Doc (link)
- Synthesized content (I'll pre-process and add as 'Copied text')
Why I'm asking: Each source type goes through a different sub-flow in the Add Source dialog. Picking upfront saves a step."
Action 3 (Studio output):
"Which Studio output? As of 2026-06 the Studio panel offers Audio Overview, Video Overview, Mind Map, Reports (Briefing Doc / Study Guide / FAQ / Timeline / custom), Flashcards, Quiz, Infographic, and Slides — I'll screenshot the live panel and confirm what your account actually shows before clicking. And: any custom-prompt direction? Default prompts produce mediocre output — I always open the customization menu and write a detailed prompt. Tell me the angle or audience.
Why I'm asking: The output type sets the UI button to find. The custom prompt is mandatory for quality."
Action 4 (create new):
"Initial sources? Provide URLs, file paths, or 'I'll add later'."
Q4 (depends on Q1 = action 3) — Studio custom prompt detail
Tell me the angle, audience, and length for the Studio output. Examples:
- Audio Overview: "Two-host conversation for a non-technical executive, 8–10 min, focus on business implications not technical depth"
- Infographic: "Decision-tree style, action-oriented, 6 panels max, monochrome navy"
- Study Guide: "Undergrad-level, definitions + 3 practice questions per concept"
Why I'm asking: This becomes the custom prompt. Default Studio prompts produce mediocre output — specific direction produces sharp output.
Asked only for Studio output generation (Q1=3). Skip otherwise.
Stop condition: After Q4 (or earlier with dependency skips), commit and start the action sequence.
See references/studio_output_custom_prompts.md for the canon.
Notebook Discovery
For actions 1-3 (require existing notebook):
- Navigate to homepage → screenshot
- If user provided URL → navigate directly
- If user provided name:
- Use semantic find() to locate notebook card by visible title text
- If multiple matches → screenshot homepage, list options, ask user to specify
- If no match → ask user to provide URL or confirm spelling
For action 4 (create new):
- Locate "New notebook" button on homepage
- Click → set title from Q2
- Add initial sources per Q3
Action 1: Read / Extract
- Open the notebook (notebook discovery above)
- Locate chat input (semantic find or screenshot coordinates)
- Type the question (use the user's natural phrasing from Q3)
- Submit (Enter or send button)
- Wait 3–5 seconds
- Screenshot the response area
- Extract and present in clean format (not raw chat dump)
Action 2: Add Sources
Sub-flows per source type:
| Type | UI flow |
|---|
| URL / Website / YouTube | Add Source → Link → paste URL |
| Copied Text | Add Source → Copied text → paste content |
| File Upload | Use file-upload tool with absolute path + input ref (never click native file picker) |
| Google Doc | Add Source → Google Docs → Drive picker |
| Synthesized content | Pre-process content elsewhere, then add as Copied text |
After every add: wait for ingestion spinner, screenshot to confirm success.
Synthesized content pattern (powerful): instead of asking NotebookLM to ingest a raw URL with potentially noisy content, pre-process the content (extract main article, strip nav/ads/comments), then add as "Copied text". Produces dramatically better summarization.
Action 3: Studio Outputs
Discover, don't assume. NotebookLM's Studio inventory changes between rollouts and account tiers. As of the last verification (2026-06) the panel offers: Audio Overview, Video Overview, Mind Map, Reports (Briefing Doc, Study Guide, FAQ, Timeline, custom report formats), Flashcards, Quiz, Infographic, Slides. Treat this list as a hint, not ground truth — the screenshot of the live Studio panel is the authority. NotebookLM's UI evolves quickly; verify against the live product and update this section when it drifts (Studio inventory last verified 2026-06).
Mandatory workflow:
- Locate Studio panel (right side; may need toggle) and screenshot it — the tiles you see are the real output types for this account
- Find the specific output button for the requested type (if it isn't visible, check "Discover more"/overflow before declaring it unavailable)
- Open customization menu (chevron/arrow next to button) — NOT the main button
- Write detailed custom prompt (from Q4)
- Confirm and submit
- Do NOT wait for completion — confirm generation started, notify user, return
Custom prompt examples (4 output types)
Audio Overview:
"Two-host conversation between a researcher and an experienced practitioner. Audience: non-technical executive making a budget decision. Length: 8-10 minutes. Focus on business implications, not technical depth. Include one concrete example per major point. Acknowledge counter-arguments briefly."
Infographic:
"Decision-tree style. Action-oriented (each panel ends with a decision or action). 6 panels max. Monochrome navy + amber highlight. Each panel has: title (4-6 words), 1-2 sentence body, decision/action line. No filler panels."
Study Guide:
"Undergraduate-level (define every technical term). Structure: 6 concepts × 4 elements each (definition / why it matters / one worked example / 3 practice questions). Practice questions Bloom-higher-order (apply/analyze), not recall."
Slides (slide deck):
"12 slides max. 1-2 sentences per slide body. Presenter notes per slide with: one concrete example + one likely audience objection + how to address it. No bullet points in slide bodies — prose only. End with one-slide call-to-action."
See references/studio_output_custom_prompts.md for more.
Action 4: Create New Notebook
- Navigate to homepage
- Click "New notebook"
- Set title from Q2
- Add initial sources from Q3 (use Action 2 sub-flows per source type)
- Wait for auto-summary generation (this one IS synchronous — usually completes in <30 sec)
- Screenshot final state
Critical Async Behavior
Async output rule: For Studio generations (especially Audio Overview — 5-10 min), DO NOT wait for completion. The user's session will time out.
Workflow: Click Generate → confirm generation has started via screenshot → tell the user "Generation in progress — NotebookLM will notify you when ready" → end the task.
This is the fire-and-notify pattern. Different from add-source and auto-summary (which are fast enough to wait).
Use scripts/async_action_classifier.py to determine wait-or-notify per action:
| Action | Wait? |
|---|
| Add Source (URL/text/file) | Yes — wait for ingestion spinner (~5-30s) |
| Read/Extract (chat) | Yes — wait 3-5s for response |
| Studio: Audio Overview | No — fire and notify (5-10 min) |
| Studio: Video Overview | No — fire and notify (5-15 min) |
| Studio: Infographic / Slides / Mind Map | No — fire and notify (2-5 min) |
| Studio: Study Guide / Briefing Doc / FAQ / Flashcards / Quiz | Yes — wait ~30-60s |
| Create New Notebook | Yes — wait for auto-summary (<30s) |
python3 scripts/async_action_classifier.py --action "video overview"
See references/async_action_discipline.md for the canon.
Screenshot-First Discipline
NotebookLM is a dynamic SPA where UI varies by:
- Account tier (free vs Plus vs Enterprise)
- Feature rollout (some Studio types not yet available to all users)
- Recent UI changes (Google iterates the product frequently)
Every UI action must be preceded by a screenshot. Reasons:
- Verify the UI matches expectations before acting
- Catch login walls early
- Detect unexpected layout changes
- Audit trail for debugging
Use screenshot() (or equivalent in your browser-automation tool) before every meaningful UI interaction.
See references/browser_automation_canon.md for the discipline.
find()-Before-Click
Use semantic element finders before pixel coordinates wherever possible:
- ✅
find(text="Audio Overview") → returns element regardless of position
- ❌
click(x=420, y=380) → breaks when UI rearranges
Semantic finders survive minor UI changes. Pixel coordinates do not.
Only fall back to coordinates when:
- Semantic find() returns nothing
- Element has no stable text/aria-label/data-attribute
- Visual position is the only reliable signal
Saving Outputs to Workspace
For Read/Extract actions producing useful information:
- Extract chat response cleanly (strip UI chrome)
- Format readably (paragraphs, lists, code blocks as appropriate)
- If user requested → save to file (
${WORKSPACE}/notebooklm/<notebook-slug>-<action>-<date>.md)
- Otherwise → return in chat as final summary
For Studio outputs:
- NotebookLM hosts the output (Audio Overview is in-app, Infographic downloadable, etc.)
- Report the location (URL or in-app navigation path) to user
- Don't try to download/save Studio outputs to local workspace — that's NotebookLM's job
Reporting Back Format
After completing any action:
- Take final screenshot if visually relevant
- Give clean summary (not raw chat dump):
- Notebook used (name)
- Action taken (specific)
- Result (1-2 sentences)
- For generated outputs: what was created + where it is + when ready
- For fire-and-notify actions: explicit "NotebookLM will notify you when ready"
Error Handling
| Failure | Behavior |
|---|
| Browser automation unavailable | Fail fast with "this skill requires browser automation" message (Step 0 halt) |
| Login wall detected | Stop. Tell user to log in. Don't attempt auto-login. |
| Multiple notebooks match name | Screenshot homepage, list options, ask user to specify |
| Source ingestion spinner stuck > 60s | Note timeout, ask user if they want to retry |
| Studio button not found in panel | Scroll down or look for "Discover more"; if still missing, note feature may not be enabled for this account |
| Chat response doesn't appear in 10s | Screenshot, check for error state, retry once |
| Page layout changed unexpectedly | Screenshot, describe what's visible, ask user for guidance |
Tooling
| Script | Role |
|---|
scripts/action_router.py | Q1-Q4 answers → action plan + UI flow + required parameters |
scripts/custom_prompt_template_generator.py | Studio output type + audience + length → starter custom prompt |
scripts/async_action_classifier.py | Action name → wait-or-notify pattern (fire-and-notify for slow generations) |
References
Anti-Patterns To Reject
- Tool-specific tool names without abstraction (e.g., hardcoding "Claude Chrome Extension")
- Synchronous waiting on Studio generations (especially Audio Overview)
- Skipping screenshots between actions
- Using pixel coordinates when semantic find() is available
- Attempting to handle login flows automatically
- Generating Studio outputs without opening customization menu
- Using default Studio prompts (always write custom)
Version: 1.0.0
Source spec: megaprompts/03-notebooklm-megaprompt.md
Build pattern: Path B (direct conversion). Browser-automation shape — distinct from research-pack convention.
