Automating Your Readwise Exports into Obsidian: A Deep Dive into My Configuration

If you’re like me, a user of both Readwise and Obsidian, you know how valuable it is to seamlessly integrate your highlights and notes from Readwise into Obsidian for long-term knowledge management. To make this process efficient and automated, I’ve built a custom export template that formats my Readwise data perfectly for Obsidian vaults.

I want to share the core parts of my configuration that handle file naming, metadata formatting, highlight organization, and front matter YAML - all designed to maximize readability and usability within Obsidian.

File Naming Convention

First things first, the filename. A consistent naming scheme is key for organizing hundreds of highlights. My format looks like this:

rwd-{{author|lower|replace("and","")|replace(" ","-")|replace("...","")|truncate(20)}}-{{title|lower|replace(""","")|replace(""","")|replace("'","")|replace("'","")|replace("/","-")|replace(" ","-")|replace(" ","-")|replace("...","")|truncate(30)}}

Breaking it down:

• Starts with rwd- to denote “Readwise Data”
• Author name is sanitized: lowercase, removing “and”, replacing spaces with dashes, removing ellipses, truncated to 20 characters
• Book or article title is also cleaned and truncated (30 characters max)

This ensures filenames remain readable, unique, and manageable, avoiding problematic characters like quotes or slashes.

Page Title

For each exported highlight page, the title is formatted as:

## {{ full_title }} (Highlights)

This clear header allows me to immediately identify the source material and that the page contains highlights, improving navigation inside Obsidian.

Metadata Block

Metadata is essential to provide context without cluttering the note. My export includes:

{% if image_url -%}

![rw-book-cover]({{image_url}})

Source published date: {{published_date}}

{% endif -%}
{% if url -%}
**Link:** [{{full_title}}]({{url}})
{% else %}
source: {{source}}
{% endif -%}

If available, the book or article cover image is included, alongside publication date. I also embed the source link when present, or fallback to a source name. This enriches the note and helps later retrieval or citation.

Highlight Section Headers

To organize highlights clearly, I dynamically include:

{% if is_new_page %}

## Highlights

{% elif has_new_highlights -%}

## New highlights added {{date|date('F j, Y')}} at {{time}}

{% endif -%}

This means on a fresh export, the section is simply titled “Highlights,” but on updates, I can track when new highlights were added - great for incremental review and daily workflows.

Formatting Individual Highlights

Each highlight is formatted with location info or ID:

{% if highlight_location == "View Highlight" %}### id{{ highlight_id }}{% elif highlight_location == "View Tweet" %}### id{{ highlight_id }}{% else %}### {{highlight_location}}{% endif %}

> {{ highlight_text }}{% if highlight_location and highlight_location_url %}
> \- [({{ highlight_location }})]({{ highlight_location_url }})
> {% elif highlight_location %}
> ({{ highlight_location }})
> {% else %}

<!-- Adding a blank line -->

{% endif %}{% if highlight_note %}
**Initial thought or note on:** {% if highlight_location and highlight_location_url %}[({{highlight_location}})]({{highlight_location_url}}){% elif highlight_location %}({{highlight_location}}){% endif %}
{{ highlight_note }}
{% endif %}

This includes:

• Highlight location or an ID if location is generic
• The highlight text itself in blockquote format for readability
• Optional links to the highlight’s exact location or tweet
• Any personal notes attached, labeled as “Initial thought or note on”

This structured formatting makes it easy to visually parse each highlight and reflect on it within Obsidian.

YAML Front Matter

Finally, each file begins with comprehensive YAML front matter metadata:

authors: { { author } }
categories:
  - reference
date: { { date|date("Y-m-d") } }
draft: true
media: { { category } }
source: { { source } }
tags:
  - readwise
  - reference/{{category}}{% for tag in document_tags %}
  - {{tag}}{% endfor %}
title: Reference - {{author}} - {{title}}

This front matter enables:

• Author and source tracking
• Categorization and tagging for Obsidian plugins or queries
• Draft status for workflow management
• Standardized titles for note previews

Why This Setup Works for Me

By automating these formatting rules, I can quickly import and review Readwise highlights in a clean, consistent way inside Obsidian. It supports my knowledge workflow by making highlights searchable, linkable, and context-rich.

If you’re looking to build a similar export template or workflow, feel free to use this as a base. It’s a blend of practical file naming, markdown structuring, and metadata management that turns your reading highlights into a powerful personal knowledge base.