NotebookLM

NotebookLM = external RAG engine that offloads reading from your context window. Uses the notebooklm-mcp-cli MCP server (PyPI) to create notebooks, manage sources, generate content, and query with grounded AI responses.

Disclaimer: Uses internal undocumented Google APIs via browser authentication. Sessions last ~20 minutes. API may change without notice.

Prerequisites

• Install: uv tool install notebooklm-mcp-cli (or pip install notebooklm-mcp-cli )

• Authenticate: nlm login (opens browser, session ~20 min)

• Configure MCP: nlm setup add claude-code (auto-configures .mcp.json )

• Alternative: nlm skill install for guided setup with verification

• Verify: nlm login --check to confirm active session

Decision Tree — Which Rule to Read

What are you trying to do? │ ├── Create / manage notebooks │ ├── List / get / rename ──────► notebook_list, notebook_get, notebook_rename │ ├── Create new notebook ──────► notebook_create │ └── Delete notebook ──────────► notebook_delete (irreversible!) │ ├── Add sources to a notebook │ ├── URL / YouTube ────────────► source_add(type=url) │ ├── Plain text ───────────────► source_add(type=text) │ ├── Local file ───────────────► source_add(type=file) │ ├── Google Drive ─────────────► source_add(type=drive) │ ├── Rename a source ──────────► source_rename │ └── Manage sources ──────────► rules/setup-quickstart.md │ ├── Query a notebook (AI chat) │ ├── Ask questions ────────────► notebook_query │ └── Configure chat style ────► chat_configure │ ├── Generate studio content │ ├── 9 artifact types ────────► rules/workflow-studio-content.md │ ├── Revise slides ───────────► studio_revise (creates new deck) │ └── Export to Docs/Sheets ──► export_artifact │ ├── Research & discovery │ └── Web/Drive research ──────► rules/workflow-research-discovery.md │ ├── Notes (capture insights) │ └── Create/list/update/delete ► note (unified tool) │ ├── Sharing & collaboration │ └── Public links / invites ──► rules/workflow-sharing-collaboration.md │ └── Workflow patterns ├── Second brain ─────────────► rules/workflow-second-brain.md ├── Research offload ─────────► rules/workflow-research-offload.md └── Knowledge base ──────────► rules/workflow-knowledge-base.md

Quick Reference

Category Rule Impact Key Pattern

Setup setup-quickstart.md

HIGH Auth, MCP config, source management, session refresh

Workflows workflow-second-brain.md

HIGH Decision docs, project hub, agent interop

Workflows workflow-research-offload.md

HIGH Synthesis, onboarding, token savings

Workflows workflow-knowledge-base.md

HIGH Debugging KB, security handbook, team knowledge

Workflows workflow-studio-content.md

MEDIUM 9 artifact types (audio overview, deep dive, slides...)

Research workflow-research-discovery.md

HIGH Web/Drive research async flow

Collaboration workflow-sharing-collaboration.md

MEDIUM Public links, collaborator invites

Release workflow-versioned-notebooks.md

HIGH Per-release notebooks with changelog + diffs

Total: 8 rules across 4 categories

MCP Tools by API Group

Group Tools Count

Notebooks notebook_list, notebook_create, notebook_get, notebook_describe, notebook_rename, notebook_delete 6

Sources source_list, source_add, source_rename, source_list_drive, source_sync_drive, source_delete, source_describe, source_get_content 8

Querying notebook_query, chat_configure 2

Studio studio_create, studio_status, studio_revise, studio_delete 4

Research research_start, research_status, research_import 3

Sharing notebook_share_status, notebook_share_public, notebook_share_invite 3

Notes note (unified: list/create/update/delete) 1 (4 actions)

Downloads download_artifact 1

Export export_artifact (Google Docs/Sheets) 1

Auth save_auth_tokens, refresh_auth 2

Total: 32 tools across 10 groups

Key Decisions

Decision Recommendation

New notebook vs existing One notebook per project/topic; add sources to existing

Source type URL for web, text for inline, file for local docs, drive for Google Docs

Large sources Split >50K chars into multiple sources for better retrieval

Auth expired? nlm login --check ; sessions last ~20 min, re-auth with nlm login

Studio content Use studio_create, poll with studio_status (generation takes 2-5 min)

Research discovery research_start for web/Drive discovery, then research_import to add findings

Release notebooks One notebook per minor version; upload CHANGELOG + key skill diffs as sources

Query vs search notebook_query for AI-grounded answers; source_get_content for raw text

Notes vs sources Notes for your insights/annotations; sources for external documents

Infographic style 11 visual styles via infographic_style param on studio_create

Slide revision Use studio_revise to edit individual slides (creates a new deck)

Export artifacts export_artifact sends reports → Google Docs, data tables → Sheets

Example

1. Create a notebook for your project

notebook_create(title="Auth Refactor Research")

2. Add sources (docs, articles, existing code analysis)

source_add(notebook_id="...", type="url", url="https://oauth.net/2.1/") source_add(notebook_id="...", type="text", content="Our current auth uses...") source_add(notebook_id="...", type="file", path="/docs/auth-design.md")

3. Query with grounded AI responses

notebook_query(notebook_id="...", query="What are the key differences between OAuth 2.0 and 2.1?")

4. Generate a deep dive audio overview

studio_create(notebook_id="...", type="deep_dive") studio_status(notebook_id="...") # Poll until complete

5. Capture insights as notes

note(notebook_id="...", action="create", content="Key takeaway: PKCE is mandatory in 2.1")

Common Mistakes

• Forgetting auth expiry — Sessions last ~20 min. Always check with nlm login --check before long workflows. Re-auth with nlm login .

• One giant notebook — Split by project/topic. One notebook with 50 sources degrades retrieval quality.

• Huge single sources — Split documents >50K characters into logical sections for better chunking and retrieval.

• Not polling studio_status — Studio content generation takes 2-5 minutes. Poll studio_status instead of assuming instant results.

• Ignoring source types — Use type=url for web pages (auto-extracts), type=file for local files. Using type=text for a URL gives you the URL string, not the page content.

• Deleting notebooks without checking — notebook_delete is irreversible. List contents with source_list and note(action=list) first.

• Skipping research_import — research_start discovers content but does not add it. Use research_import to actually add findings as sources.

• Raw queries on empty notebooks — notebook_query returns poor results with no sources. Add sources before querying.

Related Skills

• ork:mcp-patterns — MCP server building, security, and composition patterns

• ork:web-research-workflow — Web research strategies and source evaluation

• ork:memory — Memory fabric for cross-session knowledge persistence

• ork:security-patterns — Input sanitization and layered security