nlm - NotebookLM CLI Tool 📚

nlm is a command-line interface for Google's NotebookLM, allowing you to manage notebooks, sources, and audio overviews from your terminal.

🔊 Listen to an Audio Overview of this tool here: https://notebooklm.google.com/notebook/437c839c-5a24-455b-b8da-d35ba8931811/audio.

Installation 🚀

go install github.com/tmc/nlm/cmd/nlm@latest

Usage

Usage: nlm <command> [arguments]

Notebook Commands:
  list, ls          List all notebooks
  create <title>    Create a new notebook
  rm <id>           Delete a notebook
  analytics <id>    Show notebook analytics

Source Commands:
  sources <id>      List sources in notebook
  add <id> <input>  Add source to notebook
  rm-source <id> <source-id>  Remove source
  rename-source <source-id> <new-name>  Rename source
  refresh-source <source-id>  Refresh source content
  check-source <source-id>  Check source freshness

Note Commands:
  notes <id>        List notes in notebook
  new-note <id> <title>  Create new note
  edit-note <id> <note-id> <content>  Edit note
  rm-note <note-id>  Remove note

Audio Commands:
  audio-create <id> <instructions>  Create audio overview
  audio-get <id>    Get audio overview
  audio-rm <id>     Delete audio overview
  audio-share <id>  Share audio overview

Generation Commands:
  generate-guide <id>  Generate notebook guide
  generate-outline <id>  Generate content outline
  generate-section <id>  Generate new section

Other Commands:
  auth              Setup authentication
  batch <commands>  Execute multiple commands in batch

📦 Installing Go (if needed)

Option 1: Using Package Managers

macOS (using Homebrew):

brew install go

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian):

sudo apt update
sudo apt install golang

Linux (Fedora):

sudo dnf install golang

Option 2: Direct Download

1. Visit the Go Downloads page
2. Download the appropriate version for your OS
3. Follow the installation instructions:

macOS:

• Download the .pkg file
• Double-click to install
• Follow the installer prompts

Linux:

# Example for Linux AMD64 (adjust version as needed)
wget https://go.dev/dl/go1.21.6.linux-amd64.tar.gz
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/go
sudo tar -C /usr/local -xzf go1.21.6.linux-amd64.tar.gz

Post-Installation Setup

Add Go to your PATH by adding these lines to your ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or equivalent:

export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin
export PATH=$PATH:$(go env GOPATH)/bin

Verify installation:

go version

Authentication 🔑

First, authenticate with your Google account:

nlm auth

This will launch your default Chromium-based browser to authenticate with your Google account. The authentication tokens will be saved in ~/.nlm/env file.

Browser Support

The tool supports multiple browsers:

• Google Chrome (default)
• Chrome Canary
• Brave Browser
• Chromium
• Microsoft Edge

Brave Browser Authentication

If you use Brave Browser, the tool will automatically detect and use it:

# The tool will automatically find and use Brave profiles
nlm auth

# Force authentication with all available profiles (including Brave)
nlm auth --all

# Check which profiles have NotebookLM access
nlm auth --notebooks

# Use a specific Brave profile
nlm auth --profile "Profile 1"

Profile Management

The authentication system automatically scans for browser profiles and prioritizes them based on:

• Profiles that already have NotebookLM cookies
• Most recently used profiles
• Profiles with existing notebooks

To see available profiles:

nlm auth --all --notebooks

Advanced Authentication Options

# Try all available browser profiles
nlm auth --all

# Use a specific browser profile
nlm auth --profile "Work Profile"

# Check notebook access for profiles
nlm auth --notebooks

# Enable debug output to see authentication process
nlm auth --debug

Environment Variables

• NLM_AUTH_TOKEN: Authentication token (stored in ~/.nlm/env)
• NLM_COOKIES: Authentication cookies (stored in ~/.nlm/env)
• NLM_BROWSER_PROFILE: Chrome/Brave profile to use (default: "Default")

These are typically managed by the auth command, but can be manually configured if needed.

Usage 💻

Notebook Operations

# List all notebooks
nlm list

# Create a new notebook
nlm create "My Research Notes"

# Delete a notebook
nlm rm <notebook-id>

# Get notebook analytics
nlm analytics <notebook-id>

Source Management

# List sources in a notebook
nlm sources <notebook-id>

# Add a source from URL
nlm add <notebook-id> https://example.com/article

# Add a source from file
nlm add <notebook-id> document.pdf

# Add source from stdin
echo "Some text" | nlm add <notebook-id> -

# Add content from stdin with specific MIME type
cat data.xml | nlm add <notebook-id> - -mime="text/xml"
cat data.json | nlm add <notebook-id> - -mime="application/json"

# Rename a source
nlm rename-source <source-id> "New Title"

# Remove a source
nlm rm-source <notebook-id> <source-id>

# Add a YouTube video as a source
nlm add <notebook-id> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

Note Operations

# List notes in a notebook
nlm notes <notebook-id>

# Create a new note
nlm new-note <notebook-id> "Note Title"

# Edit a note
nlm edit-note <notebook-id> <note-id> "New content"

# Remove a note
nlm rm-note <note-id>

Audio Overview

# Create an audio overview
nlm audio-create <notebook-id> "speak in a professional tone"

# Get audio overview status/content
nlm audio-get <notebook-id>

# Share audio overview (private)
nlm audio-share <notebook-id>

# Share audio overview (public)
nlm audio-share <notebook-id> --public

Batch Mode

Execute multiple commands in a single request for better performance:

# Create a notebook and add multiple sources in one batch request
nlm batch "create 'My Research Notebook'" "add NOTEBOOK_ID https://example.com/article" "add NOTEBOOK_ID research.pdf"

The batch mode reduces latency by sending multiple commands in a single network request.

Examples 📋

Create a notebook and add some content:

# Create a new notebook
notebook_id=$(nlm create "Research Notes" | grep -o 'notebook [^ ]*' | cut -d' ' -f2)

# Add some sources
nlm add $notebook_id https://example.com/research-paper
nlm add $notebook_id research-data.pdf
nlm add $notebook_id https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

# Create an audio overview
nlm audio-create $notebook_id "summarize in a professional tone"

# Check the audio overview
nlm audio-get $notebook_id

Advanced Usage 🔧

Debug Mode

Add -debug flag to see detailed API interactions:

nlm -debug list

Environment Variables

• NLM_AUTH_TOKEN: Authentication token (stored in ~/.nlm/env)
• NLM_COOKIES: Authentication cookies (stored in ~/.nlm/env)
• NLM_BROWSER_PROFILE: Chrome/Brave profile to use for authentication (default: "Default")

These are typically managed by the auth command, but can be manually configured if needed.

Troubleshooting 🔧

If you encounter issues with authentication, API errors, or file uploads, please see the Troubleshooting Guide for detailed solutions to common problems.

Recent Improvements 🚀

1. Enhanced MIME Type Detection

We've improved the way files are uploaded to NotebookLM with more accurate MIME type detection:

• Multi-stage detection process using content analysis and file extensions
• Better handling of text versus binary content
• Improved error handling and diagnostics
• Manual MIME type specification with new -mime flag for precise control

2. YouTube Source Support

You can now easily add YouTube videos as sources to your notebooks:

• Automatic detection of various YouTube URL formats
• Support for standard youtube.com links and shortened youtu.be URLs
• Proper extraction and processing of video content

3. Improved Batch Execute Handling

The batch mode has been enhanced for better performance and reliability:

• Chunked response handling for larger responses
• More robust authentication flow
• Better error handling and recovery
• Improved request ID generation for API stability

4. File Upload Enhancements

File upload capabilities have been refined:

• Support for more file formats
• Better handling of large files
• Enhanced error reporting and diagnostics
• New -mime flag for explicitly specifying content type for any file or stdin input

Contributing 🤝

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License 📄

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.