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.
Source & Development: https://github.com/teng-lin/notebooklm-py
⚠️ Unofficial Library - Use at Your Own RiskThis 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 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 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.
📚 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.
Three Ways to Use
| Method | Best For |
|---|---|
| Python API | Application integration, async workflows, custom pipelines |
| CLI | Shell scripts, quick tasks, CI/CD automation |
| 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, audio, video, images), Google Drive, pasted text; refresh, get guide/fulltext |
| Chat | Questions, conversation history, custom personas |
| 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 NotebookLM Studio 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 | Interactive hierarchical visualization | 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
Installation
# Basic installation pip install notebooklm-py # With browser login support (required for first-time setup) pip install "notebooklm-py[browser]" playwright install chromium
If playwright install chromium fails with TypeError: onExit is not a function, see the Linux workaround in Troubleshooting.
Development Installation
For contributors or testing unreleased features:
pip install git+https://github.com/teng-lin/notebooklm-py@main
Quick Start
16-minute session compressed to 30 seconds
CLI
# 1. Authenticate (opens browser) notebooklm login # Or use Microsoft Edge (for orgs that require Edge for SSO) # notebooklm login --browser msedge # 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?" # 4. Generate content 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 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 notebooklm download mind-map ./mindmap.json notebooklm download data-table ./data.csv
Other useful CLI commands:
notebooklm auth check --test # Diagnose auth/cookie issues notebooklm agent show codex # Print bundled Codex instructions notebooklm agent show claude # Print bundled Claude Code skill template notebooklm language list # List supported output languages notebooklm metadata --json # Export notebook metadata and sources notebooklm share status # Inspect sharing state notebooklm source add-research "AI" # Start web research and import sources notebooklm skill status # Check local agent skill installation
Python API
import asyncio from notebooklm import NotebookLMClient async def main(): async with await NotebookLMClient.from_storage() as client: # Create notebook and add sources nb = await client.notebooks.create("Research") await client.sources.add_url(nb.id, "https://example.com", wait=True) # Chat with your sources result = await client.chat.ask(nb.id, "Summarize this") print(result.answer) # Generate content (podcast, video, quiz, etc.) status = await client.artifacts.generate_audio(nb.id, instructions="make it fun") await client.artifacts.wait_for_completion(nb.id, status.task_id) await client.artifacts.download_audio(nb.id, "podcast.mp3") # Generate quiz and download as JSON status = await client.artifacts.generate_quiz(nb.id) await client.artifacts.wait_for_completion(nb.id, status.task_id) await client.artifacts.download_quiz(nb.id, "quiz.json", output_format="json") # Generate mind map and export result = await client.artifacts.generate_mind_map(nb.id) await client.artifacts.download_mind_map(nb.id, "mindmap.json") asyncio.run(main())
Agent Setup
Option 1 — CLI install:
Installs the skill into ~/.claude/skills/notebooklm and ~/.agents/skills/notebooklm.
Option 2 — npx install (via the open skills ecosystem):
npx skills add teng-lin/notebooklm-py
Fetches the canonical SKILL.md directly from GitHub.
Documentation
- CLI Reference - Complete command documentation
- Python API - Full API reference
- Configuration - Storage and settings
- Release Guide - Release checklist and packaging verification
- Troubleshooting - Common issues and solutions
- API Stability - Versioning policy and stability guarantees
For Contributors
- Development Guide - Architecture, testing, and releasing
- RPC Development - Protocol capture and debugging
- RPC Reference - Payload structures
- Changelog - Version history and release notes
- Security - Security policy and credential handling
Platform Support
| Platform | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| macOS | ✅ Tested | Primary development platform |
| Linux | ✅ Tested | Fully supported |
| Windows | ✅ Tested | Tested in CI |
Star History
License
MIT License. See LICENSE for details.
