fix(notebooks): correct SUMMARIZE response parsing (fixes #147) (#150)

* fix(notebooks): correct SUMMARIZE response parsing for get_description/get_summary

The VfAZjd (SUMMARIZE) RPC returns a triple-nested structure:
  result = [[[summary_string], [[topics]], ...]]

The previous parsing assumed:
- Summary at result[0][0] (a string) — actually a list
- Topics at result[1][0] — actually at result[0][1][0]

This caused get_description() to always return an empty summary and no
suggested topics, showing "No summary available" in the CLI.

Fixed parsing to use:
- Summary: result[0][0][0]
- Topics:  result[0][1][0]

Updated all affected unit/integration tests to use the correct response
structure (confirmed against the real API cassette in notebooks_get_summary.yaml).

Fixes #147

* test(e2e): strengthen summary assertions to catch empty results

* refactor(notebooks): simplify SUMMARIZE response parsing per review feedback

* docs(rpc-reference): fix SUMMARIZE response structure (triple-nested)

docs/rpc-reference.md

@@ -928,11 +928,15 @@ await rpc_call(
 
 # Response structure:
 # [
-#     [summary_text],           # [0][0]: Summary string
-#     [[                        # [1][0]: Suggested topics array
-#         [question, prompt],   # Each topic has question and prompt
-#         ...
-#     ]],
+#     [                             # [0]: Outer container
+#         [summary_text],           # [0][0]: Summary wrapped in list; text at [0][0][0]
+#         [[                        # [0][1][0]: Suggested topics array
+#             [question, prompt],   # Each topic has question and prompt
+#             ...
+#         ]],
+#         null, null, null,
+#         [[question, score], ...], # [0][5]: Topics with relevance scores
+#     ]
 # ]
 ```
 

src/notebooklm/_notebooks.py

@@ -135,8 +135,14 @@ class NotebooksAPI:
             params,
             source_path=f"/notebook/{notebook_id}",
         )
-        if result and isinstance(result, list) and len(result) > 0:
-            return str(result[0]) if result[0] else ""
+        # Response structure: [[[summary_string, ...], topics, ...]]
+        # Summary is at result[0][0][0]
+        try:
+            if result and isinstance(result, list):
+                summary = result[0][0][0]
+                return str(summary) if summary else ""
+        except (IndexError, TypeError):
+            pass
         return ""
 
     async def get_description(self, notebook_id: str) -> NotebookDescription:
@@ -168,22 +174,30 @@ class NotebooksAPI:
         summary = ""
         suggested_topics: list[SuggestedTopic] = []
 
+        # Response structure: [[[summary_string], [[topics]], ...]]
+        # Summary is at result[0][0][0], topics at result[0][1][0]
         if result and isinstance(result, list):
-            # Summary at [0][0]
-            if len(result) > 0 and isinstance(result[0], list) and len(result[0]) > 0:
-                summary = result[0][0] if isinstance(result[0][0], str) else ""
+            try:
+                outer = result[0]
 
-            # Suggested topics at [1][0]
-            if len(result) > 1 and isinstance(result[1], list) and len(result[1]) > 0:
-                topics_list = result[1][0] if isinstance(result[1][0], list) else []
-                for topic in topics_list:
-                    if isinstance(topic, list) and len(topic) >= 2:
-                        suggested_topics.append(
-                            SuggestedTopic(
-                                question=topic[0] if isinstance(topic[0], str) else "",
-                                prompt=topic[1] if isinstance(topic[1], str) else "",
+                # Summary at outer[0][0]
+                summary_val = outer[0][0]
+                summary = str(summary_val) if summary_val else ""
+
+                # Suggested topics at outer[1][0]
+                topics_list = outer[1][0]
+                if isinstance(topics_list, list):
+                    for topic in topics_list:
+                        if isinstance(topic, list) and len(topic) >= 2:
+                            suggested_topics.append(
+                                SuggestedTopic(
+                                    question=str(topic[0]) if topic[0] else "",
+                                    prompt=str(topic[1]) if topic[1] else "",
+                                )
                             )
-                        )
+            except (IndexError, TypeError):
+                # A partial result (e.g. summary but no topics) is possible.
+                pass
 
         return NotebookDescription(summary=summary, suggested_topics=suggested_topics)
 

tests/e2e/test_notebooks.py

@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ class TestNotebookDescription:
         description = await client.notebooks.get_description(read_only_notebook_id)
 
         assert isinstance(description, NotebookDescription)
-        assert description.summary is not None
+        assert description.summary, "Expected non-empty summary from get_description"
         assert isinstance(description.suggested_topics, list)
 
 
@@ -92,8 +92,7 @@ class TestNotebookSummary:
     async def test_get_summary(self, client, read_only_notebook_id):
         """Test getting notebook summary."""
         summary = await client.notebooks.get_summary(read_only_notebook_id)
-        # Summary may be empty string if not generated yet
-        assert isinstance(summary, str)
+        assert summary, "Expected non-empty summary from get_summary"
 
     @pytest.mark.asyncio
     @pytest.mark.readonly

tests/integration/test_notebooks.py

@@ -201,7 +201,9 @@ class TestSummary:
         httpx_mock: HTTPXMock,
         build_rpc_response,
     ):
-        response = build_rpc_response(RPCMethod.SUMMARIZE, ["Summary of the notebook content..."])
+        response = build_rpc_response(
+            RPCMethod.SUMMARIZE, [[["Summary of the notebook content..."]]]
+        )
         httpx_mock.add_response(content=response.encode())
 
         async with NotebookLMClient(auth_tokens) as client:
@@ -313,7 +315,7 @@ class TestNotebooksAPIAdditional:
         """Test getting notebook summary."""
         response = build_rpc_response(
             RPCMethod.SUMMARIZE,
-            ["This is a comprehensive summary of the notebook content..."],
+            [[["This is a comprehensive summary of the notebook content..."]]],
         )
         httpx_mock.add_response(content=response.encode())
 
@@ -372,13 +374,15 @@ class TestNotebooksAPIAdditional:
         response = build_rpc_response(
             RPCMethod.SUMMARIZE,
             [
-                ["This notebook covers AI research."],
                 [
+                    ["This notebook covers AI research."],
                     [
-                        ["What are the main findings?", "Explain the key findings"],
-                        ["How was the study conducted?", "Describe methodology"],
-                    ]
-                ],
+                        [
+                            ["What are the main findings?", "Explain the key findings"],
+                            ["How was the study conducted?", "Describe methodology"],
+                        ]
+                    ],
+                ]
             ],
         )
         httpx_mock.add_response(content=response.encode())
@@ -522,7 +526,7 @@ class TestNotebookEdgeCases:
         """Test getting description with no suggested topics."""
         response = build_rpc_response(
             RPCMethod.SUMMARIZE,
-            [["Summary text"], []],
+            [[["Summary text"], []]],
         )
         httpx_mock.add_response(content=response.encode())
 
@@ -543,14 +547,16 @@ class TestNotebookEdgeCases:
         response = build_rpc_response(
             RPCMethod.SUMMARIZE,
             [
-                ["Summary"],
                 [
+                    ["Summary"],
                     [
-                        ["Valid question", "Valid prompt"],
-                        ["Only question"],  # Missing prompt
-                        "not a list",  # Not a list
-                    ]
-                ],
+                        [
+                            ["Valid question", "Valid prompt"],
+                            ["Only question"],  # Missing prompt
+                            "not a list",  # Not a list
+                        ]
+                    ],
+                ]
             ],
         )
         httpx_mock.add_response(content=response.encode())
@@ -574,11 +580,11 @@ class TestDescribeEdgeCases:
         httpx_mock: HTTPXMock,
         build_rpc_response,
     ):
-        """Line 171->188: result has only [0] (no result[1]) so topics stay empty."""
-        # result = [["A summary"]] — len is 1, so result[1] branch is never entered
+        """result has only outer[0] (no outer[1]) so topics stay empty."""
+        # result = [[["A summary"]]] — outer[0] has summary, no outer[1] for topics
         response = build_rpc_response(
             RPCMethod.SUMMARIZE,
-            [["A summary"]],
+            [[["A summary"]]],
         )
         httpx_mock.add_response(content=response.encode())
 
@@ -595,11 +601,11 @@ class TestDescribeEdgeCases:
         httpx_mock: HTTPXMock,
         build_rpc_response,
     ):
-        """Line 173->177: result[1] exists but is an empty list, so inner block skipped."""
-        # result = [["A summary"], []] — result[1] has len 0, so the inner if is false
+        """outer[1] exists but is an empty list, so topics block is skipped."""
+        # result = [[["A summary"], []]] — outer[1] is empty, so topics are skipped
         response = build_rpc_response(
             RPCMethod.SUMMARIZE,
-            [["A summary"], []],
+            [[["A summary"], []]],
         )
         httpx_mock.add_response(content=response.encode())
 
@@ -616,11 +622,11 @@ class TestDescribeEdgeCases:
         httpx_mock: HTTPXMock,
         build_rpc_response,
     ):
-        """Line 173->177: result[1] is present but not a list, inner block skipped."""
-        # result = [["A summary"], "not-a-list"]
+        """outer[1] is present but not a list, so topics block is skipped."""
+        # result = [[["A summary"], "not-a-list"]] — outer[1] is not a list, topics skipped
         response = build_rpc_response(
             RPCMethod.SUMMARIZE,
-            [["A summary"], "not-a-list"],
+            [[["A summary"], "not-a-list"]],
         )
         httpx_mock.add_response(content=response.encode())
 

tests/unit/test_api_coverage.py

@@ -254,13 +254,15 @@ class TestGetNotebookDescription:
     async def test_get_notebook_description_parses_response(self, mock_client):
         """Test get_notebook_description parses full response."""
         mock_response = [
-            ["This notebook explores **AI** and **machine learning**."],
             [
+                ["This notebook explores **AI** and **machine learning**."],
                 [
-                    ["What is the future of AI?", "Create a detailed briefing..."],
-                    ["How does ML work?", "Explain the fundamentals..."],
-                ]
-            ],
+                    [
+                        ["What is the future of AI?", "Create a detailed briefing..."],
+                        ["How does ML work?", "Explain the fundamentals..."],
+                    ]
+                ],
+            ]
         ]
         mock_client._core.rpc_call = AsyncMock(return_value=mock_response)