notebooklm-mcp-2026 0.1.0

Secure MCP server for querying Google NotebookLM notebooks

notebooklm-mcp-2026

Secure MCP server for querying Google NotebookLM notebooks. Designed for use with Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code Copilot, and any MCP-compatible AI assistant.

What it does

notebooklm-mcp-2026 gives AI assistants direct access to your Google NotebookLM notebooks. It runs as a local subprocess (stdio transport) — no HTTP server needed. Your AI assistant can list your notebooks, read source content, and ask the NotebookLM AI questions about your sources.

Quick Start

# 1. Install
pip install notebooklm-mcp-2026

# 2. Run the setup wizard (authenticates + configures your MCP client)
notebooklm-mcp-2026 setup

# That's it! Restart your MCP client and start using it.

Or step by step:

pip install notebooklm-mcp-2026
notebooklm-mcp-2026 login                # Opens Chrome for Google login
notebooklm-mcp-2026 setup                # Auto-configures your MCP client
notebooklm-mcp-2026 status               # Verify everything is connected

Installation

Requirements: Python 3.11+, Google Chrome

# Via pip
pip install notebooklm-mcp-2026

# Via uv (recommended)
uv tool install notebooklm-mcp-2026

# From source
git clone <this-repo>
cd notebooklm-mcp-2026
pip install -e .

Authentication

notebooklm-mcp-2026 uses Google session cookies extracted via Chrome DevTools Protocol. No passwords are stored — only session cookies.

First-time setup

notebooklm-mcp-2026 login

This will:

1. Launch Chrome pointing at notebooklm.google.com
2. Wait for you to log in to your Google account
3. Extract session cookies via Chrome DevTools Protocol
4. Save them locally with restricted file permissions (0o600)

Cookies typically last 2–4 weeks. When they expire, run notebooklm-mcp-2026 login again.

Where credentials are stored

Platform	Location
Linux	~/.local/share/notebooklm-mcp-2026/auth.json
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/notebooklm-mcp-2026/auth.json
Windows	%LOCALAPPDATA%\notebooklm-mcp-2026\auth.json

Override with: NOTEBOOKLM_MCP_DATA_DIR=/custom/path

CLI Commands

Command	Description
notebooklm-mcp-2026 setup	Interactive setup wizard — authenticates and configures your MCP client
notebooklm-mcp-2026 login	Authenticate via Chrome (opens browser window)
notebooklm-mcp-2026 serve	Start the MCP server over stdio (used by MCP clients)
notebooklm-mcp-2026 status	Show authentication and MCP client configuration status
notebooklm-mcp-2026 doctor	Diagnose common issues (Chrome, auth, permissions)
notebooklm-mcp-2026 version	Print version

MCP Client Configuration

The setup command auto-configures your MCP client. For manual configuration, see below.

Claude Code

Add to ~/.claude/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "notebooklm-mcp-2026": {
      "command": "notebooklm-mcp-2026",
      "args": ["serve"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "notebooklm-mcp-2026": {
      "command": "notebooklm-mcp-2026",
      "args": ["serve"]
    }
  }
}

VS Code (Copilot)

Add to VS Code settings.json:

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "notebooklm-mcp-2026": {
        "command": "notebooklm-mcp-2026",
        "args": ["serve"]
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "notebooklm-mcp-2026": {
      "command": "notebooklm-mcp-2026",
      "args": ["serve"]
    }
  }
}

Available Tools (9)

Tool	Description	Key Parameters
login	Launch Chrome for Google OAuth login	timeout (default: 300s)
check_auth	Verify stored credentials are valid	—
list_notebooks	List all notebooks with metadata	max_results (default: 50)
get_notebook	Get notebook details + source list	notebook_id
list_sources	List sources in a notebook	notebook_id
get_source_content	Get full text of a source	source_id
query_notebook	Ask the AI a question	notebook_id, query, source_ids?, conversation_id?
add_source_url	Add a URL/YouTube source	notebook_id, url
add_source_text	Add pasted text source	notebook_id, text, title?

Typical workflow

1. list_notebooks          → find the notebook ID you want
2. list_sources            → see what sources are in it
3. query_notebook          → ask questions about the sources
4. get_source_content      → read raw source text if needed

Follow-up conversations

query_notebook returns a conversation_id. Pass it back to ask follow-up questions in the same conversation context:

# First question
result = query_notebook(notebook_id="abc", query="What is the main topic?")
# result.conversation_id = "uuid-123"

# Follow-up
result = query_notebook(notebook_id="abc", query="Tell me more about that", conversation_id="uuid-123")

Troubleshooting

"Not authenticated" error

Run notebooklm-mcp-2026 login in your terminal.

"Cookies expired" error

Session cookies have a limited lifespan (2–4 weeks). Run notebooklm-mcp-2026 login again.

"Chrome not found" error

Install Google Chrome. On Linux, ensure google-chrome or chromium is in your PATH.

Empty notebook list

Make sure you're logged into the correct Google account that has NotebookLM notebooks.

"Build label" errors

Google occasionally rotates their build label. Set the updated label:

NOTEBOOKLM_BL="boq_labs-tailwind-frontend_YYYYMMDD.XX_p0" notebooklm-mcp-2026 serve

Rate limit errors

NotebookLM free tier allows ~50 queries per day. Wait until the next day or upgrade.

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
NOTEBOOKLM_MCP_DATA_DIR	Platform default	Override data storage location
NOTEBOOKLM_BL	boq_labs-tailwind-frontend_20260108.06_p0	Google build label
NOTEBOOKLM_QUERY_TIMEOUT	120.0	Query timeout in seconds

Security

• No passwords stored — only Google session cookies
• File permissions — credentials saved with 0o600 (owner read/write only)
• Directory permissions — data directory created with 0o700 (owner only)
• No eval/exec — no dynamic code execution anywhere
• No shell=True — Chrome launched with explicit argument lists
• Cookie filtering — only essential Google auth cookies are persisted
• Chrome cleanup — Chrome process always terminated in finally blocks
• Input validation — all tool parameters validated before use
• Timeouts — all HTTP requests have explicit timeouts
• CSRF protection — tokens passed in request body, auto-refreshed on expiry

Development

# Install dev dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Run tests
pytest

# Lint
ruff check src/ tests/

Testing with MCP Inspector

The MCP Inspector lets you interactively test the server's tools in a web UI:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector notebooklm-mcp-2026 serve

This opens a browser where you can call each of the 9 tools with custom parameters and inspect responses. You must run notebooklm-mcp-2026 login first.

License

MIT