notebooklm-py

# notebooklm-py
<p align="left">
  <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/teng-lin/notebooklm-py/main/notebooklm-py.png" alt="notebooklm-py logo" width="128">
</p>

**A Comprehensive NotebookLM Skill & Unofficial Python API.** Full programmatic access to NotebookLM's features—including capabilities the web UI doesn't expose—via Python, CLI, and AI agents like Claude Code, Codex, and OpenClaw.

[![PyPI version](https://img.shields.io/pypi/v/notebooklm-py.svg)](https://pypi.org/project/notebooklm-py/)
[![Python Version](https://img.shields.io/badge/python-3.10%20%7C%203.11%20%7C%203.12%20%7C%203.13%20%7C%203.14-blue)](https://pypi.org/project/notebooklm-py/)
[![License: MIT](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-MIT-yellow.svg)](https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)
[![Tests](https://github.com/teng-lin/notebooklm-py/actions/workflows/test.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/teng-lin/notebooklm-py/actions/workflows/test.yml)
<p>
  <a href="https://trendshift.io/repositories/19116" target="_blank"><img src="https://trendshift.io/api/badge/repositories/19116" alt="teng-lin%2Fnotebooklm-py | Trendshift" style="width: 250px; height: 55px;" width="250" height="55"/></a>
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**Source & Development**: <https://github.com/teng-lin/notebooklm-py>

> **⚠️ Unofficial Library - Use at Your Own Risk**
>
> This library uses **undocumented Google APIs** that can change without notice.
>
> - **Not affiliated with Google** - This is a community project
> - **APIs may break** - Google can change internal endpoints anytime
> - **Rate limits apply** - Heavy usage may be throttled
>
> Best for prototypes, research, and personal projects. See [Troubleshooting](docs/troubleshooting.md) for debugging tips.

## What You Can Build

🤖 **AI Agent Tools** - Integrate NotebookLM into Claude Code, Codex, and other LLM agents. Ships with a root [NotebookLM skill](SKILL.md) for GitHub and `npx skills add` discovery, local `notebooklm skill install` support for Claude Code and `.agents` skill directories, and repo-level Codex guidance in [`AGENTS.md`](AGENTS.md).

📚 **Research Automation** - Bulk-import sources (URLs, PDFs, YouTube, Google Drive), run web/Drive research queries with auto-import, and extract insights programmatically. Build repeatable research pipelines.

🎙️ **Content Generation** - Generate Audio Overviews (podcasts), videos, slide decks, quizzes, flashcards, infographics, data tables, mind maps, and study guides. Full control over formats, styles, and output.

📥 **Downloads & Export** - Download all generated artifacts locally (MP3, MP4, PDF, PNG, CSV, JSON, Markdown). Export to Google Docs/Sheets. **Features the web UI doesn't offer**: batch downloads, quiz/flashcard export in multiple formats, mind map JSON extraction.

## Ways to Use

| Method | Best For |
|--------|----------|
| **Python API** | Application integration, async workflows, custom pipelines |
| **CLI** | Shell scripts, quick tasks, CI/CD automation |
| **MCP Server** | Exposing NotebookLM tools to Claude Desktop/Code, Cursor, Windsurf, and other MCP clients |
| **REST Server** | Local automation over guarded HTTP routes without spawning a CLI process per call |
| **Agent Integration** | Claude Code, Codex, LLM agents, natural language automation |

## Features

### Complete NotebookLM Coverage

| Category | Capabilities |
|----------|--------------|
| **Notebooks** | Create, list, rename, delete |
| **Sources** | URLs, YouTube, files (PDF, text, Markdown, Word, EPUB, audio, video, images), Google Drive, pasted text; refresh, get guide/fulltext |
| **Chat** | Questions, conversation history, custom personas |
| **Notes** | Create, list, rename, delete, save chat answers, save conversation history |
| **Source Labels** | AI-generated or manual topic labels; add/remove source membership; filter sources by label |
| **Research** | Web and Drive research agents (fast/deep modes) with auto-import |
| **Sharing** | Public/private links, user permissions (viewer/editor), view level control |

### Content Generation (All Artifact Types)

| Type | Options | Download Format |
|------|---------|-----------------|
| **Audio Overview** | 4 formats (deep-dive, brief, critique, debate), 3 lengths, 50+ languages | MP3/MP4 |
| **Video Overview** | 3 formats (explainer, brief, cinematic), 9 visual styles, plus a dedicated `cinematic-video` CLI alias | MP4 |
| **Slide Deck** | Detailed or presenter format, adjustable length; individual slide revision | PDF, PPTX |
| **Infographic** | 3 orientations, 3 detail levels | PNG |
| **Quiz** | Configurable quantity and difficulty | JSON, Markdown, HTML |
| **Flashcards** | Configurable quantity and difficulty | JSON, Markdown, HTML |
| **Report** | Briefing doc, study guide, blog post, or custom prompt | Markdown |
| **Data Table** | Custom structure via natural language | CSV |
| **Mind Map** | Hierarchical node tree — **two kinds**: note-backed JSON or the newer interactive studio map (`--kind` / `MindMapKind`) | JSON |

### Beyond the Web UI

These features are available via API/CLI but not exposed in NotebookLM's web interface:

- **Batch downloads** - Download all artifacts of a type at once
- **Quiz/Flashcard export** - Get structured JSON, Markdown, or HTML (web UI only shows interactive view)
- **Mind map data extraction** - Export hierarchical JSON for visualization tools
- **Data table CSV export** - Download structured tables as spreadsheets
- **Slide deck as PPTX** - Download editable PowerPoint files (web UI only offers PDF)
- **Slide revision** - Modify individual slides with natural-language prompts
- **Report template customization** - Append extra instructions to built-in format templates
- **Save chat to notes** - Save Q&A answers or conversation history as notebook notes
- **Source fulltext access** - Retrieve the indexed text content of any source
- **Programmatic sharing** - Manage permissions without the UI
- **Multi-account profiles** - Switch between Google accounts without re-authenticating
- **Browser cookie import** - Reuse cookies from your existing browser session instead of driving Playwright

## Installation

The full install guide — six personas (agent, end-user, library, headless, contributor, power-user), optional extras matrix, platform notes — lives in **[docs/installation.md](docs/installation.md)**.

**Quickest start** (CLI users and AI agents) — install the CLI with `uv tool` (recommended) or `pipx`:

```bash
uv tool install "notebooklm-py[browser]"   # or: pipx install "notebooklm-py[browser]"
notebooklm login                           # first run auto-downloads Chromium (~170 MB), then Google sign-in
notebooklm auth check --test --json        # verify: expect "status": "ok"
```

**Why `uv tool` / `pipx`?** They install the CLI into its own isolated environment and put `notebooklm` on your `PATH` — no dependency clashes with other tools, a one-line upgrade (`uv tool upgrade notebooklm-py`) or uninstall, and, crucially, they work on modern macOS (Homebrew Python) and Debian/Ubuntu where a system-wide `pip install` is blocked with `error: externally-managed-environment` ([PEP 668](https://peps.python.org/pep-0668/)). No `uv` yet? `curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh` (or `brew install uv` / `winget install astral-sh.uv`).

**Prefer plain `pip`?** It works the same **inside a virtualenv** (and directly on Windows, where Python isn't externally-managed):

```bash
python3 -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate   # Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
pip install "notebooklm-py[browser]"
```

**As a library** (embedded in your app — no Playwright, no Chromium):

```bash
uv add notebooklm-py                    # or, inside a virtualenv: pip install notebooklm-py
```

If `playwright install chromium` fails on Linux with `TypeError: onExit is not a function`, see the [Linux workaround](docs/troubleshooting.md#linux). **Contributors:** see [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md).

## Quick Start

<p align="center">
  <a href="https://asciinema.org/a/767284" target="_blank"><img src="https://asciinema.org/a/767284.svg" width="600" /></a>
  <br>
  <em>16-minute session compressed to 30 seconds</em>
</p>

### CLI

```bash
# 1. Authenticate (opens browser)
notebooklm login
# Or use Microsoft Edge (for orgs that require Edge for SSO)
# notebooklm login --browser msedge
# Or reuse cookies from an already-logged-in browser session
# notebooklm login --browser-cookies chrome
# notebooklm login --browser-cookies 'chrome::Profile 1'  # one Chromium profile
# (combine with --profile to populate a specific profile;
#  use --account / --all-accounts after auth inspect when several
#  Google accounts are signed in)

# 2. Create a notebook and add sources
notebooklm create "My Research"
notebooklm use <notebook_id>
notebooklm source add "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence"
notebooklm source add "./paper.pdf"

# 3. Chat with your sources
notebooklm ask "What are the key themes?"
notebooklm ask --prompt-file ./long_question.txt  # Read question from file

# 4. Generate content (use --prompt-file for long prompts)
notebooklm generate audio "make it engaging" --wait
notebooklm generate video --style whiteboard --wait
notebooklm generate cinematic-video "documentary-style summary" --wait
notebooklm generate quiz --difficulty hard
notebooklm generate flashcards --quantity more
notebooklm generate slide-deck
notebooklm generate infographic --orientation portrait
notebooklm generate mind-map                       # interactive studio map (default); --kind note-backed for the JSON tree
notebooklm generate data-table "compare key concepts"

# 5. Download artifacts
notebooklm download audio ./podcast.mp3
notebooklm download video ./overview.mp4
notebooklm download cinematic-video ./documentary.mp4
notebooklm download quiz --format markdown ./quiz.md
notebooklm download flashcards --format json ./cards.json
notebooklm download slide-deck ./slides.pdf
notebooklm download infographic ./infographic.png
no