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NotebookLM MCP Server

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Drive NotebookLM via a real Chrome browser, bringing citation-backed answers to your AI agents.

GitHub source repository ↗

★ 3.4k Stars Category · Browser Very popular Source revision 50b3e7f67f85

55FMRS · C

Reliability

6/20

Security and permissions

10/20

Maintenance

9/20

Documentation

17/20

Setup experience

13/20

This server provides reliable NotebookLM integration via real browser automation, with comprehensive features but dependencies on Chrome and Google login, suited for advanced users.

Read the FMRS scoring method →

notebooklm-mcp is an MCP server for Google NotebookLM. It drives a real Chrome via Patchright (stealth + persistent fingerprint) so AI agents (like Claude Code, Codex) can chat against a notebook, ingest sources, generate audio overviews, and read DOM-level citations. Two transports are supported: stdio (default) and Streamable-HTTP. Authentication is persisted after a one-time setup_auth login, so subsequent runs don't need to log in again. Multi-account profiles are supported with isolated Chrome profiles. Tools cover Q&A, source management, audio generation, library management, session management, and system operations. Tool profiles (minimal, standard, full) help control context budgets. All answers carry _provenance metadata indicating AI generation and grounding.

Tools

ask_question

Ask a question against a notebook. Supports session reuse, citation extraction (source_format), and per-call browser overrides. Returns answer + _provenance envelope.

add_source

Add a source to a notebook. Supports type=url (web crawl) and type=text (paste). Returns source counts before/after.

generate_audio

Generate an Audio Overview. Optional custom_prompt and timeout_ms.

download_audio

Save the most recent Audio Overview to a destination directory.

add_notebook

Add a NotebookLM share-URL to the local library with metadata. Requires explicit user confirmation.

list_notebooks

List every notebook in the library with metadata.

get_notebook

Fetch one notebook by id.

select_notebook

Set a notebook as the active default for ask_question.

update_notebook

Update name, description, topics, content_types, use_cases, tags, or url.

remove_notebook

Remove from the local library (does not delete the NotebookLM notebook itself).

search_notebooks

Search by name, description, topics, tags.

get_library_stats

Counts and usage stats.

list_sessions

List active browser sessions with age + message count.

close_session

Close one session by session_id.

reset_session

Reset chat history while keeping the same session_id.

get_health

Auth state, session count, configuration snapshot, troubleshooting hint.

setup_auth

First-time interactive Google login. Pass show_browser=true to see the window; returns immediately after launching, with up to 10 minutes to complete login.

re_auth

Wipe stored auth and start over. Use when switching Google accounts or when authentication is broken.

cleanup_data

Full cleanup with categorised preview. Pass preserve_library=true to keep library.json while wiping browser state.

Setup

Ensure Node.js >= 18 and Chrome are installed. 2. Install globally or use npx: npx notebooklm-mcp@latest. 3. For Claude Code: run claude mcp add notebooklm -- npx notebooklm-mcp@latest. 4. For Cursor: add config to ~/.cursor/mcp.json. 5. For Codex: run codex mcp add notebooklm npx notebooklm-mcp@latest. 6. On first run, execute the setup_auth tool to complete Google login; use a display or xvfb-run.

Fit and risk

Best for

Power users needing reliable answers based on user-uploaded documents with reduced hallucinations.
Developers already using Claude Code, Cursor, or Codex who want to extend capabilities with NotebookLM.
Workflows that automate extensive document research or content generation.

Not for

Users without a Google account or NotebookLM access.
Users who cannot run Chrome or headless servers without xvfb (WSL1 is not supported).
Those needing a lightweight, browserless solution (this server depends on a real Chrome).

Required permissions

Requires Google account login to access NotebookLM service.
Requires running Chrome/Chromium via Patchright, and may modify its profile files.
Can read/write local filesystem to store Chrome profiles, library data, and audio files.
May listen on local ports (default 3000 in HTTP mode) to serve MCP.
May make network requests to NotebookLM and Google services.

Risks and side effects

Browser automation may trigger Google's anti-automation detection, potentially leading to account restrictions.
Chrome profile stores login credentials without encryption, posing credential leak risk.
Third-party source content may contain malicious instructions; AI marker and disclaimers mitigate but cannot eliminate risk.
Long-running sessions may accumulate browser sessions; monitor session timeouts and resource usage.

Troubleshooting

If login fails, ensure Chrome is available; run in a display environment or use `xvfb-run -a`. For headless Linux servers, run setup_auth once under xvfb.
If browser fails to launch, set `BROWSER_CHANNEL=chromium` to force the bundled Patchright Chromium.
Check network connectivity to Google services.
Use `get_health` to inspect auth state and configuration; check logs.
If authentication is broken, run `re_auth` to re-authenticate.

Use cases

Let AI agents query NotebookLM notebooks directly for grounded, cited answers.

Automate ingestion of web or text sources into a notebook.

Generate and download audio overviews for podcasts or study materials.

Manage and search a local notebook library for cross-client sharing.

Integrate NotebookLM Q&A into HTTP clients like n8n, Zapier.

Supported clients

Claude CodeFull support

CursorFull support

Codex CLIFull support

Generic MCP client (stdio)Full support

HTTP-only clients (n8n, Zapier)Full support

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