| name | kindle-highlights |
| description | Convert a Kindle Scribe "Export Notebook" highlights PDF into a correctly-formatted Denote org file, written next to the PDF. Green highlights become quotes. A separate Hazel rule moves the .org into the Denote dir — this skill never touches the org dir. |
| allowed-tools | Read, Write, Bash, Glob |
| argument-hint | ["path-to-notebook.pdf"] |
Turn a Kindle Scribe highlights export (a "Notebook - .pdf") into a Denote
note in plain Org. I read on the Kindle and color my highlights; green means
"keep this as a quote." This skill files the highlights as a book note and marks
the green ones so they later resurface at the top of my Org agenda.
Division of labor (important)
This skill ONLY parses the PDF and writes a correctly-named, correctly-formatted
Denote .org file in the same directory as the source PDF. It does NOT move
the file. A separate Hazel rule watches that folder and moves the new .org into
my Denote directory. So: do not write to or read the org dir; just produce a valid
Denote file beside the PDF.
Inputs
- If
$ARGUMENTS is a PDF path, use it.
- Otherwise use the newest PDF in the Kindle Scribe drop folder:
~/Library/CloudStorage/GoogleDrive-*/My Drive/Kindle Scribe/
(the most recently modified *.pdf).
The output .org is written to the same directory as that PDF.
How the export looks (so you parse it correctly)
The PDF is Amazon's "Export Notebook" format:
- A header with the book title, author (
by Surname, First), and a
read.amazon.com/kp/kshare?asin=XXXX preview link (the ASIN is the book id).
- An
Annotations (N) summary, e.g. 3 Highlights | Pink (1), Green (1), Yellow (1).
- Then one block per annotation:
Page NN | Highlight (Color) followed by the highlighted text and a date.Page NN | Note followed by an image of handwriting — NOT machine text.
- The color is literal text in
Highlight (Color). Match it as a string;
never infer color from pixels.
Output file
Denote file name (write beside the PDF)
IDENTIFIER--TITLE-SLUG__KEYWORDS.org
IDENTIFIER = date +%Y%m%dT%H%M%STITLE-SLUG = book title, lowercased, non-alphanumerics → single hyphens,
no leading/trailing hyphenKEYWORDS = the filetags joined by _
Example: 20260602T170000--the-ikigai-journey__book_highlights.org
Front matter — must be valid Denote Org, aligned exactly like this
#+title: <Book Title>
#+date: [<YYYY-MM-DD Day HH:MM>]
#+filetags: :book:highlights:
#+identifier: <IDENTIFIER>
#+author: <First Surname>
#+source: <read.amazon.com kshare link>
#+asin: <ASIN>
- The four standard keys (
title, date, filetags, identifier) come first,
in that order, value column aligned at the same place. Then a blank line, then
the extra keys.
date uses Denote's inactive-timestamp form, e.g. [2026-06-02 Tue 17:00].identifier MUST equal the IDENTIFIER in the filename.- Filetags are always exactly
:book:highlights: — fixed, the same for every
book. Do NOT derive keywords from the title or subject (no :ikigai: etc.).
The filename keywords are therefore always __book_highlights.
Body — highlights in reading order
One heading per highlight, in the order they appear, with attribution:
* <highlight text> — <Surname>, <Book Title>
Put a BLANK LINE between every heading, so the list breathes and is easy to scan.
Do NOT include page numbers — no "(p.27)", no "p.41". Never truncate highlight text.
If the PDF shows part/section headers (e.g. "Part One: …"), keep them as *
headings and nest highlights under them as **.
Color rules (the important part)
The Highlight (Color) label decides what each highlight becomes. Match the color
as a literal string. Org tags go at the END of the heading line; for TODO the
keyword goes right after the stars.
The Kindle Scribe Colorsoft highlighter has exactly five colors — Yellow, Orange,
Green, Aqua, Pink — and the export labels each literally as Highlight (<Color>).
| Color | Becomes | Heading shape |
|---|
| Yellow | a plain highlight | * <text> — <attr> |
| Orange | a question / something to research | * TODO <text> — <attr> :research: |
| Green | a quote (surfaces in the agenda banner) | * <text> — <attr> :quote: |
| Aqua | an actionable follow-up | * TODO <text> — <attr> |
| Pink | a key idea | * TODO <text> — <attr> :idea: |
Three colors become agenda items as TODO: Aqua (plain action), Pink (:idea:),
and Orange (:research:). The tag distinguishes them so I can filter. Green is the
quote (no TODO — it feeds the quote banner); Yellow is just a plain highlight.
<attr> = <Surname>, <Book Title> (no page number). One blank line between headings.
Notes:
- Use org-native tags (
:quote:, :idea:, :research:) — NOT #hashtags. The
agenda quote banner (my/agenda-quotes-collect) and the rest of my system read
org tags; the #quote hashtag form is only parsed inside Journelly.org.
:quote: is the one that matters most — it puts the line in the random quote
banner at the top of my dashboard.TODO keyword (Aqua/Pink/Orange) makes book follow-ups appear in my Org agenda
like any task; the :idea: / :research: tag tells them apart from a plain action.- Any color not listed (or unlabeled) → treat as a plain highlight.
Handwritten notes
Ignore them. A Page NN | Note block is an image of handwriting that can't be
read reliably — skip it silently. Do NOT add a * Notes heading, a placeholder,
or any "not transcribed" line. Only highlights go in the file.
Steps
- Resolve the PDF path (argument, else newest in the Kindle Scribe folder).
- Read the PDF and extract: title, author, ASIN/source link, and every
annotation with its page, type, color, text, and date.
- Build the Org content, applying the color rules above (Green→:quote:,
Aqua→TODO, Pink→TODO :idea:, Orange→TODO :research:, Yellow→plain).
- Compute
IDENTIFIER (date +%Y%m%dT%H%M%S) and write the file with the Denote
name into the same directory as the PDF.
- Report: book title, output filename, and a per-color breakdown
(quotes / actions / ideas / research / plain). Remind that Hazel will move it
to the Denote dir.
Rules
- Write the
.org file beside the PDF. Do NOT move it and do NOT touch the org dir.
- One note per book; never split a book across files.
- Apply the color rules exactly: Green→
:quote:, Aqua→TODO, Pink→TODO :idea:,
Orange→TODO :research:, Yellow→plain highlight.
- Ignore handwritten notes entirely — no Notes section, no placeholder lines.
- Preserve highlighted text verbatim (curly quotes, em dashes, etc.).
- Do not move, rename, or delete the source PDF.
- Quote any paths in shell commands — folders contain spaces.
