Instapaper Import

Parse Instapaper highlight exports and create slipbox entries for user's notes.

Input Format

# [[Article Title](url)]
> Original highlight from article (SKIP)
User's note about the highlight (IMPORT)
> Another highlight (SKIP)
Another user note (IMPORT)

Key distinction:

• > lines

  = Original article highlights → Skip these
• Plain text lines = User's own ideas/takeaways → Import these as notes

Parsing Rules

Header Line

1. Extract title from:

   # [[Title](url)]

2. URL may be

   instapaper-private://...

   (private) or regular URL
3. Source type:

   article

4. Author:

   null

   (Instapaper doesn't include author)

Content Lines

1. Lines starting with

   >

   = original highlights → skip
2. Plain text lines after

   >

   lines = user notes → import
3. Empty lines → skip
4. Each user note becomes a separate slipbox entry

Workflow

1. Parse header → extract article title and URL
2. Extract user notes → collect plain text lines (not starting with

   >

   )
3. Precheck → show user: article title, note count, ask for confirmation
4. On confirmation → for each note, invoke slipbot:
   • Type: note (

     -

     prefix)
   • Source:

     ~ article, {title}

   • Let slipbot handle: filename, tags, links, graph update
5. Report → count of notes created

Example

Input:

# [[How to Learn Faster](https://example.com/article)]
> Get feedback more often
To learn faster we need faster feedback loops.
> Latent learning occurs without reinforcement
Testing yourself proactively speeds up learning.

Extracted notes:

1. "To learn faster we need faster feedback loops."
2. "Testing yourself proactively speeds up learning."

Slipbot calls:

- To learn faster we need faster feedback loops. ~ article, How to Learn Faster
- Testing yourself proactively speeds up learning. ~ article, How to Learn Faster

Edge Cases

• No user notes (only

  >

  lines): Report "no notes to import"
• Multi-line user notes: Treat each paragraph as separate note
• Title with special chars: Preserve as-is for source metadata