Nlm Skill

NotebookLM CLI & MCP Expert

This skill provides comprehensive guidance for using NotebookLM via both the nlm CLI and MCP tools.

Tool Detection (CRITICAL - Read First!)

ALWAYS check which tools are available before proceeding:

1. Check for MCP tools: Look for tools starting with mcp__notebooklm-mcp__* or mcp_notebooklm_*
2. If BOTH MCP tools AND CLI are available: ASK the user which they prefer to use before proceeding
3. If only MCP tools are available: Use them directly (refer to tool docstrings for parameters)
4. If only CLI is available: Use nlm CLI commands via Bash

Decision Logic:

has_mcp_tools = check_available_tools()  # Look for mcp__notebooklm-mcp__* or mcp_notebooklm_*
has_cli = check_bash_available()  # Can run nlm commands

if has_mcp_tools and has_cli:
    # ASK USER: "I can use either MCP tools or the nlm CLI. Which do you prefer?"
    user_preference = ask_user()
else if has_mcp_tools:
    # Use MCP tools directly
    mcp__notebooklm-mcp__notebook_list()
else:
    # Use CLI via Bash
    bash("nlm notebook list")

This skill documents BOTH approaches. Choose the appropriate one based on tool availability and user preference.

Quick Reference

Run nlm --ai to get comprehensive AI-optimized documentation - this provides a complete view of all CLI capabilities.

nlm --help              # List all commands
nlm  --help    # Help for specific command
nlm --ai                # Full AI-optimized documentation (RECOMMENDED)
nlm --version           # Check installed version

Critical Rules (Read First!)

1. Authenticate when needed: Run nlm login for first-time setup or confirmed stale/missing credentials. Saved cookies often remain usable for weeks.
2. Do not confuse network failures with expired auth: auth_status="unverified" means the probe was inconclusive. Check connectivity or try an API call before asking the user to log in again.
3. ⚠️ ALWAYS ASK USER BEFORE DELETE: Before executing ANY delete command, ask the user for explicit confirmation. Deletions are irreversible. Show what will be deleted and warn about permanent data loss.
4. Always obtain approval before generation or deletion: Direct

studio_create and delete operations enforce --confirm / confirm=True. The current MCP batch Studio path does not enforce its confirm parameter, so the agent must preserve the approval gate.

1. Research needs a destination: Pass --notebook-id for an existing notebook or --title to create one.
2. Capture IDs from output: Create/start commands return IDs needed for subsequent operations
3. Use aliases: Simplify long UUIDs with nlm alias set
4. Check aliases before creating: Run nlm alias list before creating a new alias to avoid conflicts with existing names.
5. DO NOT launch REPL: Never use nlm chat start - it opens an interactive REPL that AI tools cannot control. Use nlm notebook query for one-shot Q&A instead.
6. Choose output format wisely: Default output (no flags) is compact and token-efficient—use it for status checks. Use --quiet to capture IDs for piping. Only use --json when you need to parse specific fields programmatically.
7. Use --help when unsure: Run nlm --help to see available options and flags for any command.
8. Studio: fast track by default: Infer format/style/prompt silently—one compact line, then studio_create(confirm=True). No intake questionnaires. Fast track reduces clarifying questions, not the confirm gate. Cinematic video is always guided (quota-limited). Full preview only when vague, high-stakes, cinematic, or user asks. See [references/studio-prompting-guide.md](references/studio-prompting-guide.md).

Current MCP surface: 39 tools. Consolidated action tools include note, label, studio_status, batch, pipeline, and tag. Consolidated type tools include source_add, studio_create, and download_artifact.

Workflow Decision Tree

Use this to determine the right sequence of commands:

User wants to...
│
├─► Work with NotebookLM for the first time
│   └─► nlm login → nlm notebook create "Title"
│
├─► Add content to a notebook
│   ├─► From a URL/webpage → nlm source add  --url "https://..."
│   ├─► From YouTube → nlm source add  --url "https://youtube.com/..."
│   ├─► From pasted text → nlm source add  --text "content" --title "Title"
│   ├─► From Google Drive → nlm source add  --drive  --type doc
│   └─► Discover new sources → nlm research start "query" --notebook-id 
│
├─► Generate content from sources (→ Studio Prompting for optimal focus_prompt)
│   ├─► Podcast/Audio → nlm audio create  --confirm
│   ├─► Written summary → nlm report create  --confirm
│   ├─► Study materials → nlm quiz/flashcards create  --confirm
│   ├─► Visual content → nlm mindmap/slides/infographic create  --confirm
│   ├─► Video → nlm video create  --confirm
│   └─► Extract data → nlm data-table create  "description" --confirm
│
├─► Refactor, critique, or improve a draft document
│   └─► See Workflow 15 in references/workflows.md
│
├─► Ask questions about sources
│   └─► nlm notebook query  "question"
│       (Use --conversation-id for follow-ups)
│       ⚠️ Do NOT use `nlm chat start` - it's a REPL for humans only
│
├─► Check generation status
│   └─► nlm studio status 
│
└─► Manage/cleanup
    ├─► List notebooks → nlm notebook list
    ├─► List sources → nlm source list 
    ├─► Delete source → nlm source delete  --confirm
    └─► Delete notebook → nlm notebook delete  --confirm

Command Categories

1. Authentication

MCP Authentication

If using MCP tools and encountering authentication errors:

# Run the CLI authentication (works for both CLI and MCP)
nlm login

# Then reload tokens in MCP
mcp__notebooklm-mcp__refresh_auth()
# Returns status: "success" (valid), "expired" (tokens dead, run `nlm login`),
# or "error". `nlm login` is the only recovery path for "expired".

Or manually save cookies via MCP (fallback):

# Extract cookies from Chrome DevTools and save
mcp__notebooklm-mcp__save_auth_tokens(cookies="")

#### CLI Authentication

```bash
nlm login                           # Launch browser, extract cookies (primary method)
nlm login --check                   # Validate current session
nlm login --profile work            # Use named profile for multiple accounts
nlm login --provider openclaw --cdp-url http://127.0.0.1:18800  # External CDP provider
nlm login switch           # Switch the default profile
nlm login profile list              # List all profiles with email addresses
nlm login profile delete      # Delete a profile
nlm login profile rename   # Rename a profile

Multi-Profile Support: Each profile gets its own isolated browser session (supports Chrome, Arc, Brave, Edge, Chromium, and more), so you can be logged into multiple Google accounts simultaneously.

Auth status: configured means usable; stale means run nlm login; not_configured means first-time setup is required; unverified means the probe was inconclusive; error means the health check itself failed.

Switching MCP Accounts: The MCP server always uses the active default profile. If you need to switch which Google account the MCP server is communicating with, you MUST use the CLI: run nlm login switch . Your next MCP tool call will instantly use the new account.

Note: Both MCP and CLI share the same authentication backend, so authenticating with one works for both.

2. Notebook Management

MCP Tools

Use notebook_list, notebook_create, notebook_get, notebook_describe, notebook_query, notebook_rename, and notebook_delete. The get/describe/query/rename/delete tools require notebook_id; list and create do not. Delete requires confirm=True.

For large notebooks or long-running questions, call notebook_query_start, then poll notebook_query_status(query_id) until completed or errored.

CLI Commands

nlm notebook list                      # List all notebooks
nlm notebook list --json               # JSON output for parsing
nlm notebook list --quiet              # IDs only (for scripting)
nlm notebook create "Title"            # Create notebook, returns ID
nlm notebook create "Title" --json     # Stable machine-readable ID capture
nlm notebook get                   # Get notebook details
nlm notebook describe              # AI-generated summary + suggested topics
nlm notebook query  "question"     # One-shot Q&A with sources
nlm notebook rename  "New Title"   # Rename notebook
nlm notebook delete  --confirm     # PERMANENT deletion

3. Source Management

MCP Tools

Use source_add with these source_type values:

• url - Web page or YouTube URL (url param)
• text - Pasted content (text + title params)
• file - Server-local file upload (file_path param). The path must exist on

the machine running the MCP server, not merely on the client host. Failures preserve the concrete reason and include a host-path hint. Supported: PDF, TXT, MD, DOCX, CSV, EPUB, MP3, M4A, WAV, AAC, OGG, OPUS, MP4, JPG, JPEG, PNG, GIF, WEBP.

• drive - Google Drive doc (document_id + doc_type params)

Other tools: source_list_drive (skip_freshness=True reports stale/is_stale=null, meaning unknown, not fresh), source_describe, source_get_content, source_rename, source_sync_drive, and source_delete. Bulk URL add uses source_add(source_type="url", urls=[...]); bulk delete uses source_delete(source_ids=[...], confirm=True). MCP Drive sync requires explicit source UUIDs: list first, select stale IDs, then call source_sync_drive(source_ids=[...], confirm=True).

Source Labels

Use label with actions auto, list, reorganize, create, rename, set_emoji, move_source, and delete. Full reorganization and deletion require confirm=True; reorganize(unlabeled_only=True) does not.

CLI Commands

# Adding sources
nlm source add  --url "https://..."           # Web page
nlm source add  --url "https://youtube.com/..." # YouTube video
nlm source add  --text "content" --title "X"  # Pasted text
nlm source add  --drive               # Defaults to Drive doc
nlm source add  --drive  --type slides # Explicit type
nlm source add  --file "/path/to/diagram.png" --wait # Local file upload (images, PDFs, documents, audio, video)

# Listing and viewing
nlm source list                 # Table of sources
nlm source list  --drive        # Show Drive sources with freshness
nlm source list  --drive -S     # Skip freshness checks (faster)
nlm source get              # Source metadata
nlm source describe         # AI summary + keywords
nlm source content          # Raw text content
nlm source content  -o file.txt  # Export to file

# Drive sync (for stale sources)
nlm source stale                # List outdated Drive sources
nlm source sync  --confirm      # Sync all stale sources
nlm source sync  --source-ids  --confirm  # Sync specific

# Rename
nlm source rename  "New Title" --notebook 
nlm rename source  "New Title" --notebook   # verb-first

# Deletion
nlm source delete  --confirm

Drive types: doc, slides, sheets, pdf

4. Research (Source Discovery)

Research finds NEW sources from the web or Google Drive.

MCP Tools

Use research_start with:

• source: web or drive
• mode: fast (~30s) or deep (~5min, web only)

Preferred workflow: research_start → research_status(auto_import=True). For manual source selection, poll without auto-import and then call research_import. research_start accepts either notebook_id or title to create a destination notebook. MCP status defaults to a 900-second wait with 30-second polling.

CLI Commands

# Start research in an existing notebook or create one with --title
nlm research start "query" --notebook-id               # Fast web (~30s)
nlm research start "query" --title "New Research"           # Create destination notebook
nlm research start "query" --notebook-id  --mode deep  # Deep web (~5min)
nlm research start "query" --notebook-id  --source drive  # Drive search
nlm research start "query" --notebook-id  --mode deep --auto-import

# Check progress
nlm research status                    # Poll until done
nlm research status  --max-wait 0      # Single check, no waiting
nlm research status  --task-id    # Check specific task
nlm research status  --full            # Full details

# Import discovered sources
nlm research import              # Import all
nlm research import   --indices 0,2,5  # Import specific
nlm research import   --cited-only      # Import cited sources
nlm research import   --timeout 600    # Custom timeout (default: 300s)

Modes: fast (~30s, ~10 sources) | deep (~5min, ~40+ sources, web only)

5. Content Generation (Studio)

MCP Tools (Unified Creation)

Use studio_create with artifact_type and type-specific options. All require confirm=True. studio_create runs a pre-flight auth check before firing the request, so stale auth fails immediately with an nlm login hint instead of returning a fake success that collapses seconds later.

| artifacttype | Key Options | |--------------|-------------| | audio | audio_format: deepdive/brief/critique/debate, audio_length: short/default/long | | video | video_format: explainer/brief/cinematic, visual_style: autoselect/classic/whiteboard/kawaii/anime/watercolor/retroprint/heritage/papercraft (not for cinematic), video_style_prompt | | report | report_format: Briefing Doc/Study Guide/Blog Post/Create Your Own, custom_prompt | | quiz | question_count, difficulty: easy/medium/hard | | flashcards | difficulty: easy/medium/hard | | mind_map | title | | slide_deck | slide_format: detaileddeck/presenterslides, slide_length: short/default | | infographic | orientation: landscape/portrait/square, detail_level: concise/standard/detailed, infographic_style: autoselect/sketchnote/professional/bentogrid/editorial/instructional/bricks/clay/anime/kawaii/scientific | | data_table | description (REQUIRED) |

Common options: source_ids, language (BCP-47 code, including regional locales such as es-419), focus_prompt

Audio accent: NotebookLM has been observed using the language region subtag, not the prompt, to choose the Audio Overview accent. For example, es/es-ES produces Spain Spanish, while es-US/es-419 produces Latin-American Spanish. NOTEBOOKLM_HL can set the same regional locale as the default. Treat this as observed upstream behavior, not a guaranteed API contract.

Revise Slides: Use studio_revise to revise individual slides in an existing slide deck.

• Requires artifact_id (from studio_status) and slide_instructions
• Creates a NEW artifact — the original is not modified
• Slide numbers are 1-based (slide 1 = first slide)
• Poll studio_status after calling to check when the new deck is ready

CLI Commands

All generation commands share --confirm, --source-ids, and --profile. --language is available for audio, report, slides, infographic, video, and data-table:

• --confirm or -y: REQUIRED to execute
• --source-ids : Limit to specific sources
• --language : BCP-47 code (en, es-ES, es-US, es-419, fr, etc.)

# Audio (Podcast)
nlm audio create  --confirm
nlm audio create  --format deep_dive --length default --confirm
nlm audio create  --format brief --focus "key topic" --confirm
# Formats: deep_dive, brief, critique, debate
# Lengths: short, default, long

# Report
nlm report create  --confirm
nlm report create  --format "Study Guide" --confirm
nlm report create  --format "Create Your Own" --prompt "Custom..." --confirm
# Formats: "Briefing Doc", "Study Guide", "Blog Post", "Create Your Own"

# Quiz
nlm quiz create  --confirm
nlm quiz create  --c

…

## Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [jacob-bd](https://github.com/jacob-bd)
- **Source:** [jacob-bd/notebooklm-mcp-cli](https://github.com/jacob-bd/notebooklm-mcp-cli)
- **License:** MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.