NotebookLM REST API + MCP server

Automate Google NotebookLM at scale. 33-endpoint HTTP REST API for n8n / Zapier / Make / curl, plus an MCP server for Claude Code / Cursor / Codex. Citation-backed Q&A, full Studio generation (audio · video · infographic · report · presentation · data table), multi-account rotation with auto-reauth.

v2.1.0 — production-grade, batch-tested on overnight runs of 1 000+ questions. Tools are now a namespaced tree (notebook_ask, source_add, session_list…) with MCP annotations + outputSchema on every tool — the old flat names still work as aliases, nothing breaks. See the changelog for the full mapping. Compare with PleasePrompto/notebooklm-mcp v2.0.0 to see when this project is the right pick (REST API, full Studio, auto-reauth) and when the MCP-only upstream is.

Features

Q&A with Citations

• Ask questions to NotebookLM and get accurate, citation-backed answers
• Source citation extraction with 5 formats: none, inline, footnotes, json, expanded (97% excerpt success rate)
• Session management for multi-turn conversations with auto-reauth on session expiry

Content Generation

Generate multiple content types from your notebook sources:

Video Visual Styles: classroom, documentary, animated, corporate, cinematic, minimalist

Content Download

• Download Audio — WAV audio files
• Download Video — MP4 video files
• Download Infographic — PNG image files
• Text-based content (report, presentation, data_table) is returned in the API response

Source Management

• Add sources: Files (PDF, TXT, DOCX), URLs, Text, YouTube videos, Google Drive
• List sources: View all sources in a notebook

Notebook Library

• Multi-notebook management with validation and smart selection
• Auto-discovery: Automatically generate metadata via NotebookLM queries
• Search notebooks by keyword in name, description, or topics
• Scrape notebooks: List all notebooks from NotebookLM with IDs and names
• Bulk delete: Delete multiple notebooks at once

Integration Options

• MCP Protocol — Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, any MCP client
• HTTP REST API — n8n, Zapier, Make.com, custom integrations
• Docker — Isolated deployment with Docker or Docker Compose
• RTFM retrieval layer — /batch-to-vault writes citation-backed answers as markdown + JSON sidecars (nblm-answer-v1 schema), indexable by RTFM (FTS5 + semantic) for unlimited offline queries. Ideal for academic / SOTA workflows. Guide.

Quick Start

Option 0 — Claude Code marketplace (one-liner, recommended for Claude Code users)

The fastest way to get NotebookLM into Claude Code. Distributed via the roomi-fields/claude-plugins marketplace alongside RTFM (the retrieval companion — see RTFM integration guide):

/plugin marketplace add roomi-fields/claude-plugins
/plugin install notebooklm@roomi-fields

That registers the MCP server, runs npx -y @roomi-fields/notebooklm-mcp@<pinned-version> automatically (Node ≥ 18 required), and lets you upgrade with two commands when a new release ships: /plugin marketplace update roomi-fields then /reload-plugins. Then run npm run setup-auth once to log into Google. To install RTFM at the same time: /plugin install rtfm@roomi-fields.

Option 1 — HTTP REST API (n8n, Zapier, Make, curl, any HTTP client)

git clone https://github.com/roomi-fields/notebooklm-mcp.git
cd notebooklm-mcp
npm install && npm run build
npm run setup-auth   # One-time Google login
npm run start:http   # Start REST API on port 3000

# Citation-backed Q&A, single curl, JSON response
curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/ask \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"question": "Summarize chapter 3", "notebook_id": "your-id", "source_format": "json"}'

The full surface is 33 documented endpoints — see the REST API reference. For overnight batches of 1 000+ questions, see the batch pattern.

Option 2 — MCP Mode (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex)

# Build (same package, MCP transport)
git clone https://github.com/roomi-fields/notebooklm-mcp.git
cd notebooklm-mcp
npm install && npm run build

# Claude Code
claude mcp add notebooklm node /path/to/notebooklm-mcp/dist/index.js

# Cursor — add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "notebooklm": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/notebooklm-mcp/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Then say: "Log me in to NotebookLM" → Chrome opens → log in with Google.

Option 3 — Docker (NAS, server, headless)

# Build and run
docker build -t notebooklm-mcp .
docker run -d --name notebooklm-mcp -p 3000:3000 -p 6080:6080 -v notebooklm-data:/data notebooklm-mcp

# Authenticate via noVNC
# 1. Open http://localhost:6080/vnc.html
# 2. Run: curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/setup-auth -d '{"show_browser":true}'
# 3. Login to Google in the VNC window

See Docker Guide for NAS deployment (Synology, QNAP).

Documentation

Full docs site: https://roomi-fields.github.io/notebooklm-mcp/ · OpenAPI 3.1 spec

Roadmap

See ROADMAP.md for planned features and version history.

Latest releases:

• v2.0.0 — Tools renamed to a namespaced tree (notebook_ask, source_add, session_list, server_health, vault_batch…) across 9 namespaces; tools/list advertises only the canonical names. Backward compatible — the legacy flat names still work as aliases, so existing scripts and configs keep running. Also adds MCP annotations (read-only / destructive / idempotent / open-world hints) and outputSchema + structuredContent on every tool. Published on the Smithery registry.
• v1.7.9 — Security: resolve moderate XSS advisory GHSA-v2v4-37r5-5v8g in transitive ip-address ≤10.1.0 (pulled in via @modelcontextprotocol/sdk → express-rate-limit) by pinning ip-address ^10.2.0 in overrides. npm audit clean. Unblocks the CI security gate that 1.7.8 had been failing.
• v1.7.8 — add_source false-negative fix (verified at runtime against a live MCP session this time): the count-based success detection now runs on every poll cycle instead of only after the upload dialog closes, since NotebookLM 2026 keeps the dialog open to allow chained uploads. Also fixes a long-standing packaging bug where dist/index.js was published in mode 644 (no +x), causing silent Permission denied failures in sandbox shells
• v1.7.7 — add_source defensive patch: broaden selectors to cover the empty/fresh-notebook "Upload sources" CTA (EN+FR), and replace the bare Could not find "Add source" button error with a structured DOM dump (URL, title, top 25 buttons + their aria-label/text/class) so the next iteration can be precise. Not validated runtime — the enriched diagnostic is the deliverable
• v1.7.6 — Fixes two tools shipped in 1.7.4 without live-runtime validation: (1) create_notebook now waits for the final UUID-based URL (no more notebook/creating/c) and verifies the rename actually applied (returns name_applied/actual_name); (2) delete_notebooks_from_nblm now uses the same id-based DOM strategy as list_notebooks_from_nblm (the old button[aria-labelledby*="project-"] selector was broken on the current NotebookLM DOM)
• v1.7.5 — Three end-user bugs fixed: (1) /plugin marketplace update roomi-fields + /reload-plugins now actually upgrades the running MCP (npx pin in plugin.json); (2) list_notebooks_from_nblm no longer hardcodes "Notebook" as title — id-based scrape returns real names; (3) get_health.current_account no longer returns a stale email after re_auth
• v1.7.4 — Expose create_notebook and delete_notebooks_from_nblm as MCP tools (handlers existed but lacked a tool definition + dispatch case); 30/30 alignment audit passes
• v1.7.3 — Fix: list_notebooks_from_nblm MCP tool was declared but unreachable (missing dispatch case) — now resolves correctly
• v1.7.2 — Claude Code plugin manifest (.claude-plugin/plugin.json) + cross-file version sync script enforced in CI; README "Install via Claude Code marketplace" one-liner
• v1.7.0 — batch_to_vault exposed as a first-class MCP tool (parity with the HTTP endpoint, no localhost server required); shared runBatchToVault helper deduplicates the loop across both transports
• v1.6.0 — /batch-to-vault endpoint + RTFM integration (nblm-answer-v1 JSON Schema published at schemas.roomi-fields.com/nblm-answer-v1.json) for caching NotebookLM answers as a searchable markdown vault
• v1.5.9 — Restore mcpName field for MCP Registry npm-package ownership verification
• v1.5.8 — NotebookLM 2026 UI adaptations (icon-label sanitization, Discussion-panel recovery, count-based source detection) — PR #5 by @KhizarJamshaidIqbal
• v1.5.7 — Citation extraction selector fix (.highlighted) and Docker multi-stage build — PR #1 by @JulienCANTONI
• v1.5.6 — Citation extraction major rewrite (97% success rate), browser-verified auth at startup, profile auto-sync
• v1.5.5 — Multi-account state-path bug fix, Windows startup scripts, hidden-window MCP proxy
• v1.5.4 — Mid-session auto-reauth with stored credentials, TOTP support
• v1.5.3 — Docker deployment with noVNC for visual authentication + NAS support (Synology, QNAP)
• v1.5.2 — Notebook scraping from NotebookLM + Bulk delete + Bug fixes
• v1.5.1 — Multilingual UI support (FR/EN) with i18n selector system + E2E tests (76 tests)
• v1.5.0 — Complete Studio content generation (video, infographic, presentation, data_table) + Notes management + Delete sources
• v1.4.0 — Content management (sources, audio, generation) + Multi-account

Not yet implemented:

• Discover sources (Web/Drive search with Fast/Deep modes)
• Edit notes (create, delete, and convert are implemented)

Disclaimer

This tool automates browser interactions with NotebookLM. Use a dedicated Google account for automation. CLI tools like Claude Code can make mistakes — always review changes before deploying.

See full Disclaimer below.

Contributing

Found a bug? Have an idea? Open an issue or submit a PR!

See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

License

MIT — Use freely in your projects. See LICENSE.

Author

Romain Peyrichou — @roomi-fields

About browser automation: While I've built in humanization features (realistic typing speeds, natural delays, mouse movements), I can't guarantee Google won't detect or flag automated usage. Use a dedicated Google account for automation.

About CLI tools and AI agents: CLI tools like Claude Code, Codex, and similar AI-powered assistants are powerful but can make mistakes:

• Always review changes before committing or deploying
• Test in safe environments first
• Keep backups of important work
• AI agents are assistants, not infallible oracles

I built this tool for myself and share it hoping it helps others, but I can't take responsibility for any issues that might occur. Use at your own discretion.

Built with frustration about hallucinated APIs, powered by Google's NotebookLM

⭐ Star on GitHub if this saves you debugging time!