Instapaper Import

Instapaper Import

Parse Instapaper highlight exports and create slipbox entries for the user's own notes.

Input Format

# [[Article Title](url)]
> Original highlight from article (SKIP)
User's note about the highlight (IMPORT)
> Another highlight (SKIP)
Another user note (IMPORT)

• > lines = original article highlights → skip
• Plain text lines = user's own notes → import as separate entries
• Empty lines → skip

Header fields:

• Title + URL from # [[Title](url)]; URL may be instapaper-private://... or a regular URL
• Source type: article
• Author: null (Instapaper doesn't include author)

Workflow

1. Parse header → extract article title and URL. Done when title and URL are both captured.
2. Extract user notes → collect every plain-text line (not starting with >, not empty). Done when every non->, non-empty line in the input is accounted for.
3. Precheck → show user: article title, note count, ask for confirmation. Done when user confirms (or aborts).
4. On confirmation → for each note, invoke slipbot:
   • Type: note (- prefix)
   • Source: ~ article, {title}
   • Let slipbot handle: filename, tags, links, graph update
5. Report → count of notes created. Done when the reported count matches the extracted count.

Example

Input:

# [[How to Learn Faster](https://example.com/article)]
> Get feedback more often
To learn faster we need faster feedback loops.
> Latent learning occurs without reinforcement
Testing yourself proactively speeds up learning.

One resulting slipbot call:

- To learn faster we need faster feedback loops. ~ article, How to Learn Faster

Edge Cases

• No user notes (only > lines): Report "no notes to import"
• Multi-line user notes: Treat each paragraph as a separate note
• Title with special chars: Preserve as-is for source metadata