How do I install the Readwise skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add modbender/readwise in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

What does the Readwise skill do?

Access Readwise highlights and Reader saved articles It is listed under Coding & Dev Tools, Integrations & APIs on SkillMD.

Is Readwise safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Independent scanners report: SkillSpector: PASS, Skill Scanner: PASS. Capability flags: executes scripts, makes network calls, reads secrets. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Readwise?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Readwise free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Readwise?

modbender (@modbender) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Readwise by modbender — Agent Skill

Name: Readwise
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: modbender

File contents

Readwise & Reader Skill

Access your Readwise highlights and Reader saved articles.

Setup

Get your API token from: https://readwise.io/access_token

Set the environment variable:

export READWISE_TOKEN="your_token_here"

Or add to ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json under "env".

Readwise (Highlights)

List books/sources

node {baseDir}/scripts/readwise.mjs books [--limit 20]

Get highlights from a book

node {baseDir}/scripts/readwise.mjs highlights [--book-id 123] [--limit 20]

Search highlights

node {baseDir}/scripts/readwise.mjs search "query"

Export all highlights (paginated)

node {baseDir}/scripts/readwise.mjs export [--updated-after 2024-01-01]

Reader (Saved Articles)

List documents

node {baseDir}/scripts/reader.mjs list [--location new|later|archive|feed] [--category article|book|podcast|...] [--limit 20]

Get document details

node {baseDir}/scripts/reader.mjs get <document_id>

Save a URL to Reader

node {baseDir}/scripts/reader.mjs save "https://example.com/article" [--location later]

Search Reader

node {baseDir}/scripts/reader.mjs search "query"

Notes

Rate limits: 20 requests/minute for Readwise, varies for Reader
All commands output JSON for easy parsing
Use --help on any command for options

Frequently asked questions

Readwise