Studio Commands — NotebookLM CLI Reference - NotebookLM CLI & MCP Server

Studio commands turn your notebook sources into polished content artifacts using NotebookLM’s AI generation pipeline. A single notebook can produce audio overviews, video summaries, written reports, interactive quizzes, flashcard decks, mind maps, slide presentations, infographics, and data tables — all from the same source material.

Artifact generation is asynchronous and typically takes 1–5 minutes depending on notebook size and artifact type. After starting generation, poll with nlm studio status <notebook-id> until the artifact shows as ready, then download it with nlm download.

The CLI supports two command styles:

# Noun-first
nlm audio create <notebook> --format deep_dive --confirm

# Verb-first
nlm create audio <notebook> --format deep_dive --confirm

Audio overviews

Generate a podcast-style audio overview from your notebook sources.

nlm audio create <notebook-id> --confirm
nlm audio create <notebook-id> --format deep_dive --length long --confirm

Flags

Flag	Short	Default	Description
`--format`	`-f`	`deep_dive`	Overview style: `deep_dive`, `brief`, `critique`, `debate`
`--length`	`-l`	`default`	Duration: `short`, `default`, `long`
`--focus`			Optional focus topic to guide the conversation
`--source-ids`	`-s`		Comma-separated source IDs (default: all)
`--language`			BCP-47 language code (default: `NOTEBOOKLM_HL` env var or `en`)
`--confirm`	`-y`		Skip confirmation prompt
`--profile`	`-p`		Profile to use

nlm audio create <notebook-id> \
  --format deep_dive \
  --length long \
  --confirm

Video overviews

Generate a narrated video overview with an animated visual style.

nlm video create <notebook-id> --confirm
nlm video create <notebook-id> --format explainer --style classic --confirm

Flags

Flag	Short	Default	Description
`--format`	`-f`	`explainer`	Video style: `explainer`, `brief`, `cinematic`
`--style`	`-s`	`auto_select`	Visual theme (see table below)
`--style-prompt`			Custom style description (implies `--style custom` for explainer/brief; maps to focus for cinematic)
`--focus`			Focus topic or creative direction
`--source-ids`			Comma-separated source IDs
`--language`			BCP-47 language code
`--confirm`	`-y`		Skip confirmation prompt
`--profile`	`-p`		Profile to use

Available visual styles

Style	Description
`auto_select`	Let NotebookLM choose automatically
`custom`	Use `--style-prompt` to describe your own
`classic`	Clean, professional look
`whiteboard`	Hand-drawn whiteboard aesthetic
`kawaii`	Cute Japanese-inspired art
`anime`	Anime illustration style
`watercolor`	Soft watercolor painting look
`retro_print`	Vintage print/poster aesthetic
`heritage`	Classic heritage illustration
`paper_craft`	Cut-paper collage style

nlm video create <notebook-id> \
  --format explainer \
  --style classic \
  --confirm

Reports

Generate a structured written report from notebook sources.

nlm report create <notebook-id> --format "Briefing Doc" --confirm

Flags

Flag	Short	Default	Description
`--format`	`-f`	`Briefing Doc`	Report type: `Briefing Doc`, `Study Guide`, `Blog Post`, `Create Your Own`
`--prompt`			Custom prompt (required when format is `Create Your Own`)
`--source-ids`	`-s`		Comma-separated source IDs
`--language`			BCP-47 language code
`--confirm`	`-y`		Skip confirmation prompt
`--profile`	`-p`		Profile to use

nlm report create <notebook-id> --format "Briefing Doc" --confirm

Quizzes

Generate a multiple-choice quiz from notebook sources.

nlm quiz create <notebook-id> --count 10 --difficulty 3 --confirm

Flags

Flag	Short	Default	Description
`--count`	`-c`	`2`	Number of questions
`--difficulty`	`-d`	`2`	Difficulty level 1–5 (1 = easiest, 5 = hardest)
`--focus`	`-f`		Focus prompt to guide question generation
`--source-ids`	`-s`		Comma-separated source IDs
`--confirm`	`-y`		Skip confirmation prompt
`--profile`	`-p`		Profile to use

# 10-question quiz, medium difficulty, focused on key concepts
nlm quiz create <notebook-id> \
  --count 10 \
  --difficulty 3 \
  --focus "Focus on the experimental methodology and results sections" \
  --confirm

Flashcards

Generate study flashcards from notebook sources.

nlm flashcards create <notebook-id> --difficulty hard --confirm

Flags

Flag	Short	Default	Description
`--difficulty`	`-d`	`medium`	Card difficulty: `easy`, `medium`, `hard`
`--focus`	`-f`		Focus prompt to guide card generation
`--source-ids`	`-s`		Comma-separated source IDs
`--confirm`	`-y`		Skip confirmation prompt
`--profile`	`-p`		Profile to use

Mind maps

Generate a structured mind map of the notebook’s key concepts.

nlm mindmap create <notebook-id> --confirm
nlm mindmap create <notebook-id> --title "AI Research Map" --confirm

Flags

Flag	Short	Default	Description
`--title`	`-t`	`Mind Map`	Mind map title
`--source-ids`	`-s`		Comma-separated source IDs
`--confirm`	`-y`		Skip confirmation prompt
`--profile`	`-p`		Profile to use

Slide decks

Generate a presentation slide deck from notebook sources.

nlm slides create <notebook-id> --confirm

Flags

Flag	Short	Default	Description
`--format`	`-f`	`detailed_deck`	Deck format: `detailed_deck`, `presenter_slides`
`--length`	`-l`	`default`	Deck length: `short`, `default`
`--focus`			Optional focus topic
`--source-ids`	`-s`		Comma-separated source IDs
`--language`			BCP-47 language code
`--confirm`	`-y`		Skip confirmation prompt
`--profile`	`-p`		Profile to use

Revise slides

Apply targeted revisions to individual slides in an existing deck. This creates a new deck — the original is not modified.

# Revise a single slide
nlm slides revise <artifact-id> \
  --slide '1 Make the title larger' \
  --confirm

# Revise multiple slides in one command
nlm slides revise <artifact-id> \
  --slide '1 Make the title larger' \
  --slide '3 Remove the product roadmap image' \
  --slide '5 Add a call-to-action bullet point' \
  --confirm

Each --slide value is the slide number followed by the instruction text. Multiple --slide flags are supported.

Infographics

Generate a visual infographic summarising key information from notebook sources.

nlm infographic create <notebook-id> --confirm
nlm infographic create <notebook-id> --orientation portrait --style professional --confirm

Flags

Flag	Short	Default	Description
`--orientation`	`-o`	`landscape`	Page orientation: `landscape`, `portrait`, `square`
`--detail`	`-d`	`standard`	Detail level: `concise`, `standard`, `detailed`
`--style`		`auto_select`	Visual style: `auto_select`, `sketch_note`, `professional`, `bento_grid`, `editorial`, `instructional`, `bricks`, `clay`, `anime`, `kawaii`, `scientific`
`--focus`			Optional focus topic
`--source-ids`	`-s`		Comma-separated source IDs
`--language`			BCP-47 language code
`--confirm`	`-y`		Skip confirmation prompt
`--profile`	`-p`		Profile to use

Data tables

Generate a structured data table extracted from notebook sources. The description is a required positional argument that guides the AI in selecting and organising the right information.

nlm data-table create <notebook-id> "Sales figures by region and quarter" --confirm

Flags

Flag	Short	Description
`--source-ids`	`-s`	Comma-separated source IDs
`--language`		BCP-47 language code
`--confirm`	`-y`	Skip confirmation prompt
`--profile`	`-p`	Profile to use

Studio status and management

`studio status`

List all artifacts for a notebook and their current generation status. Mind map artifacts are included alongside other types.

nlm studio status <notebook-id>
nlm studio status <notebook-id> --json

Flags

Flag	Short	Description
`--full`	`-a`	Show all details
`--json`	`-j`	Output as JSON
`--profile`	`-p`	Profile to use

`studio delete`

Permanently delete a studio artifact.

Artifact deletion is irreversible. Use --confirm to skip the interactive prompt in scripts.

nlm studio delete <notebook-id> <artifact-id> --confirm

Flags

Flag	Short	Description
`--confirm`	`-y`	Skip confirmation prompt
`--profile`	`-p`	Profile to use

`studio rename`

Rename an existing studio artifact.

nlm studio rename <artifact-id> "New Artifact Title"

Downloading artifacts

Once an artifact is ready, download it with nlm download. The artifact type determines the default file format.

Artifact type	Command	Default format
Audio	`nlm download audio`	`.m4a`
Video	`nlm download video`	`.mp4`
Report	`nlm download report`	`.md`
Mind map	`nlm download mind-map`	`.json`
Slide deck	`nlm download slide-deck`	`.pdf` (also `--format pptx`)
Infographic	`nlm download infographic`	`.png`
Data table	`nlm download data-table`	`.csv`
Quiz	`nlm download quiz --format json\|markdown\|html`	varies
Flashcards	`nlm download flashcards --format json\|markdown\|html`	varies

# Download audio
nlm download audio <notebook-id> --output podcast.m4a

# Download with a specific artifact ID (when multiple exist)
nlm download audio <notebook-id> --id <artifact-id> --output podcast.m4a

# Download slide deck as PPTX
nlm download slide-deck <notebook-id> --format pptx --output deck.pptx

# Download quiz as HTML
nlm download quiz <notebook-id> --format html --output quiz.html

# Download flashcards as Markdown
nlm download flashcards <notebook-id> --format markdown --output cards.md

Complete workflow example

Add sources to a notebook

nlm source add <notebook-id> --url "https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.00001" --wait
nlm source add <notebook-id> --file supplementary.pdf --wait

Start audio generation

nlm audio create <notebook-id> --format deep_dive --length long --confirm
# → Artifact ID: art-abc123

Poll status until ready

# Run repeatedly until status shows "ready"
nlm studio status <notebook-id>

Or automate polling in a shell loop:

while true; do
  status=$(nlm studio status <notebook-id> --json | jq -r '.artifacts[0].status')
  echo "Status: $status"
  [ "$status" = "complete" ] && break
  sleep 30
done

Download the artifact

nlm download audio <notebook-id> --output research-podcast.m4a

Generate a report from the same sources

nlm report create <notebook-id> --format "Briefing Doc" --confirm
# Wait for completion, then:
nlm download report <notebook-id> --output briefing.md

Get Started

CLI Reference

MCP Server

Guides

Studio Commands — NotebookLM CLI Reference

Audio overviews

Video overviews

Reports

Quizzes

Flashcards

Mind maps

Slide decks

Revise slides

Infographics

Data tables

Studio status and management

`studio status`

`studio delete`

`studio rename`

Downloading artifacts

Complete workflow example

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

CLI Reference

MCP Server

Guides

Documentation Index

​Audio overviews

​Video overviews

​Reports

​Quizzes

​Flashcards

​Mind maps

​Slide decks

​Revise slides

​Infographics

​Data tables

​Studio status and management

​studio status

​studio delete

​studio rename

​Downloading artifacts

​Complete workflow example

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Audio overviews

Video overviews

Reports

Quizzes

Flashcards

Mind maps

Slide decks

Revise slides

Infographics

Data tables

Studio status and management

`studio status`

`studio delete`

`studio rename`

Downloading artifacts

Complete workflow example