NotebookLM Video Research Skill
Automate NotebookLM notebook creation from YouTube videos with automatic research and Audio Overview generation.
Core Principle
Screenshot before every action — verify UI state, identify correct elements, confirm success.
📸 Screenshot → 👀 Analyze → 🎯 Target → ✅ Verify → 🖱️ Execute → 📸 Screenshot → ✓ Confirm
Quick Start Workflow
Phase 1: Research
# 1. Get video info
Control Chrome:open_url("https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID")
Control Chrome:get_page_content()
# 2. Research people mentioned
web_search("[Person Name] background career")
# 3. Create research document (keep under 500k chars)
Phase 2: NotebookLM Automation
# 1. Navigate
Control Chrome:open_url("https://notebooklm.google.com/")
# 2. Create notebook
# Click "Create new" button
# 3. Add YouTube source
# Click "Websites" → Enter URL → Click "Insert"
# 4. Add research document
# Click "Add sources" → "Copied text" → Paste content → Click "Insert"
# 5. Generate audio
# Click "Audio Overview" in Studio panel
Critical: Element Targeting
⚠️ The Main Trap
NotebookLM has multiple textareas. Generic selectors grab the wrong one!
SIDEBAR (wrong) CENTER MODAL (correct)
┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────────┐
│ Search box │ │ URL/Text input │
│ query-input │ │ "Paste any links"|
└──────────────┘ └──────────────────┘
Correct Selectors
| Element | Selector |
|---|
| URL input | textarea[placeholder="Paste any links"] |
| Text input | textarea[placeholder="Paste text here"] |
| Sidebar (AVOID) | textarea[placeholder*="Search"] |
Angular Event Pattern
// Simple .value = doesn't work! Use this:
var setter = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(
HTMLTextAreaElement.prototype, 'value'
).set;
setter.call(textarea, 'content');
textarea.dispatchEvent(new Event('input', {bubbles: true}));
textarea.dispatchEvent(new Event('change', {bubbles: true}));
Button State Check
var btn = document.querySelector('button');
if (btn && !btn.disabled && !btn.className.includes('disabled')) {
btn.click();
}
Complete Code Snippets
Enter YouTube URL
var urlTextarea = document.querySelector('textarea[placeholder="Paste any links"]');
if (urlTextarea) {
var setter = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(
HTMLTextAreaElement.prototype, 'value'
).set;
setter.call(urlTextarea, 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID');
urlTextarea.dispatchEvent(new Event('input', {bubbles: true}));
urlTextarea.dispatchEvent(new Event('change', {bubbles: true}));
}
Enter Research Text
var pasteTextarea = document.querySelector('textarea[placeholder="Paste text here"]');
if (pasteTextarea) {
var setter = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(
HTMLTextAreaElement.prototype, 'value'
).set;
setter.call(pasteTextarea, RESEARCH_CONTENT);
pasteTextarea.dispatchEvent(new Event('input', {bubbles: true}));
pasteTextarea.dispatchEvent(new Event('change', {bubbles: true}));
}
Click Button by Text
var buttons = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('button'));
var btn = buttons.find(b => b.textContent.includes('Insert'));
if (btn && !btn.disabled) {
btn.click();
}
Verify State
// Check what textareas exist
var textareas = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('textarea'));
textareas.map(t => ({
placeholder: t.placeholder,
value: t.value.substring(0, 50)
}));
Checkpoint Summary
| Step | Verify Before | Verify After |
|---|
| Navigate | - | Home page loaded |
| Create notebook | Create button visible | Notebook opened |
| Add URL | Correct textarea identified | URL in center, not sidebar |
| Click Insert | Button ENABLED | Source added |
| Add text | Correct textarea identified | Text in center, not sidebar |
| Click Insert | Button ENABLED | 2 sources shown |
| Audio Overview | Studio panel visible | Generation started |
Anti-Patterns
| ❌ Don't | ✅ Do |
|---|
document.querySelector('textarea') | textarea[placeholder="Paste any links"] |
| Click without checking state | Verify button enabled first |
| Assume action succeeded | Screenshot to confirm |
| Rush through steps | Wait for async operations |
Wait Times
| Action | Wait |
|---|
| Page navigation | 3s |
| Dialog open | 2s |
| YouTube source processing | 8-10s |
| Text source processing | 5s |
| Audio generation | 5-10 minutes |
Error Recovery
Wrong input targeted:
- Clear sidebar:
document.querySelectorAll('.query-input').forEach(el => el.value = '')
- Re-target with specific selector
Button disabled:
- Re-dispatch events on textarea
- Verify content actually entered
Modal didn't open:
- Wait longer
- Click trigger button again
