Using Hypothes.is to quickly place notes into my digital notebook

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9

Thanks for this suggestion. I’ve just created the IFTTT recipe and, while it’s not 100% what I’m looking for, it’s the closest thing I’ve found to getting me there. Much appreciated.

10

@Solari I also own an Onyx Boox Android eReader and would love to know how you use Hypothes.is with your e-reading device. I have been using Instapaper and have found it very underwhelming.

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Inspired by all this, and wanting to see if I could come up with something that didn’t use IFTTT, I searched Github to see what kind of Hypothesis export scripts were out there, and I’ve cobbled together a workflow (blogged here ). What follows was created in the context of working on a Mac; PC will be broadly similar.

Basically, if you have python installed on your machine:

Get your annotations

Install ‘Hypexport’ from GitHub - karlicoss/hypexport: Export/access your Hypothes.is data: annotations and profile info . Install it with

pip3 install --user git+https://github.com/karlicoss/hypexport

Then, create a new text file; call it secrets.py and put into it your Hypothesis username and your developer token (which is underneath your username when you have hypothesis open) like so:

username = "USERNAME"
token = "TOKEN"

Save that file.

Now, you can grab all of your annotations with:

python3 -m hypexport.export --secrets secrets.py > annotations.json

Turn json into markdown

Now we need to turn that json into markdown.

( Incidentally, if you want to turn your annotations into a csv, get jq and run something like this

jq -r '.annotations[] | [.text, .tags, .updated, .uri] | @csv' annotations.json > annotations.csv

)

So, here’s a json to markdown script: GitHub - PolBaladas/torsimany: 💡✏️️ ⬇️️ JSON to Markdown converter - Generate Markdown from format independent JSON . Pip install that:

pip install torsimany

but then find where it’s located on your machine (search for torsimany.py) and change this line

data = f.read().decode('ascii', 'ignore')

to just

data = f.read()

and then run

torsimany annotations.json

at the command prompt (in the folder where you downloaded your annotations to), and after a bit you’ll have a file called annotations.markdown. (Incidentally, you can modify the torsimany.py script with your own preferences for how the different elements should be rendered as markdown, if you don’t like the defaults).

Split into individual markdown files

Last thing – we want to split that up into separate markdown files, to drop into the obsidian vault. cpslit, split, awk, etc, all of those things will probably work; here’s some perl (Mac’s have perl installed by default). Copy it into a text file, save with .pl, and if you’re on a mac, change its permissions with

chmod +x split.pl

so you can run it. Here’s the file (sourced from stackoverflow):

#!/usr/bin/perl

undef $/;
$_ = <>;
$n = 0;

for $match (split(/(?=### Title)/)) {
      open(O, '>temp' . ++$n);
      print O $match;
      close(O);
}

then run

./split.pl annotations.markdown

and you’ll have a whoooole lotta files you can drop into your obsidian vault. Ta da!

Fix the lack of file extensions

Now, you’ll have to add the .md file extension, which can be done as a batch with this one liner on a mac:

for file in *; do mv "$file" "${file%}.md"; done

and there we go.

So, not perhaps as elegant as using IFTTT, but you can see every step in the process. I’ll eventually get around to making this all just a single script, but I’m learning as I go. No doubt there are far more elegant ways of making this all work.

Also, it is possible to install your own hypothesis server so that you’re not part of the larger Hypothesis system; I intend to figure that out eventually and will post it on my blog if ever I do. I am personally satisfied with how Hypothesis treats user data, but I understand the concerns of folks who might like more control.

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12

thanks for sharing this! was hoping someone would do it :slight_smile:

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I’ve written some code that formats the title, adds tags (when they exist) and joins highlights and annotations onto a single markdown file if that’s of interest.

github repo here.

will add some stuff so it can be updated without duplicating previously added notes.

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14

Nice!

15

Hi all. Like everyone here I’m an obsidian user but I’ve also been using Remnote for my Spaced Repetition workflows and have decided to use hypothes.is as the means of getting content into remnote for further refinement. There’s a way to do this via IFTTT and Webhooks, my problem in the case of hypothes.is is that it seems to only work for public annotations. Would anyone know how to make this workflow work on private ones? I just need to be able to create an RSS for the latter and it should work with my Remnote webhook… Thanks for any ideas!

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@zendude - I’ve not found anything simple. They all include scripting and server-side setups. I believe they all include warnings that your security is exposed when using these methods.

If you’re interested, here are two I’ve bookmarked in case I get the itch to try them out.
This one is the method Hypothes.is points to from their site.
…and see this fairly detailed setup from the forums.

If you have any success, I’d be happy to hear of it. Good luck!

17

This reminded to type up some recent Discord messages about hypothes.is markdown export:

Facet allows exporting annotations to HTML - You search for your username, select the group (if it’s private you’d need an API token generated from https://hypothes.is/account/developer) and that lists all your annotations which you can then export as HTML. With the markdownload browser plugin, you can right-click copy tab as markdown.

Also, quick plug for gooseberry for command-line users - bulk tagging + export with customizable folder structure and markdown templates.

18

thanks all. I tried Facet’s python which I think was suppose to generate an XML file which I coul’dve then turned into an RSS and then via Webhook to Remnote. unfortunately it didn’t work. as for the rest, it doesn’t seem to do it in a (for a lack of better word) “dynamic” kind of way ala Readwise… where when annotating something new, it automatically creates a corresponding page that syncs your annotations in readwise and then roam. I prefer the extracts to go directly to Remnote, Obsidian, etc… since I have a habit of forgetting that I’ve annotated something at all when it’s not in my work inboxes

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Folks have seen this? Uses templates plugin , works nicely.

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Can we export annotations through RSS and IFTTT if the notes are posted privately ? What if the annotations are saved to a particular group ?

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Alas one would need some sort of authentication to do private posts/groups via RSS and none currently exists. Here’s some further details on RSS/Atom feeds: Atom & RSS Feeds for Annotations : Hypothesis

You might try a work around using View and export Hypothesis annotations.

22

http://are.na is a good option for this. Their API is robust and you can export all your content super easy.

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24

Did you do any good findings? I myself am ordering a Boox Note Air, and I am also very curious to find out how to work with annotations there. Be it in their own reader app or another app or something web based.

25

Thought I’d throw this in the mix as well— Readwise will import your Hypothes.is notations. I’ve started using Readwise pretty heavily for importing tweets, and realized the other day that it can do hypothesis as well! Readwise has a pretty robust manual export as well as an API.

Another thought, for those who were concerned about privacy… they don’t have a detailed guide, afaict, but you could probably (definitely?) host your own instance of hypothesis! Everything they produce is open-source. The “h” repo is the server code.

26

Hi, I just got my Obsidian-Hyphothesis plugin approved and now listed in the Community Plugin. Feel free to check it out. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated as well.

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(I realise it was over 2.5 years ago that you mentioned your use of an Onyx Book Android eReader, so forgive me it that’s now redundant.)

Assuming you still use Obsidian, and an Onyx device, I would love to know what you’ve figured out in the past couple of years as the most efficient workflow for getting notes, annotations, highlights, etc., from your Onyx device into Obsidian.

I’m currently figuring out a workflow to use. Currently the best I’ve found is:

  1. Export (local, to device) the annotations/highlights from each book (book-by-book) on my Boox Nova Air;
  2. Copy those tiles to my Mac (over USB, using AnyDroid);
  3. Copy the content from each of those files into new notes on Obsidian and format them using the method shared here.

It’s still more steps (work) than I would like.

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I do still use obsidian and the Boox Ultra C.

I don’t use neo reader very much though. I use kindle and Readwise reader to pass my notes and highlights into obsidian using the Readwise plugin.

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@mysticinfusion @JAG

For getting highlights from ebooks into Obsidian, I have a plugin called Air Quotes you might want to consider, which was created for that exact reason of speeding up the painful process of syncing quotes from an eReader.

It’s effectively instantaneous, and works great for ebooks and even print books: