Files

Open Notebook

A private, multi-model, 100% local, full-featured alternative to Notebook LM

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 16+ 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

Learn more about our project at https://www.open-notebook.ai

🆚 Open Notebook vs Google Notebook LM

Feature Open Notebook Google Notebook LM Advantage
Privacy & Control Self-hosted, your data Google cloud only Complete data sovereignty
AI Provider Choice 16+ 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
Context Control 3 granular levels All-or-nothing Privacy and performance tuning
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 Comprehensive with sources Basic references Research integrity
Customization Open source, fully customizable Closed system Unlimited extensibility
Cost Pay only for AI usage Monthly subscription + usage 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

How Open Notebook Works

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Your Browser                                           │
│  Access: http://your-server-ip:8502                     │
└────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────┘
                 │
                 ▼
         ┌───────────────┐
         │   Port 8502   │  ← Next.js Frontend (what you see)
         │   Frontend    │    Also proxies API requests internally!
         └───────┬───────┘
                 │ proxies /api/* requests ↓
                 ▼
         ┌───────────────┐
         │   Port 5055   │  ← FastAPI Backend (handles requests)
         │     API       │
         └───────┬───────┘
                 │
                 ▼
         ┌───────────────┐
         │   SurrealDB   │  ← Database (internal, auto-configured)
         │   (Port 8000) │
         └───────────────┘

Key Points:

  • v1.1+: Next.js automatically proxies /api/* requests to the backend, simplifying reverse proxy setup
  • Your browser loads the frontend from port 8502
  • The frontend needs to know where to find the API - when accessing remotely, set: API_URL=http://your-server-ip:5055
  • Behind reverse proxy? You only need to proxy to port 8502 now! See Reverse Proxy Guide

Provider Support Matrix

Thanks to the 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
Azure OpenAI
Mistral
DeepSeek
Voyage
xAI
OpenRouter
OpenAI Compatible*

*Supports LM Studio and any OpenAI-compatible endpoint

Key Features

Core Capabilities

  • 🔒 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: 16+ 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

Advanced Features

  • 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 API Docs
  • 🔐 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

Three-Column Interface

  1. Sources: Manage all your research materials
  2. Notes: Create manual or AI-generated notes
  3. Chat: Converse with AI using your content as context