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Audio Commands

Manage audio overviews (podcast-style discussions) for notebooks.

Available Commands

Command Description
create Create an audio overview
delete Delete an audio overview

create

Create an audio overview from a notebook's sources.

Usage

nblm audio create --notebook-id <ID>

Options

Option Description Required
--notebook-id <ID> Notebook identifier Yes

Examples

Create audio overview:

nblm audio create --notebook-id abc123

JSON output:

nblm --json audio create --notebook-id abc123

Output:

{
  "audioOverviewId": "audio-abc123",
  "name": "projects/123456789012/locations/global/notebooks/abc123/audioOverviews/audio-abc123",
  "status": "AUDIO_OVERVIEW_STATUS_IN_PROGRESS"
}

Audio Overview Requirements

  • The notebook must have at least one source before creating an audio overview
  • Audio generation takes several minutes to complete
  • Only one audio overview can exist per notebook
  • Configuration options are not supported: Despite API documentation mentioning languageCode, sourceIds, and episodeFocus fields, the API only accepts an empty request body (as of 2025-10-25)
  • Language and other settings must be configured through the NotebookLM web UI

Processing Status

Status Checking Limitation

As of now, there is no API to retrieve audio overview status. You must check the NotebookLM web UI in your browser to see when audio generation is complete or if it has failed.

When creating an audio overview, the initial status is:

  • AUDIO_OVERVIEW_STATUS_IN_PROGRESS - Audio is being generated

The API only returns this initial status. To check if generation has completed or failed, you must use the NotebookLM web UI.

delete

Delete the audio overview from a notebook.

Usage

nblm audio delete --notebook-id <ID>

Options

Option Description Required
--notebook-id <ID> Notebook identifier Yes

Examples

Delete audio overview:

nblm audio delete --notebook-id abc123

JSON output:

nblm --json audio delete --notebook-id abc123

Output:

{}

Deletion is Permanent

  • Deletion is permanent and cannot be undone
  • You can create a new audio overview after deletion
  • The audio file itself is deleted, but the notebook and sources remain

Common Patterns

Create and wait for completion

# Create audio overview
nblm audio create --notebook-id abc123

echo "Audio overview created. Check status in NotebookLM web UI."
echo "Generation typically takes 3-5 minutes."

# Note: The CLI does not currently support polling for completion status

Recreate audio overview

NOTEBOOK_ID="abc123"

# Delete existing audio overview
echo "Deleting existing audio overview..."
nblm audio delete --notebook-id "$NOTEBOOK_ID"

# Wait a moment
sleep 2

# Create new audio overview
echo "Creating new audio overview..."
nblm audio create --notebook-id "$NOTEBOOK_ID"

echo "Done. Check NotebookLM web UI for generation status."

Batch create audio overviews

# Create audio overviews for multiple notebooks
NOTEBOOKS=("abc123" "def456" "ghi789")

for notebook_id in "${NOTEBOOKS[@]}"; do
  echo "Creating audio overview for notebook: $notebook_id"
  nblm audio create --notebook-id "$notebook_id"
done

echo "All audio overviews created. Check web UI for completion status."

Error Handling

Common Errors

Notebook has no sources:

Error: Failed to create audio overview
Cause: Notebook must have at least one source before creating audio overview

Audio overview already exists:

Error: Failed to create audio overview
Cause: Audio overview already exists for this notebook
Solution: Delete the existing audio overview first, then create a new one

Notebook not found:

Error: Notebook not found
Cause: The specified notebook does not exist or you don't have access

Audio overview not found:

Error: Audio overview not found
Cause: No audio overview exists for this notebook

API Limitations

Current API Limitations

As of 2025-10-25, the audio overview API has the following limitations:

  1. No configuration options: Cannot specify language, source selection, or episode focus via the API
  2. No status polling: Cannot check generation status or progress via the CLI
  3. One per notebook: Only one audio overview can exist per notebook
  4. No download: Audio files cannot be downloaded via the API

These settings must be managed through the NotebookLM web UI.

Workflow

The typical workflow for audio overviews:

  1. Create notebook with nblm notebooks create
  2. Add sources with nblm sources add or nblm sources upload
  3. Create audio overview with nblm audio create
  4. Check status in NotebookLM web UI
  5. Listen to audio in NotebookLM web UI
  6. (Optional) Delete with nblm audio delete if you want to regenerate

Next Steps