# Personal Readwise Obsidian Export Format
## Customization
[Customize in Readwise](https://readwise.io/export/obsidian/preferences)
### File Name
[Documentation →](https://help.readwise.io/article/126-how-can-i-customize-the-readwise-to-obsidian-export#file-name)
I added the first author to the name. Multiple authors are separated by `,<Space>` or `<Space>&<Space>`.
```jinja2
{% if author %}{{ author.split(' & ')[0].split(', ')[0]|replace('_', ' ')|replace(':', '')|replace('?', '')|replace('"', '')|replace('/', '')|replace('|', '')|replace('*', '')|replace('<', '')|replace('>', '')|replace('#', ' ') }}{% if ' & ' in author or ', ' in author %} et al.{% endif %} - {% endif %}{{title|replace('#', ' ')}} (Highlights)
```
### Page Title
[Documentation →](https://help.readwise.io/article/126-how-can-i-customize-the-readwise-to-obsidian-export#title)
Keep title and file name consistent.
```jinja2
# {% if author %}{{ author.split(' & ')[0].split(', ')[0]|replace('_', ' ')|replace(':', '')|replace('?', '')|replace('"', '')|replace('/', '')|replace('|', '')|replace('*', '')|replace('<', '')|replace('>', '')|replace('#', ' ') }}{% if ' & ' in author or ', ' in author %} et al.{% endif %} - {% endif %}{{title|replace('#', ' ')}} (Highlights)
```
### Page Metadata
[Documentation →](https://help.readwise.io/article/126-how-can-i-customize-the-readwise-to-obsidian-export#metadata)
All note-level metadata is exported in YAML frontmatter. Only the cover image and document note remain in the body.
```jinja2
{% if image_url -%}
{% endif -%}
{% if document_note %}
## Note
{{ document_note|replace('↩︎', '') }}
{% endif -%}
```
### Highlights Header
[Documentation →](https://help.readwise.io/article/126-how-can-i-customize-the-readwise-to-obsidian-export#header)
```jinja2
{% if is_new_page %}
## Highlights
{% elif has_new_highlights -%}
<!-- New highlights added {{date|date('F j, Y')}} at {{time}} -->
{% endif -%}
```
### Highlight
[Documentation →](https://help.readwise.io/article/126-how-can-i-customize-the-readwise-to-obsidian-export#highlight)
I added the anchor `^{{highlight_id}}` to allow [linking to a specific highlight in Obsidian](https://help.obsidian.md/How+to/Link+to+blocks#Link+to+blocks).
[[Readwise Note Format Cheatsheet]]
```jinja2
{%- if highlight_text|length > 1 -%}
- {% if highlight_text.startswith('↩︎') %}↩︎{% else %}{{ highlight_text.split('↩︎', 1)[0]|indent(1)|replace('␣', ' ') }}{% endif %}{% if highlight_location and highlight_location_url %} ([{{highlight_location}}]({{highlight_location_url}})){% elif highlight_location %} ({{highlight_location}}){% endif %}{% if highlight_note and highlight_note.startswith('^') %} {{highlight_note.split('\n',1)[0]}}{% else %} ^{{highlight_id}}{% endif %}{% if '↩︎' in highlight_text %}
{{ highlight_text.split('↩︎', 1)[1]|trim|indent(1)|replace('␣', ' ') }}
{% endif %}{% if highlight_tags %}
{% for tag in highlight_tags %}#{{tag}} {% endfor %}
{% endif %}{%- if highlight_note and ((not highlight_note.startswith('^')) or highlight_note.find('\n') >= 0)%}
{% if not highlight_tags %}
{% endif %} {% if highlight_note.startswith('^') -%}
{{ highlight_note.split('\n',1)[1]|trim|replace('\n∎', '\n')|indent(1)|replace('␣', ' ') }}
{%- else -%}
{{ highlight_note|trim|replace('\n∎', '\n')|indent(1)|replace('␣', ' ') }}
{%- endif %}
{% endif -%}
{% elif highlight_note %}
{{ highlight_note.split('\n')|map('trim')|join('\n')|replace('\n∎', '\n')|replace('␣', ' ') }}
{%- endif %}
```
Since the highlight is in the list, and the location and the anchor are appended to the end, the format is malformed if the highlight is a multiple line markdown block. I add a line `↩︎` before and `∎` after to fix the format. ^highlight-marks
I also use `␣` to [[Keep the Leading Whitespaces in Readwise Highlights and Notes]].
The following is an example of how to format a code block with indentations in Readwise.
~~~markdown
↩︎
```ruby
def hello(name):
␣␣puts "Hello, #{name}"
end
```
∎
~~~
### YAML Front Matter
[Documentation →](https://help.readwise.io/article/126-how-can-i-customize-the-readwise-to-obsidian-export#yaml-front-matter)
Use lower kebab-case property names. `authors` is a list of wikilinks, or `null` when absent; `host`, `created`, and `highlighted` retain their wikilinks. `review` and `url` store plain URLs, and `icon` stores the category emoji for Pretty Properties. Export the classification tags `x` and `zettel/fleeting` in native `tags`, not `status` or `zettel` properties. Source, category, and document tags also remain in native `tags`; preserve their spelling and order without reinterpreting them as classification properties or adding a `kind/` prefix. Do not infer a kind from the Readwise category.
Jinja's `tojson` filter produces YAML-compatible quoted values, safely preserving quotes, backslashes, Unicode, and multiline text. Disable Obsidian Publish for the `private` document tag and retain the thumb property.
For this schema update, replace **YAML Front Matter** in the Readwise export settings. Keep the existing **Page Metadata**, highlight, and sync-notification settings unchanged. Readwise is append-only: changing these settings does not migrate existing notes or refresh their properties when new highlights arrive. In particular, `highlighted` remains the date from the note's initial export until explicitly updated. Do not reset or resync locally edited notes.
```jinja2
{% set document_tags = document_tags or [] -%}
{% set source_tag = 'from/' ~ (source|lower|replace(' ', '-')) -%}
{% set native_tags = ['x', 'zettel/fleeting', 'from/readwise', source_tag, category, 'readwise/' ~ category] + document_tags -%}
{% if 'private' in document_tags -%}
publish: false
{% endif -%}
{% if image_url -%}
thumb: {{ image_url|tojson }}
{% endif -%}
review: {{ ('https://readwise.io/bookreview/' ~ book_id)|tojson }}
{% if author -%}
authors:
{% for name in author.replace('_', ' ').replace(' & ', ', ').split(', ') -%}
{{ ' - ' }}{{ ('[[' ~ name ~ ']]')|tojson }}
{% endfor -%}
{% endif -%}
full-title: {{ full_title|tojson }}
icon: {{ ({'books': '📚', 'articles': '📰', 'tweets': '🐦', 'podcasts': '🎙'}.get(category, ''))|tojson }}
{% if url -%}
url: {{ url|tojson }}
host: {{ ('[[' ~ url.split('://')[-1].split('/')[0] ~ ']]')|tojson }}
{% endif -%}
{% if date -%}
created: {{ ('[[' ~ date|date('Y-m-d') ~ ']]')|tojson }}
{% endif -%}
highlighted: {{ ('[[' ~ last_highlighted_date|date('Y-m-d') ~ ']]')|tojson }}
tags:
{% for tag in native_tags|unique(case_sensitive=true) -%}
{{ ' - ' }}{{ tag|tojson }}
{% endfor -%}
```
### Sync Notification
[Documentation →](https://help.readwise.io/article/126-how-can-i-customize-the-readwise-to-obsidian-export#notification)
I use a level 1 heading so that the `Extract Heading` command can create a new note and merge its properties.
~~~jinja2
# Readwise Sync {{date|date('Y-m-d')}}
```obsidian-properties
tags:
- from/readwise
created: "[[{{date|date('Y-m-d')}}]]"
highlight-count: {{num_highlights}}
file-count: {{num_books}}
target-folder: "robot/Readwise Library/Readwise Syncs"
```
## Files
{% for book in books %}- {{ book.num_highlights_added}} in [[{% if book.author %}{{ book.author.split(' & ')[0].split(', ')[0]|replace('_', ' ')|replace(':', '')|replace('?', '')|replace('"', '')|replace('/', '')|replace('|', '')|replace('*', '')|replace('<', '')|replace('>', '')|replace('#', ' ') }}{% if ' & ' in book.author or ', ' in book.author %} et al.{% endif %} - {% endif %}{{ book.title|replace(':', '')|replace('?', '')|replace('"', '')|replace('/', '')|replace('|', '')|replace('*', '')|replace('<', '')|replace('>', '')|replace('#', ' ') }} (Highlights)]]
{% endfor %}
~~~