Readwise

Provides programmatic access to Readwise highlights, books, and documents via MCP with search, analysis, and prompt integration.

javascript

22

GitHub Stars

javascript

Language

6 months ago

First Indexed

2 months ago

Catalog Refreshed

Documentation & install

Readme and setup notes from the catalogue, plus a client-ready config you can copy for your MCP host.

Installation

Add the following to your MCP client configuration file.

Configuration

View docs

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "iamalexander-readwise-mcp": {
      "command": "readwise-mcp",
      "args": []
    }
  }
}

You run a Readwise MCP Server to access and interact with your Readwise library through MCP-compatible clients. It lets you fetch highlights, books, and documents, run searches with natural language queries, and integrate smoothly with assistants like Claude while maintaining robust protocol conformance and reliable health checks.

How to use

Start the server locally using the standard MCP transport, which runs as a CLI process and communicates with clients via the MCP protocol. You can run in the default stdio transport for desktop clients, or enable the SSE transport for web-based integrations. When you start with the SSE transport, you specify a port for client connections.

How to install

Prerequisites you need before installing: Node.js (and npm) installed on your system.

# Option 1: Install from npm and use the global CLI
npm install -g readwise-mcp

# Start the server with default stdio transport
readwise-mcp

# Or start with SSE transport on a specific port
readwise-mcp --transport sse --port 3000

Configuration and setup

Configure your Readwise API key to enable the server to access your library. You can set up interactively or provide the key directly when starting the server.

# Run the setup wizard to configure API access
npm run setup

# Or start the server directly with your API key (example key placeholder)
readwise-mcp --api-key YOUR_API_KEY

Usage patterns and tips

Use the default stdio transport when you are running locally with desktop clients. The server starts and listens for MCP requests from compatible tools.
Use the SSE transport when you need web-based integrations or remote clients. Specify a port to expose the MCP endpoint for your clients.

Testing and development

The server includes tooling to validate behavior with an MCP Inspector and supports mock testing when you don’t want to use a real Readwise API key.

# Run automated inspector tests
npm run test-inspector

# Run with mock Readwise API data
npm run test-mock

Notes and troubleshooting

If you encounter transport or protocol issues, verify that your client is using the same transport type (stdio or sse) and that the server port matches what you configured.

For issues with API key validation or setup flow, ensure you are using a valid API key and that the setup wizard completed successfully.

Available tools

get_highlights

Retrieve highlights from your Readwise library.

get_books

Fetch books from your Readwise library.

get_documents

Fetch documents from your Readwise library.

search_highlights

Search highlights in your Readwise library using query terms.