4.1 NotebookLM MCP Integration

Available since: Claude Code v2.1+ with MCP support

What it does: Query your NotebookLM notebooks directly from Claude Code, maintaining conversation context across multiple questions.

Installation

# Install NotebookLM MCP server
claude mcp add notebooklm npx notebooklm-mcp@latest

# Configure profile (optional, add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc)
export NOTEBOOKLM_PROFILE=standard  # minimal (5 tools) | standard (10 tools) | full (16 tools)

# Verify installation
claude mcp list
# Should show: notebooklm: npx notebooklm-mcp@latest - ✓ Connected

Profile comparison:

Profile	Tools	Use Case
minimal	5	Basic queries, token-constrained environments
standard	10	Recommended - Queries + library management
full	16	Advanced (browser control, cleanup, re-auth)

Detailed tool breakdown:

Tool	minimal	standard	full	Description
ask_question	✅	✅	✅	Query notebooks with conversation context
add_notebook	✅	✅	✅	Add notebook to library
list_notebooks	✅	✅	✅	List all notebooks in library
get_notebook	✅	✅	✅	Get notebook details by ID
setup_auth	✅	✅	✅	Initial Google authentication
select_notebook	❌	✅	✅	Set active notebook
update_notebook	❌	✅	✅	Update notebook metadata
search_notebooks	❌	✅	✅	Search library by keywords
list_sessions	❌	✅	✅	List active conversation sessions
get_health	❌	✅	✅	Check auth status and config
remove_notebook	❌	❌	✅	Remove notebook from library
re_auth	❌	❌	✅	Switch Google account
cleanup_data	❌	❌	✅	Clear browser data and sessions
get_browser_state	❌	❌	✅	Manual browser state inspection
execute_browser_action	❌	❌	✅	Manual browser control
wait_for_element	❌	❌	✅	Manual browser element waiting

Authentication

Important: NotebookLM MCP uses isolated Chrome profile, separate from your main browser session.

# In Claude Code, first-time setup:
"Log me in to NotebookLM"

# Browser opens automatically for Google authentication
# Select your Google account (pro tip: use authuser=1 for secondary accounts)
# Session persists in: ~/Library/Application Support/notebooklm-mcp/

Multi-account setup:

If you have multiple Google accounts and want to use a specific one:

1. Pre-configure in browser: Open https://notebooklm.google.com/?authuser=1 (change number for different accounts)
2. Sign in with desired account
3. Then run authentication in Claude Code

The MCP stores credentials in an isolated Chrome profile, so your main browser cookies don't affect it.

Verify authentication:

"Check NotebookLM health status"

# Expected output after successful auth:
# {
#   "authenticated": true,
#   "account": "your-email@gmail.com",
#   "notebooks": <count>
# }

Building Your Notebook Library

Unlike the web UI, the MCP works with share links rather than auto-syncing all notebooks.

Add a notebook:

# 1. In NotebookLM web UI:
#    - Open notebook
#    - Click "Share" → "Anyone with the link"
#    - Copy share URL

# 2. In Claude Code:
"Add notebook: https://notebooklm.google.com/notebook/abc123...
Name: LLM Engineer Handbook
Description: Comprehensive guide on LLM engineering practices
Topics: LLM, fine-tuning, RAG, deployment"

# Minimal metadata required - the MCP will analyze content automatically

List your library:

"List my NotebookLM notebooks"

# Shows all added notebooks with topics, use cases, last used

Search library:

"Search NotebookLM library for: React patterns"

# Returns relevant notebooks based on name, description, topics

Querying Notebooks

Direct query (specify notebook):

"In LLM Engineer Handbook, how do I implement RAG with embeddings?"

# Claude will:
# 1. Select the specified notebook
# 2. Query NotebookLM with your question
# 3. Return answer with precise citations
# 4. Maintain session_id for follow-up questions

Contextual conversation:

# First question
"In Building Large-Scale Web Apps notebook, what are the caching strategies?"

# Follow-up (uses same session_id)
"How would that apply to a Next.js application?"

# Another follow-up
"What about Redis vs in-memory cache trade-offs?"

# Session context is maintained across all queries

Select active notebook:

"Select LLM Engineer Handbook as active notebook"

# Now you can ask without specifying notebook each time
"What are the fine-tuning techniques?"
"How does DPO compare to RLHF?"

Advanced Workflows

Multi-notebook research:

# Compare insights across notebooks
"What does LLM Engineer Handbook say about embeddings?"
"Now check Playwright Automation guide for testing strategies"
"How can I combine these approaches?"

Update notebook metadata:

# As you use notebooks, refine their metadata
"Update LLM Engineer Handbook:
 - Add topic: prompt engineering
 - Add use case: When designing LLM architectures"

# This helps Claude auto-select the right notebook for future queries

Session management:

"List active NotebookLM sessions"

# Shows all conversation sessions with message counts, age
# Useful to resume previous research threads

Comparison: MCP vs Web UI

Feature	MCP Integration	Web UI
Access from Claude Code	✅ Direct	❌ Manual copy-paste
Conversation context	✅ Persistent session_id	⚠️ Web chat only
Multi-notebook queries	✅ Switch seamlessly	⚠️ Manual navigation
Audio generation	❌ Use web UI	✅ Native
Share notebooks	✅ Via library	✅ Native
Query speed	✅ Instant	⚠️ Browser navigation

Best practice: Use MCP for queries during development, web UI for audio generation during onboarding.

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
notebooklm: not connected	Run source ~/.zshrc (or restart terminal), then restart Claude Code
Empty notebook list after auth	You're authenticated but haven't added notebooks yet - use share links workflow
Wrong Google account	Clear auth: delete ~/Library/Application Support/notebooklm-mcp/chrome_profile/, re-authenticate
"Tool not found"	Check NOTEBOOKLM_PROFILE variable is set correctly
Rate limit errors	Wait 24h or re-authenticate with different Google account

Check MCP configuration:

# View your .claude.json MCP config
cat ~/.claude.json | jq '.mcpServers.notebooklm'

# Should show:
# {
#   "type": "stdio",
#   "command": "npx",
#   "args": ["notebooklm-mcp@latest"],
#   "env": {}
# }

Example: Onboarding Workflow

# Day 1: Setup
"Log me in to NotebookLM"