Solving real UX gaps in NotebookLM — bulk link handling, YouTube support, and more.
🧠 Why I Built This
I’ve been experimenting with Google NotebookLM, an AI-powered note-taking and research tool that looks promising — especially for summarizing large amounts of information and managing research context.
But while using it extensively, I ran into multiple frustrating limitations that slowed down my workflow. NotebookLM is good — but it's still too basic for serious research work.
As a developer, I couldn't resist the temptation: I built a Chrome Extension to fix the gaps.
🚨 The Problems I Encountered
Here are the key issues I faced as a user of NotebookLM:
- 🔗 No fast way to add the current page to a NotebookLM document
- 🎥 No bulk support for YouTube links, including Shorts
- 🌐 No way to capture all links on a webpage and import them
- 🗑️ Tedious manual deletion of links inside NotebookLM
- 🧭 No quick navigation to my active NotebookLM document
These missing features made it hard to use NotebookLM as a serious research tool — especially when dealing with content-heavy workflows like YouTube curation or article collections.
🛠️ What My Extension Notebook LM | LinkMaster Does
So I built a Chrome Extension that adds exactly what NotebookLM is missing:
✅ Features at a Glance
- Add current page to your NotebookLM document with one click
- Bulk-import YouTube URLs from playlists, channels, or a list
- Supports YouTube Shorts (which NotebookLM sometimes fails to parse)
- Extract all links from the current page and import them
- Mass-remove links directly from your NotebookLM document
- Quick access button to jump to your doc without searching
All of this happens without needing to open extra tabs or manually copy/paste URLs.
How Does It Work?
Here’s how it looks in action:
Step 1: Create an Account
Visit NotebookLM — you’ll see the landing page as shown below:
Step 2: Install Notebook LM | LinkMaster from the Chrome Web Store
You’ll see the Chrome extension install page as shown below:
Step 3: Pin the LinkMaster Chrome Extension
Click the pin icon next to the LinkMaster extension, as shown below:
Step 4: Go to the website you want to add to an existing NotebookLM document.
Step 5: Click the LinkMaster button
Click the Notebook LM | LinkMaster extension button, as shown below:
Step 6: You will see the app on the right side of the website
The Notebook LM | LinkMaster panel will appear on the right, as shown below:
Step 7: To add multiple YouTube links
Follow these steps to add multiple YouTube links:
Step 8: To remove multiple links from a NotebookLM document
Follow these steps to delete multiple links:
⚙️ Technical Implementation
This is a browser-only solution using JavaScript and DOM scripting:
- Manifest V3 Chrome Extension
- Content scripts that hook into the NotebookLM document UI
- DOM selectors + MutationObservers to safely manipulate the UI
- URL validators and pattern detection (YouTube links, Shorts, etc.)
- Lightweight local storage for document URLs
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