Open Notebook

---
name: open-notebook
description: Self-hosted, open-source alternative to Google NotebookLM for AI-powered research and document analysis. Use when organizing research materials into notebooks, ingesting diverse content sources (PDFs, videos, audio, web pages, Office documents), generating AI-powered notes and summaries, creating multi-speaker podcasts from research, chatting with documents using context-aware AI, searching across materials with full-text and vector search, or running custom content transformations. Supports 16+ AI providers including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Ollama, Groq, and Mistral with complete data privacy through self-hosting.
license: MIT
metadata:
  version: '1.3'
  category: literature-review
  maintainer: Kalaris Labs
  openclaw:
    envVars:
    - name: OPEN_NOTEBOOK_URL
      required: true
      description: Open Notebook server URL.
    - name: OPEN_NOTEBOOK_PASSWORD
      required: false
      description: Open Notebook password, if auth is enabled.
    - name: OPEN_NOTEBOOK_ENCRYPTION_KEY
      required: false
      description: Encryption key for stored content, if configured.
---

# Open Notebook

## Overview

Open Notebook is an open-source, self-hosted alternative to Google's NotebookLM that enables researchers to organize materials, generate AI-powered insights, create podcasts, and have context-aware conversations with their documents — all while maintaining complete data privacy.

Unlike Google's Notebook LM, which has no publicly available API outside of the Enterprise version, Open Notebook provides a comprehensive REST API, supports 16+ AI providers, and runs entirely on your own infrastructure.

**Key advantages over NotebookLM:**
- Full REST API for programmatic access and automation
- Choice of 16+ AI providers (not locked to Google models)
- Multi-speaker podcast generation with 1-4 customizable speakers (vs. 2-speaker limit)
- Complete data sovereignty through self-hosting
- Open source and fully extensible (MIT license)

**Repository:** https://github.com/lfnovo/open-notebook

## Quick Start

### Prerequisites

- Docker Desktop installed
- API key for at least one AI provider (or local Ollama for free local inference)

### Installation

Deploy Open Notebook using Docker Compose:

```bash
# Download the docker-compose file
curl -o docker-compose.yml https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lfnovo/open-notebook/main/docker-compose.yml

# Set the required encryption key
export OPEN_NOTEBOOK_ENCRYPTION_KEY="your-secret-key-here"

# Launch the services
docker-compose up -d
```

Access the application:
- **Frontend UI:** http://localhost:8502
- **REST API:** http://localhost:5055
- **API Documentation:** http://localhost:5055/docs

### Configure AI Provider

After startup, configure at least one AI provider:

1. Navigate to **Settings > API Keys** in the UI
2. Add credentials for your preferred provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.)
3. Test the connection and discover available models
4. Register models for use across the platform

Or configure via the REST API:

```python
import requests

BASE_URL = "http://localhost:5055/api"

# Add a credential for an AI provider
response = requests.post(f"{BASE_URL}/credentials", json={
    "provider": "openai",
    "name": "My OpenAI Key",
    "api_key": "sk-..."
})
credential = response.json()

# Discover available models
response = requests.post(
    f"{BASE_URL}/credentials/{credential['id']}/discover"
)
discovered = response.json()

# Register discovered models
requests.post(
    f"{BASE_URL}/credentials/{credential['id']}/register-models",
    json={"model_ids": [m["id"] for m in discovered["models"]]}
)
```

## Core Features

### Notebooks
Organize research into separate notebooks, each containing sources, notes, and chat sessions.

```python
import requests

BASE_URL = "http://localhost:5055/api"

# Create a notebook
response = requests.post(f"{BASE_URL}/notebooks", json={
    "name": "Cancer Genomics Research",
    "description": "Literature review on tumor mutational burden"
})
notebook = response.json()
notebook_id = notebook["id"]
```

### Sources
Ingest diverse content types including PDFs, videos, audio files, web pages, and Office documents. Sources are processed for full-text and vector search.

```python
# Add a web URL source
response = requests.post(f"{BASE_URL}/sources", data={
    "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2301.00001",
    "notebook_id": notebook_id,
    "process_async": "true"
})
source = response.json()

# Upload a PDF file
with open("paper.pdf", "rb") as f:
    response = requests.post(
        f"{BASE_URL}/sources",
        data={"notebook_id": notebook_id},
        files={"file": ("paper.pdf", f, "application/pdf")}
    )
```

### Notes
Create and manage notes (human or AI-generated) associated with notebooks.

```python
# Create a human note
response = requests.post(f"{BASE_URL}/notes", json={
    "title": "Key Findings",
    "content": "TMB correlates with immunotherapy response in NSCLC...",
    "note_type": "human",
    "notebook_id": notebook_id
})
```

### Context-Aware Chat
Chat with your research materials using AI that cites sources.

```python
# Create a chat session
session = requests.post(f"{BASE_URL}/chat/sessions", json={
    "notebook_id": notebook_id,
    "title": "TMB Discussion"
}).json()

# Send a message with context from sources
response = requests.post(f"{BASE_URL}/chat/execute", json={
    "session_id": session["id"],
    "message": "What are the key biomarkers for immunotherapy response?",
    "context": {"include_sources": True, "include_notes": True}
})
```

### Search
Search across all materials using full-text or vector (semantic) search.

```python
# Vector search across the knowledge base
results = requests.post(f"{BASE_URL}/search", json={
    "query": "tumor mutational burden immunotherapy",
    "search_type": "vector",
    "limit": 10
}).json()

# Ask a question with AI-powered answer
answer = requests.post(f"{BASE_URL}/search/ask/simple", json={
    "query": "How does TMB predict checkpoint inhibitor response?"
}).json()
```

### Podcast Generation
Generate professional multi-speaker podcasts from research materials with 1-4 customizable speakers.

```python
# Generate a podcast episode
job = requests.post(f"{BASE_URL}/podcasts/generate", json={
    "notebook_id": notebook_id,
    "episode_profile_id": episode_profile_id,
    "speaker_profile_ids": [speaker1_id, speaker2_id]
}).json()

# Check generation status
status = requests.get(f"{BASE_URL}/podcasts/jobs/{job['job_id']}").json()

# Download audio when ready
audio = requests.get(
    f"{BASE_URL}/podcasts/episodes/{status['episode_id']}/audio"
)
```

### Content Transformations
Apply custom AI-powered transformations to content for summarization, extraction, and analysis.

```python
# Create a custom transformation
transform = requests.post(f"{BASE_URL}/transformations", json={
    "name": "extract_methods",
    "title": "Extract Methods",
    "description": "Extract methodology details from papers",
    "prompt": "Extract and summarize the methodology section...",
    "apply_default": False
}).json()

# Execute transformation on text
result = requests.post(f"{BASE_URL}/transformations/execute", json={
    "transformation_id": transform["id"],
    "input_text": "...",
    "model_id": "model_id_here"
}).json()
```

## Supported AI Providers

Open Notebook supports 16+ AI providers through the Esperanto library:

| Provider | LLM | Embedding | Speech-to-Text | Text-to-Speech |
|----------|-----|-----------|----------------|----------------|
| OpenAI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Anthropic | Yes | No | No | No |
| Google GenAI | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Vertex AI | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Ollama | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Groq | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Mistral | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Azure OpenAI | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| DeepSeek | Yes | No | No | No |
| xAI | Yes | No | No | No |
| OpenRouter | Yes | No | No | No |
| ElevenLabs | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Perplexity | Yes | No | No | No |
| Voyage | No | Yes | No | No |

## Environment Variables

Key configuration variables for Docker deployment:

| Variable | Description | Default |
|----------|-------------|---------|
| `OPEN_NOTEBOOK_ENCRYPTION_KEY` | **Required.** Secret key for encrypting stored credentials | None |
| `SURREAL_URL` | SurrealDB connection URL | `ws://surrealdb:8000/rpc` |
| `SURREAL_NAMESPACE` | Database namespace | `open_notebook` |
| `SURREAL_DATABASE` | Database name | `open_notebook` |
| `OPEN_NOTEBOOK_PASSWORD` | Optional password protection for the UI | None |

## API Reference

The REST API is available at `http://localhost:5055/api` with interactive documentation at `/docs`.

Core endpoint groups:
- `/api/notebooks` - Notebook CRUD and source association
- `/api/sources` - Source ingestion, processing, and retrieval
- `/api/notes` - Note management
- `/api/chat/sessions` - Chat session management
- `/api/chat/execute` - Chat message execution
- `/api/search` - Full-text and vector search
- `/api/podcasts` - Podcast generation and management
- `/api/transformations` - Content transformation pipelines
- `/api/models` - AI model configuration and discovery
- `/api/credentials` - Provider credential management

For complete API reference with all endpoints and request/response formats, see `references/api_reference.md`.

## Architecture

Open Notebook uses a modern stack:
- **Backend:** Python with FastAPI
- **Database:** SurrealDB (document + relational)
- **AI Integration:** LangChain with the Esperanto multi-provider library
- **Frontend:** Next.js with React
- **Deployment:** Docker Compose with persistent volumes

## Important Notes

- Open Notebook requires Docker for deployment
- At least one AI provider must be configured for AI features to work
- For free local inference without API costs, use Ollama
- The `OPEN_NOTEBOOK_ENCRYPTION_KEY` must be set before first launch and kept consistent across restarts
- All data is stored locally in Docker volumes for complete data sovereignty

## Agent operating procedure

1. **Check the environment.** Confirm the research question, databases, date range and inclusion criteria.
2. **Pin down the inputs.** Confirm formats, identifiers and parameters from the data or the user. Ask rather than guess any value that changes the result.
3. **Run a small version first.** Run the search on one database with a narrow query and check that the results are relevant.
4. **Execute the full task** using the instructions and references above.
5. **Validate the result.** Every reference is retrieved from a real record with a resolvable identifier; counts and search strings are recorded.
6. **Report.** State what was run (versions, commands, parameters), what was checked, and what is still uncertain.

| If this happens | Do this |
|---|---|
| An API rate-limits or returns errors | Back off and retry, reduce the batch size, or switch database, and report the gap. |
| A function, flag or endpoint in these instructions is missing in the installed version | Check the installed version's own documentation (`help()`, `--help`, official docs), adapt, and tell the user. Never invent an API. |
| A required input, identifier or parameter is ambiguous | Ask the user, or state the assumption explicitly before running. |

**Integrity rules**

- Never fabricate results, parameters, identifiers, citations or statistics. If something cannot be run or verified, say so plainly.
- Never summarize a paper you have not retrieved; never cite from memory.
- Treat version-specific details here as possibly outdated: confirm them against the official documentation for the installed version.
- Ask before actions that cost money, consume shared GPUs or cloud quota, touch personal or patient data, or cannot be undone.

## Related skills

- `chroma`: Open-source embedding database for AI applications.
- `exa-search`: Web toolkit powered by Exa, tuned for scientific and technical content.
- `langchain`: Framework for building LLM-powered applications with agents, chains, and RAG.