Readwise

Readwise

Official
readwiseio

Connects Claude Desktop to your Readwise library, letting you search and retrieve your saved highlights and notes during conversations.

Integrates with Readwise to search and retrieve highlights from a user's library, enabling researchers and knowledge workers to reference saved notes during conversations without switching contexts.

145507 views13Local (stdio)

What it does

  • Search highlights from Readwise library
  • Retrieve saved notes and annotations
  • Access reading highlights without context switching
  • Query personal knowledge base during conversations

Best for

Researchers referencing previous readingsKnowledge workers building on saved insightsStudents accessing study notes during writing
Works with Claude DesktopOne-time setup with access token

About Readwise

Readwise is an official MCP server published by readwiseio that provides AI assistants with tools and capabilities via the Model Context Protocol. Integrate Readwise to retrieve notes and search highlights, enhancing knowledge work—ideal for recovering deleted note o It is categorized under ai ml, productivity.

How to install

You can install Readwise in your AI client of choice. Use the install panel on this page to get one-click setup for Cursor, Claude Desktop, VS Code, and other MCP-compatible clients. This server runs locally on your machine via the stdio transport.

License

Readwise is released under the MIT license. This is a permissive open-source license, meaning you can freely use, modify, and distribute the software.

Readwise MCP

pre-commit

Overview

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) standardizes how applications provide context to Large Language Models (LLMs), ensuring a clean separation between context management and direct LLM interaction.

This project is a local MCP server designed to act as a bridge between LLM clients (such as Claude) and Readwise.

Watch a demo!

Installation in Claude

  1. Please make sure you have Node installed.
  2. Open Claude desktop app.
  3. Navigate to Settings > Developer.
  4. Click Edit Config.
  5. Add the following entry to the claude_desktop_config.json file, replacing ACCESS_TOKEN value with your Readwise Access Token.
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Readwise MCP": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@readwise/readwise-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "ACCESS_TOKEN": "XXXXXXXXX"
      }
    }
  }
}

Troubleshooting

For general troubleshooting guidance, please refer to the official Model Context Protocol Claude Desktop Troubleshooting section.

Below are specific solutions to common issues we've encountered and resolved.

"Could not attach to MCP server Readwise MCP"

A very likely reason for this to happen is that you have an incorrect npx/Node version set up. If you're using nvm, try running nvm use 18 in your terminal. If not, consider reinstalling Node.

Errors when calling Readwise tools

When using this MCP server, you may occasionally encounter MCP errors during your conversations with Claude. If you experience such errors, we recommend trying to switch between different Claude models (e.g., from Claude 3.5 Haiku to Claude 3.7 Sonnet) as this often resolves the issue.

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