First Look at the Official Readwise Obsidian Plugin

Readwise has released its official Obsidian plugin, and it's everything I hoped it would be. I've been using Readwise for a while now, and I love how it helps me resurface my highlights from Kindle, Instapaper, and other sources. Now, with the Obsidian plugin, I can have all my highlights in my Obsidian vault, where I can link them to my notes and use them in my writing.

What is Readwise?

Readwise is a service that helps you remember and learn from what you read. It connects to various services like Kindle, Instapaper, Pocket, and more to import your highlights and notes. Then, it uses spaced repetition to help you review and remember what you've read.

What is Obsidian?

Obsidian is a powerful knowledge base that works on top of a local folder of plain text Markdown files. It's designed to help you organize your thoughts and connect ideas. It's like a second brain that helps you think and write.

The Plugin

The plugin is currently in beta, but it's already very polished. Here are some of the features that I'm most excited about:

Automatic Syncing

The plugin automatically syncs your highlights from Readwise to your Obsidian vault. You can choose how often it syncs and what gets synced. You can also manually sync whenever you want.

Custom Formatting

You can customize how your highlights are formatted in Obsidian. You can choose what metadata to include, how to format the highlights, and where to store them in your vault.

Backlinks

One of the most powerful features of Obsidian is its ability to create backlinks between notes. The plugin creates backlinks between your highlights and your notes, making it easy to find related content.

Search

You can search through all your highlights right from Obsidian. This makes it easy to find that quote you're looking for or to see all your highlights on a particular topic.

Setting Up the Plugin

1. Install the plugin from the Obsidian Community Plugins
2. Enable the plugin in Obsidian settings
3. Connect your Readwise account
4. Configure your sync settings
5. Choose your formatting preferences

My Workflow

I use Readwise and Obsidian together to:

1. Capture highlights while reading
2. Review highlights daily using Readwise's spaced repetition
3. Import highlights into Obsidian
4. Link highlights to related notes
5. Use highlights in my writing

Future Possibilities

The plugin is still in beta, but I'm already excited about the possibilities:

• Better integration with Obsidian's graph view
• More customization options for formatting
• Integration with other Obsidian plugins
• Improved search capabilities

Conclusion

The Readwise Obsidian plugin is a game-changer for anyone who wants to make better use of their reading highlights. It bridges the gap between capturing highlights and actually using them in your thinking and writing.

If you're already using Readwise and Obsidian, installing this plugin is a no-brainer. If you're using one but not the other, this might be the perfect reason to try both.

I'll be writing more about how I use this plugin in my workflow, particularly how I integrate it with my daily notes in Obsidian. Stay tuned!