lamm-mit/skills/open-notebook

Open Notebook

Self-hosted research platform (MIT license) — organizes PDFs, videos, audio, web pages, and text into searchable notebooks with AI-powered chat. NotebookLM alternative with full data ownership.

Features

• Multi-format ingestion: PDFs, URLs, YouTube videos, audio files, raw text
• AI chat: Query notebooks in natural language with source citations
• Podcast generation: Multi-speaker audio synthesis from notebook content
• Full-text + vector search: Semantic and keyword search across all sources
• 16+ AI providers: OpenAI, Anthropic, Ollama, Gemini, and more
• REST API: Full API on port 5055 for programmatic access

Deployment

# Docker Compose (recommended)
git clone https://github.com/open-notebook/open-notebook
cd open-notebook
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env: set AI provider API keys
docker compose up -d

# API available at: http://localhost:5055

Scripts

Three scripts are available for programmatic interaction:

| Script | Purpose | |--------|---------| | scripts/notebook_management.py | Create, list, update, delete notebooks | | scripts/source_ingestion.py | Add URLs, text, or file uploads | | scripts/chat_interaction.py | Chat, search, and query notebooks |

Quick Start

# Create a notebook
python3 scripts/notebook_management.py \
    --url http://localhost:5055 \
    --action create \
    --name "Alzheimer's Research"

# Add sources
python3 scripts/source_ingestion.py \
    --url http://localhost:5055 \
    --notebook-id <id> \
    --action add-url \
    --source "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12345678/"

# Chat with notebook
python3 scripts/chat_interaction.py \
    --url http://localhost:5055 \
    --notebook-id <id> \
    --question "What are the main amyloid beta mechanisms described?"

API Overview

Base URL: http://localhost:5055/api

| Method | Endpoint | Description | |--------|----------|-------------| | GET | /notebooks | List all notebooks | | POST | /notebooks | Create notebook | | GET | /notebooks/{id} | Get notebook details | | PUT | /notebooks/{id} | Update notebook | | DELETE | /notebooks/{id} | Delete notebook | | POST | /notebooks/{id}/sources | Add source | | GET | /notebooks/{id}/sources | List sources | | DELETE | /notebooks/{id}/sources/{source_id} | Remove source | | POST | /notebooks/{id}/chat | Chat with notebook | | POST | /notebooks/{id}/search | Search sources | | POST | /notebooks/{id}/podcast | Generate podcast |

Use Cases for Scientific Research

• Literature organization: Ingest papers by topic, chat to synthesize findings
• Protocol documentation: Store lab protocols with AI-powered Q&A
• Grant writing: Organize references and query for supporting evidence
• Multi-paper synthesis: "What do these 50 papers say about mechanism X?"
• Podcast summaries: Generate audio summaries of research notebooks