An Open Source Implementation of Notebook LM

Open Notebook, an open-source, privacy-focused alternative to Google's Notebook LM, has been released, offering self-hosted data control, support for 18+ AI providers, and advanced podcast generation. The project aims to democratize AI-powered research tools by eliminating vendor lock-in and providing full customization.

An open source, privacy-focused alternative to Google's Notebook LM Join our Discord server for help, to share workflow ideas, and suggest features Checkout our website » 📚 Get Started /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/docs/0-START-HERE/index.md · 📖 User Guide /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/docs/3-USER-GUIDE/index.md · ✨ Features /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/docs/2-CORE-CONCEPTS/index.md · 🚀 Deploy /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/docs/1-INSTALLATION/index.md In a world dominated by Artificial Intelligence, having the ability to think 🧠 and acquire new knowledge 💡, is a skill that should not be a privilege for a few, nor restricted to a single provider. Open Notebook empowers you to: - 🔒 Control your data - Keep your research private and secure - 🤖 Choose your AI models - Support for 18+ providers including OpenAI, Anthropic, Ollama, LM Studio, and more - 📚 Organize multi-modal content - PDFs, videos, audio, web pages, and more - 🎙️ Generate professional podcasts - Advanced multi-speaker podcast generation - 🔍 Search intelligently - Full-text and vector search across all your content - 💬 Chat with context - AI conversations powered by your research - 🌐 Multi-language UI - English, Portuguese, Chinese Simplified & Traditional , Japanese, Russian, and Bengali support Learn more about our project at https://www.open-notebook.ai https://www.open-notebook.ai | Feature | Open Notebook | Google Notebook LM | Advantage | |---|---|---|---| Privacy & Control | Self-hosted, your data | Google cloud only | Complete data sovereignty | AI Provider Choice | 18+ providers OpenAI, Anthropic, Ollama, LM Studio, etc. | Google models only | Flexibility and cost optimization | Podcast Speakers | 1-4 speakers with custom profiles | 2 speakers only | Extreme flexibility | Content Transformations | Custom and built-in | Limited options | Unlimited processing power | API Access | Full REST API | No API | Complete automation | Deployment | Docker, cloud, or local | Google hosted only | Deploy anywhere | Citations | Basic references will improve | Comprehensive with sources | Research integrity | Customization | Open source, fully customizable | Closed system | Unlimited extensibility | Cost | Pay only for AI usage | Free tier + Monthly subscription | Transparent and controllable | Why Choose Open Notebook? - 🔒 Privacy First : Your sensitive research stays completely private - 💰 Cost Control : Choose cheaper AI providers or run locally with Ollama - 🎙️ Better Podcasts : Full script control and multi-speaker flexibility vs limited 2-speaker deep-dive format - 🔧 Unlimited Customization : Modify, extend, and integrate as needed - 🌐 No Vendor Lock-in : Switch providers, deploy anywhere, own your data Docker Desktop https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop/ installed- That's it API keys configured later in the UI Option A: Download directly curl -o docker-compose.yml https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lfnovo/open-notebook/main/docker-compose.yml Option B: Create the file manually Copy this into a new file called docker-compose.yml : services: surrealdb: image: surrealdb/surrealdb:v2 command: start --log info --user root --pass root rocksdb:/mydata/mydatabase.db user: root ports: - "8000:8000" volumes: - ./surreal data:/mydata restart: always open notebook: image: lfnovo/open notebook:v1-latest ports: - "8502:8502" - "5055:5055" environment: - OPEN NOTEBOOK ENCRYPTION KEY=change-me-to-a-secret-string - SURREAL URL=ws://surrealdb:8000/rpc - SURREAL USER=root - SURREAL PASSWORD=root - SURREAL NAMESPACE=open notebook - SURREAL DATABASE=open notebook volumes: - ./notebook data:/app/data depends on: - surrealdb restart: always Edit docker-compose.yml and change this line: - OPEN NOTEBOOK ENCRYPTION KEY=change-me-to-a-secret-string to any secret value e.g., my-super-secret-key-123 docker compose up -d Wait 15-20 seconds, then open: http://localhost:8502 http://localhost:8502 - Go to Models and choose your provider OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, etc. - Click + Add Configuration - Paste your API key and other info as needed and click Add Configuration - Click Test to test connection - Click Sync Models and check models to include - Under Default Model Assignments , click Auto-Assign Defaults or manually specify which models to use for what Done You're ready to create your first notebook. Need an API key?Get one from: OpenAI · Anthropic · Groq free tier Want free local AI?See examples/docker-compose-ollama.yml for Ollama setup - Run models locally without API costs With Ollama Free Local AI /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/examples/docker-compose-ollama.yml - For development and contributions From Source Developers /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/docs/1-INSTALLATION/from-source.md - All deployment scenarios Complete Installation Guide /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/docs/1-INSTALLATION/index.md 🤖 AI Installation Assistant : CustomGPT to help you install https://chatgpt.com/g/g-68776e2765b48191bd1bae3f30212631-open-notebook-installation-assistant 🆘 Troubleshooting : 5-minute troubleshooting guide /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/docs/6-TROUBLESHOOTING/quick-fixes.md 💬 Community Support : Discord Server https://discord.gg/37XJPXfz2w 🐛 Report Issues : GitHub Issues https://github.com/lfnovo/open-notebook/issues Thanks to the Esperanto https://github.com/lfnovo/esperanto library, we support this providers out of the box | Provider | LLM Support | Embedding Support | Speech-to-Text | Text-to-Speech | |---|---|---|---|---| | OpenAI | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | Anthropic | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | | Groq | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | | Google GenAI | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | Vertex AI | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | | Ollama | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | | Perplexity | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | | ElevenLabs | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | | Deepgram | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | | Azure OpenAI | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | Mistral | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | DeepSeek | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | | Voyage | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | | xAI | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | | OpenRouter | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | | DashScope Qwen | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | | MiniMax | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | | OpenAI Compatible | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | Supports LM Studio and any OpenAI-compatible endpoint 🔒 Privacy-First : Your data stays under your control - no cloud dependencies 🎯 Multi-Notebook Organization : Manage multiple research projects seamlessly 📚 Universal Content Support : PDFs, videos, audio, web pages, Office docs, and more 🤖 Multi-Model AI Support : 18+ providers including OpenAI, Anthropic, Ollama, Google, LM Studio, and more 🎙️ Professional Podcast Generation : Advanced multi-speaker podcasts with Episode Profiles 🔍 Intelligent Search : Full-text and vector search across all your content 💬 Context-Aware Chat : AI conversations powered by your research materials 📝 AI-Assisted Notes : Generate insights or write notes manually ⚡ Reasoning Model Support : Full support for thinking models like DeepSeek-R1 and Qwen3 🔧 Content Transformations : Powerful customizable actions to summarize and extract insights 🌐 Comprehensive REST API : Full programmatic access for custom integrations 🔐 Optional Password Protection : Secure public deployments with authentication 📊 Fine-Grained Context Control : Choose exactly what to share with AI models 📎 Citations : Get answers with proper source citations - Learn what Open Notebook offers 📖 Introduction /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/docs/0-START-HERE/index.md - Get up and running in 5 minutes ⚡ Quick Start /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/docs/0-START-HERE/quick-start.md - Comprehensive setup guide 🔧 Installation /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/docs/1-INSTALLATION/index.md - Step-by-step tutorial 🎯 Your First Notebook /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/docs/0-START-HERE/first-notebook.md - Understanding the layout 📱 Interface Overview /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/docs/3-USER-GUIDE/interface-overview.md - Organizing your research 📚 Notebooks /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/docs/3-USER-GUIDE/notebooks.md - Managing content types 📄 Sources /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/docs/3-USER-GUIDE/sources.md - Creating and managing notes 📝 Notes /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/docs/3-USER-GUIDE/notes.md - AI conversations 💬 Chat /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/docs/3-USER-GUIDE/chat.md - Finding information 🔍 Search /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/docs/3-USER-GUIDE/search.md - Create professional podcasts 🎙️ Podcast Generation /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/docs/2-CORE-CONCEPTS/podcasts.md - Customize content processing 🔧 Content Transformations /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/docs/2-CORE-CONCEPTS/transformations.md - AI model configuration 🤖 AI Models /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/docs/4-AI-PROVIDERS/index.md - Connect with Claude Desktop, VS Code and other MCP clients 🔌 MCP Integration /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/docs/5-CONFIGURATION/mcp-integration.md - Complete API documentation 🔧 REST API Reference /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/docs/7-DEVELOPMENT/api-reference.md - Password protection and privacy 🔐 Security /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/docs/5-CONFIGURATION/security.md - Complete deployment guides for all scenarios 🚀 Deployment /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/docs/1-INSTALLATION/index.md Live Front-End Updates : Real-time UI updates for smoother experience Async Processing : Faster UI through asynchronous content processing Cross-Notebook Sources : Reuse research materials across projects Bookmark Integration : Connect with your favorite bookmarking apps Next.js Frontend : Modern React-based frontend with improved performance Comprehensive REST API : Full programmatic access to all functionality Multi-Model Support : 18+ AI providers including OpenAI, Anthropic, Ollama, LM Studio Advanced Podcast Generator : Professional multi-speaker podcasts with Episode Profiles Content Transformations : Powerful customizable actions for content processing Enhanced Citations : Improved layout and finer control for source citations Multiple Chat Sessions : Manage different conversations within notebooks See the open issues https://github.com/lfnovo/open-notebook/issues for a full list of proposed features and known issues. 🤖 AI Installation Assistant : We have a CustomGPT built to help you install Open Notebook https://chatgpt.com/g/g-68776e2765b48191bd1bae3f30212631-open-notebook-installation-assistant - it will guide you through each step New to Open Notebook? Start with our Getting Started Guide /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/docs/0-START-HERE/index.md Need installation help? Check our Installation Guide /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/docs/1-INSTALLATION/index.md Want to see it in action? Try our Quick Start Tutorial /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/docs/0-START-HERE/quick-start.md - 💬 - Get help, share ideas, and connect with other users Discord Server https://discord.gg/37XJPXfz2w - 🐛 - Report bugs and request features GitHub Issues https://github.com/lfnovo/open-notebook/issues - ⭐ Star this repo - Show your support and help others discover Open Notebook We welcome contributions We're especially looking for help with: Frontend Development : Help improve our modern Next.js/React UI Testing & Bug Fixes : Make Open Notebook more robust Feature Development : Build the coolest research tool together Documentation : Improve guides and tutorials Current Tech Stack : Python, FastAPI, Next.js, React, SurrealDB Future Roadmap : Real-time updates, enhanced async processing See our Contributing Guide /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md for detailed information on how to get started. Open Notebook is MIT licensed. See the LICENSE /lfnovo/open-notebook/blob/main/LICENSE file for details. Community Support : - 💬 Discord Server https://discord.gg/37XJPXfz2w - Get help, share ideas, and connect with users - 🐛 GitHub Issues https://github.com/lfnovo/open-notebook/issues - Report bugs and request features - 🌐 Website https://www.open-notebook.ai - Learn more about the project