# NotebookLM MCP: Agents and Workflows


Agents is where you manage the AI assistants, such as Claude, that work inside your Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) notebooks through Kortex MCP, a connection that lets an assistant use Kortex. Workflows are steps your assistant saved to repeat.

**This needs Kortex Pro.** See [pricing](https://www.kortex-notebooklm.com/#pricing).

<img src="/docs/img/docs/shot-dashboard-agents.webp" alt="The Agents page with its keys" width="720" />

## Why use Agents and Workflows?

You can ask your AI assistant, in plain words, to make a study guide or file your notebooks. Agents is where you decide what it may touch. Workflows is where its repeatable jobs live.

## Agents

An assistant connects to Kortex over MCP. MCP is a standard plug that lets an AI app use other tools. A **key** is like a spare house key you give to a helper. You can take it back at any time without changing the locks for the others.

The page shows:

- Whether Kortex is **Ready for agent requests**, and when the last call came in.
- Your **Keys**: a name, when it was last used, and a **Revoke** button.
- Each key's level. **readonly** can only look. **full** can change things.

### How to make a key

1. Click **Agents** in the sidebar.
1. Under **What is this key for?** type a name, such as the app and computer.
1. Under **It may**, choose what the key can do. A new key is read-only.
1. Under **Tools it lists**, choose **Everything**, or **Just my chats** if it only needs your chat Library.
1. Click **Create key**.

Give the assistant the least it needs. You can always make a second key with more power.

Setting up an app is covered in [Kortex MCP Server](/docs/mcp-server) and [the quickstart](/docs/mcp-quickstart).

## Workflows

After your assistant does a job you will repeat, say "save that as a workflow called weekly digest". Later you can say "run my weekly digest". The Workflows page lists every workflow you saved.

<img src="/docs/img/docs/shot-dashboard-workflows.webp" alt="The Workflows page" width="720" />

Each workflow shows what it needs, its steps and the phrase that runs it. Open one to see each step and its recent runs on this computer.

<img src="/docs/img/docs/shot-dashboard-mcp-dashboard-workflow-detail.webp" alt="A workflow opened to show its steps and runs" width="720" />

### How to run a workflow on a timer

1. Open **Workflows** in the sidebar.
1. Click **Schedule** on the workflow.
1. Choose to run it every day or every week, and a time. Fill in any inputs it asks for.

<img src="/docs/img/docs/shot-dashboard-mcp-dashboard-schedule-modal.webp" alt="Scheduling a workflow" width="560" />

Chrome must be open for a scheduled workflow to run. Workflows are made by your assistant. This page does not edit them. More on [MCP workflows](/docs/mcp-workflows).

## The activity pill

While a workflow runs, the pill in the top bar says so. Click it to see what is running and what has just finished.

<img src="/docs/img/docs/shot-dashboard-mcp-dashboard-activity.webp" alt="The activity list while a workflow runs" width="560" />

## If you see a locked page

- On the Basic plan, Now, Workflows and Agents say they come with Kortex Pro and offer to show what Pro includes.
- On a Pro account that the MCP rollout has not reached yet, the page says its wave has not opened. There is no upgrade button, because nothing is wrong with your plan.

<img src="/docs/img/docs/shot-dashboard-access-gate-basic.webp" alt="The locked page on the Basic plan" width="560" />

<img src="/docs/img/docs/shot-dashboard-access-gate-beta.webp" alt="The page for a Pro account whose wave has not opened" width="560" />

:::tip Good to know

- Revoking a key stops that assistant straight away.
- Keep your keys private, like passwords.

:::

## Related pages

- [Kortex MCP Server](/docs/mcp-server)
- [MCP workflows](/docs/mcp-workflows)
- [API keys](/docs/mcp-api-key)
- [Now](/docs/dashboard-now)