Sources Commands¶

Manage sources (content) within NotebookLM notebooks.

Available Commands¶

Command	Description
`add`	Add sources to a notebook
`upload`	Upload a file as a source
`get`	Get details of a specific source
`delete`	Delete sources from a notebook

add¶

Add one or more sources to a notebook.

Usage¶

nblm sources add --notebook-id <ID> [SOURCE_OPTIONS...]

Options¶

Option	Description	Required	Can Repeat
`--notebook-id <ID>`	Notebook identifier	Yes	No
`--web-url <URL>`	Web page URL	No	Yes
`--web-name <NAME>`	Display name for web source	No	Yes
`--text <CONTENT>`	Text content	No	Yes
`--text-name <NAME>`	Display name for text source	No	Yes
`--video-url <URL>`	YouTube video URL	No	Yes
`--drive-document-id <ID>`	Google Drive document ID	No	Yes
`--drive-mime-type <TYPE>`	Google Drive MIME type	No	Yes
`--drive-name <NAME>`	Display name for Drive doc	No	Yes

Note: At least one source option must be provided.

Examples¶

Add a web URL:

nblm sources add \
  --notebook-id abc123 \
  --web-url "https://example.com" \
  --web-name "Example Website"

Add text content:

nblm sources add \
  --notebook-id abc123 \
  --text "My research notes" \
  --text-name "Notes"

Add YouTube video:

nblm sources add \
  --notebook-id abc123 \
  --video-url "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"

Add multiple sources at once:

nblm sources add \
  --notebook-id abc123 \
  --web-url "https://docs.python.org" \
  --web-name "Python Docs" \
  --text "Sample notes" \
  --text-name "My Notes" \
  --video-url "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"

Add Google Drive file:

nblm sources add \
  --notebook-id abc123 \
  --drive-document-id "FILE_ID" \
  --drive-mime-type "application/vnd.google-apps.presentation" \
  --drive-name "Team Update Slides"

Google Drive File ID

FILE_ID can be extracted from the Drive URL at /d/<ID>/ (e.g., https://drive.google.com/file/d/<ID>/xxx). Ensure the authenticated account has view access to the file.

Drive Access Validation

When you add Drive sources, nblm validates that the token includes the https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.file (or broader drive) scope and that the authenticated account can open the document. If either check fails, the upload is aborted with an error instead of creating placeholder metadata.

JSON output:

nblm --json sources add \
  --notebook-id abc123 \
  --web-url "https://example.com"

Output:

{
  "sources": [
    {
      "name": "projects/123456789012/locations/global/notebooks/abc123/sources/source-1",
      "title": "Example Website",
      "createTime": "2025-10-25T10:30:00Z"
    }
  ]
}

Source Requirements

Web URLs are fetched and indexed automatically
Text content must not be empty
Video URLs currently only support YouTube (youtubeUrl field)
Google Drive sources require gcloud auth login --enable-gdrive-access and the authenticated account must have access to the document
The --web-name and --text-name options are optional; if not provided, defaults are used

upload¶

Upload a local file as a notebook source.

Usage¶

nblm sources upload --notebook-id <ID> --file <PATH> [OPTIONS]

Options¶

Option	Description	Required
`--notebook-id <ID>`	Notebook identifier	Yes
`--file <PATH>`	Path to file to upload	Yes
`--content-type <TYPE>`	HTTP Content-Type (MIME type)	No
`--display-name <NAME>`	Display name for the source	No

Examples¶

Upload a PDF:

nblm sources upload \
  --notebook-id abc123 \
  --file document.pdf

Upload with custom content type:

nblm sources upload \
  --notebook-id abc123 \
  --file report.txt \
  --content-type "text/plain"

Upload with display name:

nblm sources upload \
  --notebook-id abc123 \
  --file research.pdf \
  --display-name "Research Paper 2025"

JSON output:

nblm --json sources upload \
  --notebook-id abc123 \
  --file document.pdf

Output:

{
  "sourceId": "source-abc123"
}

Upload Requirements

Content type is auto-detected from file extension if not specified
Supported file types include: PDF, TXT, DOCX, and more
File must exist and be readable
Empty files cannot be uploaded
Maximum file size may be limited by the API

get¶

Get details of a specific source.

Usage¶

nblm sources get --notebook-id <ID> --source-id <SOURCE_ID>

Options¶

Option	Description	Required
`--notebook-id <ID>`	Notebook identifier	Yes
`--source-id <SOURCE_ID>`	Source identifier	Yes

Examples¶

Get source details:

nblm sources get \
  --notebook-id abc123 \
  --source-id source-1

JSON output:

nblm --json sources get \
  --notebook-id abc123 \
  --source-id source-1

Output:

{
  "name": "projects/123456789012/locations/global/notebooks/abc123/sources/source-1",
  "title": "Example Website",
  "metadata": {
    "wordCount": 1500,
    "sourceAddedTimestamp": "2025-10-25T10:30:00Z"
  },
  "settings": {
    "status": "ACTIVE"
  }
}

Source Details

Use this to verify source details after adding
Useful for checking processing status
The source-id can be extracted from the full source name

delete¶

Delete one or more sources from a notebook.

Usage¶

nblm sources delete --notebook-id <ID> --source-name <NAME> [--source-name <NAME>...]

Options¶

Option	Description	Required
`--notebook-id <ID>`	Notebook identifier	Yes
`--source-name <NAME>`	Full source resource name (can be repeated)	Yes

Examples¶

Delete a single source:

nblm sources delete \
  --notebook-id abc123 \
  --source-name "projects/123456789012/locations/global/notebooks/abc123/sources/source-1"

Delete multiple sources:

nblm sources delete \
  --notebook-id abc123 \
  --source-name "projects/.../notebooks/abc123/sources/source-1" \
  --source-name "projects/.../notebooks/abc123/sources/source-2"

Get source names from notebook and delete:

# List sources and extract names (requires getting notebook details first)
SOURCE_NAME="projects/123456789012/locations/global/notebooks/abc123/sources/source-1"

nblm sources delete \
  --notebook-id abc123 \
  --source-name "$SOURCE_NAME"

Deletion is Permanent

Deletion is permanent and cannot be undone
The full source resource name is required (not just the source ID)
Multiple sources can be deleted in a single command

Common Patterns¶

Add and verify source¶

# Add source
RESULT=$(nblm --json sources add \
  --notebook-id abc123 \
  --web-url "https://example.com")

# Extract source name
SOURCE_NAME=$(echo "$RESULT" | jq -r '.sources[0].name')

# Extract source ID from name
SOURCE_ID=$(echo "$SOURCE_NAME" | awk -F'/' '{print $NF}')

# Get source details
nblm sources get \
  --notebook-id abc123 \
  --source-id "$SOURCE_ID"

Bulk upload files¶

# Upload all PDFs in a directory
for file in *.pdf; do
  echo "Uploading $file..."
  nblm sources upload \
    --notebook-id abc123 \
    --file "$file"
done

Add sources from a list¶

# urls.txt contains one URL per line
while IFS= read -r url; do
  echo "Adding $url..."
  nblm sources add \
    --notebook-id abc123 \
    --web-url "$url"
done < urls.txt

Error Handling¶

Common Errors¶

Empty text content:

Error: Text content cannot be empty
Cause: The --text option was provided with empty string

File not found:

Error: File not found: /path/to/file
Cause: The specified file does not exist or is not readable

Invalid notebook ID:

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

Next Steps¶

Notebooks Commands - Create and manage notebooks
Audio Commands - Create audio overviews from sources