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Installation Guide - NotebookLM MCP HTTP Server

Complete installation from scratch on Windows 10/11

📋 Table of Contents​

  1. Prerequisites
  2. Node.js Installation
  3. Project Cloning
  4. Dependencies Installation
  5. Compilation
  6. Authentication Configuration
  7. Notebooks Configuration
  8. Verification
  9. Startup

📌 Prerequisites​

Before starting, you need:

Hardware​

  • RAM: 2 GB minimum (4 GB recommended)
  • Disk: 500 MB free space
  • Network: Stable Internet connection

Software​

  • Windows 10/11 (64-bit)
  • PowerShell 5.1+ (included in Windows)
  • Browser: Chrome installed (Playwright will use it)

Accounts​

📥 Node.js Installation​

Check if Node.js is already installed​

node --version
npm --version

If you see version numbers (e.g., v20.9.0 and 10.1.0), Node.js is installed. ✅ If not, continue below. ⬇️

Download Node.js​

  1. Go to https://nodejs.org/

  2. Download the LTS (Long Term Support) version for Windows

  3. Run the .msi installer

  4. Follow the installation wizard:

    • ✅ Accept the license
    • ✅ Standard installation (default path: C:\Program Files\nodejs\)
    • ✅ Check "Automatically install the necessary tools" if offered

  5. Restart PowerShell and verify:

node --version   # Should display: v20.x.x or higher
npm --version    # Should display: 10.x.x or higher

📂 Project Cloning​

Method 1: With Git​

# Install Git if not already done: https://git-scm.com/download/win

# Clone the repository
cd D:\
git clone https://github.com/PleasePrompto/notebooklm-mcp.git notebooklm-http
cd notebooklm-http

Method 2: ZIP Download​

  1. Download the ZIP from GitHub
  2. Extract to D:\notebooklm-http\
  3. Open PowerShell in this folder

📦 Dependencies Installation​

# Make sure you're in the right directory
cd D:\notebooklm-http

# Install all npm dependencies
npm install

What gets installed:

  • express - HTTP server
  • patchright - Stealth Playwright to automate Chrome
  • @anthropic-ai/sdk - MCP SDK
  • And ~50 other necessary packages

Duration: 2-5 minutes depending on your Internet connection

Expected result:

added 150 packages in 3m

🔨 Compilation​

The project is written in TypeScript and must be compiled to JavaScript:

npm run build

Expected result:

> notebooklm-mcp@1.1.2 build
> tsc

> notebooklm-mcp@1.1.2 postbuild
> chmod +x dist/index.js

✓ Compilation successful

Verification:

ls dist\http-wrapper.js

If the file exists, compilation is OK! ✅

🔐 Authentication Configuration​

IMPORTANT: This step is done ONLY ONCE. Authentication will be saved and valid for ~399 days.

Note: The path depends on your current directory.

If you're at the project root:

.\deployment\scripts\setup-auth.ps1

If you're in the deployment folder:

.\scripts\setup-auth.ps1

Or use npm (works everywhere):

npm run setup-auth

What will happen:

  1. The script checks if authentication already exists

    • If yes: asks for confirmation to reset
    • If no: continues directly

  2. Chrome opens (visible window)

  3. Actions to do in Chrome:

    • Sign in to your Google account
    • Go to https://notebooklm.google.com
    • Wait for the page to load completely
    • You should see your notebooks
    • Close Chrome (click the red X)

  4. The script verifies that files are correctly created

Expected result:

✅ Authentication configured successfully!
💡 Google session valid for ~399 days

Files created:
  ✅ state.json created (X KB)
  ✅ Cookies created (XXX KB)

📁 Authentication Files Location​

IMPORTANT: Authentication files are NOT stored in the project directory, but in the Windows user directory:

Full path:

C:\Users\<YOUR_NAME>\AppData\Local\notebooklm-mcp\Data\

File structure:

C:\Users\<YOUR_NAME>\AppData\Local\notebooklm-mcp\Data\
├── chrome_profile\           ← Complete Chrome profile (Google cookies)
│   └── Default\
│       └── Cookies           ← Cookies file (must be >10KB)
│
├── browser_state\
│   └── state.json            ← Authentication state (16 critical cookies)
│
└── library.json              ← Library of configured notebooks

To verify on your PC:

# Display the path
echo $env:LOCALAPPDATA\notebooklm-mcp\Data

# List files
dir $env:LOCALAPPDATA\notebooklm-mcp\Data
dir $env:LOCALAPPDATA\notebooklm-mcp\Data\chrome_profile\Default\Cookies
dir $env:LOCALAPPDATA\notebooklm-mcp\Data\browser_state\state.json

Expected files:

  • Cookies - SQLite database (>10 KB) - Contains your Google cookies
  • state.json - JSON file with 16 critical cookies - Valid for 399 days
  • library.json - Library of your NotebookLM notebooks (created automatically)

📚 Notebooks Configuration​

Once authentication is configured, you must add at least one notebook to your library.

Prerequisite: Start the HTTP server first

# In a first terminal
npm run start:http

In a second PowerShell terminal:

# Prepare notebook data
$body = @{
    url = "https://notebooklm.google.com/notebook/xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx"
    name = "My Notebook"
    description = "A sample notebook"
    topics = @("topic1", "topic2", "topic3")
} | ConvertTo-Json

# Add the notebook (automatic validation)
Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "http://localhost:3000/notebooks" `
    -Method Post `
    -Body $body `
    -ContentType "application/json"

⏱️ Note: Adding takes 15-30 seconds because the server validates that the notebook actually exists.

Automatic validations:

  • ✅ NotebookLM URL format
  • ✅ Notebook actually accessible (live check)
  • ✅ No duplicate name
  • ✅ Valid Google session

How to get a notebook URL:

  1. Go to https://notebooklm.google.com
  2. Open your notebook
  3. Copy the URL from the address bar

Expected format: https://notebooklm.google.com/notebook/[id]

Option 2: Manual Modification (Advanced)​

Edit library.json directly:

# Open the file
code "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\notebooklm-mcp\Data\library.json"

⚠️ Warning: This method bypasses automatic validations.

Example structure:

{
  "notebooks": [
    {
      "id": "my-notebook",
      "url": "https://notebooklm.google.com/notebook/xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx",
      "name": "My Notebook",
      "description": "A sample notebook",
      "topics": ["topic1", "topic2", "topic3"],
      "content_types": ["documentation", "examples"],
      "use_cases": ["Learning about the topic"],
      "added_at": "2025-11-22T08:49:16.735Z",
      "last_used": "2025-11-22T08:49:16.735Z",
      "use_count": 0,
      "tags": []
    }
  ],
  "active_notebook_id": "my-notebook",
  "last_modified": "2025-11-22T08:49:16.735Z",
  "version": "1.0.0"
}

Restart the server after manual modification.

Verify Configuration​

# List configured notebooks
Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "http://localhost:3000/notebooks"

Expected result:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "notebooks": [
      {
        "id": "my-notebook",
        "name": "My Notebook",
        "url": "https://notebooklm.google.com/notebook/xxx",
        "active": true
      }
    ],
    "count": 1
  }
}

📖 For more details on notebook management, see 06-NOTEBOOK-LIBRARY.md

⚠️ AUTHENTICATION FILES SECURITY​

  • These files contain your authenticated Google cookies
  • NEVER share these files
  • NEVER commit them to Git (already protected by .gitignore)
  • To reset auth: delete the Data\ folder and run npm run setup-auth again

If all files are present and not empty, authentication is configured! ✅

✅ Verification​

Before starting the server, let's verify that everything is OK:

npm run doctor:basic

Prints a [PASS]/[FAIL] line for each of: Node engine compatibility, package.json, README.md, dist/index.js, dist/http-wrapper.js. Exits non-zero on any failure. Use this instead of the manual checklist below for quick sanity checks before starting the server.

Once the server is running (see Startup below), also run:

npm run doctor:http

to verify /health reachability. Pass --notebook-url to also exercise /content and /ask.

Complete Checklist (manual)​

# 1. Node.js installed
node --version
# ✅ Should display v20.x.x or higher

# 2. Dependencies installed
ls node_modules\express
# ✅ The folder must exist

# 3. Code compiled
ls dist\http-wrapper.js
# ✅ The file must exist

# 4. Authentication configured
ls Data\chrome_profile\Default\Cookies
ls Data\browser_state\state.json
# ✅ Both files must exist and not be empty

# 5. Port 3000 free
netstat -ano | findstr :3000
# ✅ No result = port free
# ❌ A result = port occupied (see TROUBLESHOOTING.md)

If all checks are ✅, you're ready! 🎉

▶️ Startup​

Method 1: Foreground Mode (Development)​

npm run start:http

Expected result:

✅ [14:30:15] 🌐 HTTP Wrapper listening on 0.0.0.0:3000
ℹ️  [14:30:15]    Health check: http://localhost:3000/health
ℹ️  [14:30:15]    Ask question: POST http://localhost:3000/ask
ℹ️  [14:30:15]    List notebooks: GET http://localhost:3000/notebooks

ℹ️  [14:30:15] 📖 API Documentation:
ℹ️  [14:30:15]    POST /ask - Ask a question to NotebookLM
ℹ️  [14:30:15]    GET /health - Check server health
ℹ️  [14:30:15]    GET /notebooks - List all notebooks

The server is started! 🚀

⚠️ Note: The terminal must stay open. Press Ctrl+C to stop.

Method 2: Background Daemon Mode (Production) ⭐​

For production use, run the server in background without keeping the terminal open:

# Start server in background
npm run daemon:start

# Check status
npm run daemon:status

# View logs in real-time
npm run daemon:logs

# Stop server
npm run daemon:stop

Expected result:

[PM2] App [notebooklm-mcp] launched (1 instances)
┌────┬────────────────┬──────┬─────────┬────────┐
│ id │ name           │ mode │ status  │ uptime │
├────┼────────────────┼──────┼─────────┼────────┤
│ 0  │ notebooklm-mcp │ fork │ online  │ 0s     │
└────┴────────────────┴──────┴─────────┴────────┘

Advantages of daemon mode:

  • ✅ Runs in background (no terminal window)
  • ✅ Auto-restart on crash
  • ✅ Logs saved to logs/pm2-*.log
  • ✅ Survives terminal close

Daemon management commands:

npm run daemon:start    # Start server
npm run daemon:stop     # Stop server
npm run daemon:restart  # Restart server
npm run daemon:logs     # View logs (Ctrl+C to exit)
npm run daemon:status   # Check status
npm run daemon:delete   # Remove from PM2 list

Health Test​

Open a new PowerShell terminal and test:

curl http://localhost:3000/health

Expected response:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "authenticated": true,
    "sessions": 0,
    "library_notebooks": 1,
    "context_age_hours": 0.0
  }
}

If "authenticated": true, everything works! ✅

Complete Test with Question​

curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/ask `
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" `
  -d '{"question":"What is the main topic?","notebook_id":"my-notebook"}'

Wait 30-60 seconds (NotebookLM generation time).

Expected response:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "status": "success",
    "question": "What is the main topic?",
    "answer": "Based on the sources, the main topic is...",
    "session_id": "abc123",
    "notebook_url": "https://notebooklm.google.com/notebook/...",
    "session_info": {
      "age_seconds": 35,
      "message_count": 1
    }
  }
}

If you receive a JSON response with "success": true and an "answer", congratulations! 🎉 Your NotebookLM HTTP server is operational!

For complete validation, use the test scripts:

# Quick test (30 seconds)
.\deployment\scripts\test-server.ps1

# Complete tests (5-10 minutes)
.\deployment\scripts\test-api.ps1

Expected result:

✅ ALL TESTS PASSED!

Total tests: 10
Successful tests: 10
Failed tests: 0
Success rate: 100%

👉 Complete test documentation: Test Scripts

🚪 Stop the Server​

In the terminal where the server is running, press:

Ctrl + C

The server stops gracefully with:

SIGINT received, shutting down gracefully...

➡️ Next Steps​

✅ Installation complete!

Now you can:

  1. Advanced Configuration - Environment variables, firewall, security
  2. API Documentation - All available endpoints
  3. n8n Integration - Connect with n8n step-by-step
  4. Troubleshooting - Solutions to common problems

🆘 Problems?​

If something doesn't work:

  1. Consult 05-TROUBLESHOOTING.md
  2. Check server logs
  3. Test with npm run setup-auth again
  4. Open a GitHub issue with the logs

Congratulations! Your NotebookLM HTTP server is installed and operational! 🎉