teng-lin--notebooklm-py/docs/stability.md

API Stability and Versioning

Status: Active Last Updated: 2026-07-04

This document describes the stability guarantees and versioning policy for notebooklm-py.

Important Context

This library uses undocumented Google APIs. Unlike official Google APIs, there are:

• No stability guarantees from Google
• No deprecation notices before changes
• No SLAs or support

Google can change the underlying APIs at any time, which may break this library without warning.

Versioning Policy

We follow Semantic Versioning with modifications for our unique situation:

Version Format: MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH

Change Type	Version Bump	Example
RPC method ID fixes (Google changed something)	PATCH	0.1.0 → 0.1.1
Bug fixes	PATCH	0.1.1 → 0.1.2
New features (backward compatible)	MINOR	0.1.2 → 0.2.0
Public API breaking changes	MAJOR	0.2.0 → 1.0.0

Special Considerations

1. RPC ID Changes = Patch Release

   • When Google changes internal RPC method IDs, we release a patch
   • These are "bug fixes" from our perspective, not breaking changes
   • Users should always use the latest patch version

2. Python API Stability

   • Public API (items in __all__) is stable within a major version
   • Breaking changes require a major version bump
   • Deprecated APIs are marked with DeprecationWarning and documented

3. 0.x Pre-1.0 Semantics

   • Per SemVer §4, the project is currently in 0.x and the public API is not yet considered stable.
   • MINOR releases (e.g. 0.4.0 → 0.5.0) may remove previously deprecated public APIs. Removal is preceded by at least one MINOR release of DeprecationWarning notice.
   • Once the project reaches 1.0.0, breaking changes will require a MAJOR bump as described above.

Public API Surface

The following are considered public API and are subject to stability guarantees:

Stable (Won't break without major version bump)

# Version
__version__               # Package version string (read-only)

# Client
NotebookLMClient
NotebookLMClient.from_storage()
NotebookLMClient.notebooks
NotebookLMClient.sources
NotebookLMClient.artifacts
NotebookLMClient.chat
NotebookLMClient.research
NotebookLMClient.notes
NotebookLMClient.settings
NotebookLMClient.sharing
NotebookLMClient.labels
NotebookLMClient.mind_maps
NotebookLMClient.rpc_call()

# Types
Notebook, Source, Artifact, Note, Label, MindMap
GenerationState, GenerationStatus, AskResult
NotebookDescription, ConversationTurn
ShareStatus, SharedUser, SourceFulltext
NotebookMetadata, SourceSummary
AccountLimits
ChatReference, ReportSuggestion, PromptSuggestion, SuggestedTopic
MindMapKind, MindMapResult
ResearchStart, ResearchStatus, ResearchTask, ResearchSource
ClientMetricsSnapshot, ConnectionLimits, RpcTelemetryEvent

# Exceptions (all inherit from NotebookLMError)
NotebookLMError                    # Base exception
NotFoundError                      # Cross-domain umbrella for *NotFoundError
WaitTimeoutError                   # Cross-domain umbrella for wait/poll timeouts (also a built-in TimeoutError)
RPCError, AuthError, RateLimitError, RPCTimeoutError, ServerError
NetworkError, DecodingError, UnknownRPCMethodError
ClientError, ConfigurationError, ValidationError
# Domain-specific
# Note: *NotFoundError classes mix in RPCError (catchable as either RPCError
# or the domain base). v0.6.0 restored this symmetry across all three "not
# found" types — see docs/python-api.md#error-handling for migration prose.
# Note: *TimeoutError classes mix in WaitTimeoutError (and the built-in
# TimeoutError). v0.7.0 added the WaitTimeoutError umbrella so `except
# WaitTimeoutError` catches source/artifact/research wait timeouts uniformly,
# while `except TimeoutError` keeps working — see docs/python-api.md#waittimeouterror.
SourceError, SourceAddError, SourceProcessingError, SourceTimeoutError, SourceNotFoundError
NotebookError, NotebookNotFoundError
ArtifactError, ArtifactDownloadError, ArtifactFeatureUnavailableError, ArtifactNotFoundError, ArtifactNotReadyError, ArtifactParseError
ArtifactTimeoutError, ArtifactPendingTimeoutError, ArtifactInProgressTimeoutError
ResearchError, ResearchTimeoutError, ResearchTaskMismatchError, AmbiguousResearchTaskError
# Note: notes.get/update/delete and mind_maps.get/rename/delete now raise
# their domain *NotFoundError on a missing target; use get_or_none() for
# warning-free None-on-miss lookups.
NoteError, NoteNotFoundError
MindMapError, MindMapNotFoundError
LabelError, LabelNotFoundError
ChatError, ChatResponseParseError

# Enums
AudioFormat, AudioLength
VideoFormat, VideoStyle
QuizQuantity, QuizDifficulty
InfographicOrientation, InfographicDetail, InfographicStyle
SlideDeckFormat, SlideDeckLength
ReportFormat
SourceType, ArtifactType, SourceStatus
ShareAccess, SharePermission, ShareViewLevel
ChatGoal, ChatResponseLength, ChatMode
DriveMimeType, ExportType

# Auth
AuthTokens
notebooklm.paths.get_storage_path()

# Logging and Correlation
notebooklm.configure_logging
notebooklm.get_request_id
notebooklm.set_request_id
notebooklm.reset_request_id
notebooklm.correlation_id

# Citation and Research Helpers
notebooklm.utils.resolve_chat_reference_passage
notebooklm.research.select_cited_sources
notebooklm.research.normalize_url
notebooklm.research.extract_report_urls

# Helpers (cookies extra) - imported from notebooklm.auth
notebooklm.auth.convert_rookiepy_cookies_to_storage_state  # requires `pip install "notebooklm-py[cookies]"` — see docs/installation.md#optional-extras-matrix

# Cookie-domain tiers - imported from notebooklm.auth
notebooklm.auth.REQUIRED_COOKIE_DOMAINS
notebooklm.auth.OPTIONAL_COOKIE_DOMAINS
notebooklm.auth.OPTIONAL_COOKIE_DOMAINS_BY_LABEL

Internal helpers exported for compatibility

The following symbols appear in notebooklm/__all__ so that downstream code can import them via from notebooklm import ..., but they are not covered by the stability guarantee above. They support narrow integration use cases (typed exception handling and warning filters) and may be renamed, narrowed, or removed in a future minor release. Prefer the stable surface when possible.

CitedSourceSelection      # Chat citation payload — internal shape, exposed for typing
AuthExtractionError       # Specialized AuthError raised by browser-based login
NotebookLimitError        # Raised when account notebook quota is exhausted
UnknownTypeWarning        # Warning category emitted when .kind falls back to UNKNOWN

Internal (May change without notice)

# These are NOT part of the public API:
notebooklm.rpc.*          # RPC protocol internals, except documented power-user imports
notebooklm._*.py          # All underscore-prefixed modules
notebooklm.auth.*         # Auth internals (except documented AuthTokens, cookie conversion, and cookie-domain constants)

For raw-RPC power-user calls, import the documented RPC helpers explicitly:

from notebooklm.rpc import RPCMethod, resolve_rpc_id

Adapter surfaces: MCP server and REST API (experimental)

The MCP tool surface (mcp extra, notebooklm-mcp) and the single-tenant REST API (server extra, notebooklm-server) are transport adapters over the same _app/ business logic as the CLI. They are experimental and not covered by the semver guarantees above — tool/route names, parameters, and response shapes may change between releases without a major-version bump. The underlying Python client API they call is still governed by the stability policy; only the adapter surfaces are exempt. The remote-MCP connector (HTTP transport, self-hosted OAuth, Docker/Cloudflare/Tailscale deployment) is likewise experimental.

Strict decoding (the only mode since v0.7.0)

Schema-drift helpers (notably the internal safe_index decode helper) raise :class:~notebooklm.exceptions.UnknownRPCMethodError when Google's batchexecute response shape does not match what the decoder expects. This is now the only behavior: the legacy NOTEBOOKLM_STRICT_DECODE=0 warn-and- return-None opt-out was retired in v0.7.0 (it had a one-release DeprecationWarning window through v0.5.0/v0.6.0). The env var is now ignored.

Stability implications:

• Exception type is stable. UnknownRPCMethodError is a subclass of DecodingError and RPCError (both public-API exceptions). Code that already catches RPCError continues to handle drift correctly.
• No silent shape changes. Methods that previously returned None / empty values on drift now raise. Callers that treated None as a valid sentinel must add an except UnknownRPCMethodError branch.

See docs/configuration.md#decoder-strictness for the env-var contract and docs/adr/0011-schema-validation-policy.md for the design rationale behind the strict-decode policy.

Deprecation Policy

1. Deprecation Notice: Deprecated features emit DeprecationWarning
2. Documentation: Deprecations are noted in docstrings and CHANGELOG
3. Removal Timeline: Deprecated features are removed in the next major version. While the project is in 0.x, removal may instead occur in the next MINOR release after at least one MINOR cycle of DeprecationWarning (see "0.x Pre-1.0 Semantics" above).
4. Migration Guide: Breaking changes include migration instructions

Currently Deprecated

See docs/deprecations.md for the canonical list of currently-deprecated APIs and their scheduled removal versions, plus the deprecations removed in v0.6.0, v0.7.0, and v0.8.0.

Removed in v0.5.0

The following v0.3-era deprecations completed their removal cycle in v0.5.0:

Removed	Replacement	Notes
Source.source_type	Source.kind	Returns SourceType str enum
Artifact.artifact_type	Artifact.kind	Returns ArtifactType str enum
Artifact.variant	Artifact.kind	Use .is_quiz / .is_flashcards
SourceFulltext.source_type	SourceFulltext.kind	Returns SourceType str enum
notebooklm.StudioContentType	ArtifactType	Str enum for user-facing code
notebooklm.DEFAULT_STORAGE_PATH	notebooklm.paths.get_storage_path()	Module-level constant replaced by helper
notebooklm.rpc.types.StudioContentType	ArtifactType	Internal raw code alias removed
notebooklm.rpc.StudioContentType	ArtifactType	Internal re-export removed
notebooklm.rpc.RPCMethod.DISCOVER_SOURCES	none	Unused raw RPC enum member, not exercised by client APIs
notebooklm.rpc.RPCMethod.QUERY_ENDPOINT	notebooklm.rpc.get_query_url() (internal)	Endpoint URL path moved out of the RPC method enum; get_query_url() is itself internal plumbing (notebooklm.rpc.* is internal — see above) with no blessed public replacement
notebooklm.cli.language_cmd.save_config	_save_config	Private low-level write primitive only

Deprecated for a future major release

Deprecated	Replacement	Notes
Awaiting NotebookLMClient.from_storage(...)	async with NotebookLMClient.from_storage(...) as client:	Emits DeprecationWarning; scheduled for v1.0 removal

Permanent aliases

RPCError.rpc_id and RPCError.code are permanent backward-compatibility aliases for RPCError.method_id and RPCError.rpc_code. Exception diagnostic aliases are exempt from the standard deprecation cycle because removal can mask the original exception inside except handlers. New code should prefer the canonical attribute names, but existing exception handlers may keep using the aliases.

Migration Guides

Migrating from v0.3.x to v0.4.0

Version 0.4.0 is backward compatible with v0.3.x. Notable additions:

• Multi-account profiles - Existing single-account setups continue to work as the implicit default profile. Your existing ~/.notebooklm/storage_state.json is auto-detected — no manual migration is required. New accounts can be added via notebooklm profile create <name>.
• [cookies] optional extra - To reuse cookies from your existing browser, install with pip install "notebooklm-py[cookies]" (requires rookiepy; full extras matrix: docs/installation.md#optional-extras-matrix).
• Deprecation removal deferred - The deprecated attributes originally scheduled for v0.4.0 (Source.source_type, Artifact.artifact_type, Artifact.variant, SourceFulltext.source_type, StudioContentType, DEFAULT_STORAGE_PATH) were deferred to v0.5.0. In v0.5.0 and later, use the replacements listed in Removed in v0.5.0.

Migrating from v0.2.x to v0.3.0

Version 0.3.0 introduced attributes that were deprecated until their v0.5.0 removal. The historical migration examples below show the replacement surface.

1. Source.source_type → Source.kind

Before (removed in v0.5.0):

source = (await client.sources.list(notebook_id))[0]
if source.source_type == "pdf":
    print("This is a PDF")

After (recommended):

from notebooklm import SourceType

source = (await client.sources.list(notebook_id))[0]

# Option 1: Use enum comparison (recommended)
if source.kind == SourceType.PDF:
    print("This is a PDF")

# Option 2: Use string comparison (str enum supports this)
if source.kind == "pdf":
    print("This is a PDF")

Available SourceType values: GOOGLE_DOCS, GOOGLE_SLIDES, GOOGLE_SPREADSHEET, PDF, PASTED_TEXT, WEB_PAGE, YOUTUBE, MARKDOWN, DOCX, CSV, IMAGE, MEDIA, UNKNOWN

2. Artifact.artifact_type → Artifact.kind

Before (removed in v0.5.0):

artifact = (await client.artifacts.list(notebook_id))[0]
if artifact.artifact_type == 1:
    print("This is an audio artifact")

After (recommended):

from notebooklm import ArtifactType

artifact = (await client.artifacts.list(notebook_id))[0]

# Option 1: Use enum comparison (recommended)
if artifact.kind == ArtifactType.AUDIO:
    print("This is an audio artifact")

# Option 2: Use string comparison (str enum supports this)
if artifact.kind == "audio":
    print("This is an audio artifact")

Available ArtifactType values: AUDIO, VIDEO, REPORT, QUIZ, FLASHCARDS, MIND_MAP, INFOGRAPHIC, SLIDE_DECK, DATA_TABLE, UNKNOWN

3. Artifact.variant → Artifact.kind or helpers

Before (removed in v0.5.0):

if artifact.artifact_type == 4 and artifact.variant == 2:
    print("This is a quiz")

After (recommended):

# Option 1: Use .kind
if artifact.kind == ArtifactType.QUIZ:
    print("This is a quiz")

# Option 2: Use helper properties
if artifact.is_quiz:
    print("This is a quiz")
if artifact.is_flashcards:
    print("These are flashcards")

Why These Changes?

1. Stability: The .kind property abstracts internal integer codes that Google may change
2. Usability: String enums work in comparisons, logging, and serialization
3. Future-proofing: Unknown types return UNKNOWN with a warning instead of crashing

What Happens When Google Breaks Things

When Google changes their internal APIs:

1. Detection: Automated RPC health check runs nightly for main; release branch checks run manually during release prep (see below)
2. Investigation: Identify changed method IDs using browser devtools
3. Fix: Update rpc/types.py with new method IDs
4. Release: Push patch release as soon as possible

Automated RPC Health Check

A nightly GitHub Action (rpc-health.yml) monitors all 35+ RPC methods for ID changes on main. Release branches use the same workflow through manual dispatch.

What it verifies:

• The RPC method ID we send matches the ID returned in the response envelope
• Example: LIST_NOTEBOOKS sends wXbhsf → response must contain wXbhsf

What it does NOT verify:

• Response data correctness (E2E tests cover this)
• Response schema validation (too fragile across 35+ methods)
• Business logic (out of scope for monitoring)

Why this design:

• Google's breaking change pattern is silent ID changes, not schema changes
• Error responses still contain the method ID, so we detect mismatches even on API errors
• A mismatch means rpc/types.py needs updating, triggering a patch release

On mismatch detection:

• GitHub Issue auto-created with bug, rpc-breakage, and automated labels
• Report shows expected vs actual IDs and which RPCMethod entries need updating

Manual trigger: gh workflow run rpc-health.yml -f custom_branch=release/vX.Y.Z

How to Report API Breakage

1. Check GitHub Issues for existing reports
2. If not reported, open an issue with:
   • Error message (especially any RPC error codes)
   • Which operation failed
   • When it started failing
3. See RPC Development Guide for debugging

Self-Recovery

If the library breaks before we release a fix:

1. Open browser devtools on NotebookLM

2. Perform the failing operation manually

3. Find the new RPC method ID in Network tab

4. Temporarily override the rotated ID without mutating the enum:

   export NOTEBOOKLM_RPC_OVERRIDES='{"LIST_NOTEBOOKS": "NewMethodId"}'
   

   The override key is the RPCMethod enum name. See configuration.md#environment-variables for validation and host-allowlist behavior.

Upgrade Recommendations

Stay Current

# Always use latest patch version
pip install --upgrade notebooklm-py

Pin Appropriately

# pyproject.toml - recommended
dependencies = [
    "notebooklm-py>=0.1,<1.0",  # Accept patches and minors
]

# requirements.txt - for reproducibility
notebooklm-py==0.1.0  # Exact version (but update regularly!)

Test Before Upgrading

# Test in development first
pip install notebooklm-py==X.Y.Z
pytest

Questions?

• Bug reports: GitHub Issues
• Discussions: GitHub Discussions
• Security issues: See SECURITY.md