Claude Readwise connectorWhat Claude can do in your Readwise account.
The Claude Readwise connector exposes 22 tools. 9 read your highlights and Reader library, 13 change something in it, none left undocumented. Below: what Claude finds, what it saves, tags or deletes, and what nobody tells you before you let it triage.
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What changes when Claude can read what you have read
Readwise holds years of highlights and a Reader inbox that keeps growing. The problem is getting anything back out at the right moment. With the connector, you ask Claude a question and it searches your highlights and the full text of your saved documents by meaning, then answers from what you actually read, with the source attached.
An answer built from your own reading. readwise_search_highlights and reader_search_documents combine meaning-based and keyword search. Ask what you saved on pricing strategy and Claude pulls the passages, then reader_get_document_details opens the full article when a highlight is not enough.
An inbox triaged for you. reader_move_documents shifts items between inbox, later, shortlist, archive and feed, while reader_add_tags_to_document labels them. Tell Claude to shelve everything older than your last project and tag the keepers.
Notes that finally get written. reader_set_highlight_notes attaches a comment to a highlight and readwise_create_highlights saves new ones, so a thought from the conversation lands next to the passage that sparked it.
Now the part the sheet skips. No source says whether Claude confirms before any of these changes, so the general approval rule is all you have; a delete is a delete. Bulk metadata edits stop at 50 documents per call. And nothing runs on its own: no tool fires when you save an article or highlight a line. For that kind of background job, an automation tool is the right trade, and our Integrations hub covers it. Other apps get the same breakdown, for instance the Claude asana connector.
Five words before you plug it in
The vocabulary you will meet on the way.
- Connector
- The link you set up once between Claude and an account you already have, so Claude can work in it while it answers you.
- Tool
- One named job the connector opens to Claude. Claude picks the ones it needs mid-answer; the directory sheet lists them by name.
- Authorization
- Readwise's own sign-in screen, where you hand Claude the access it will use afterwards. Given once per person, and you can take it back.
- Approval
- The confirmation Claude waits for before doing something that changes an account, shown in the conversation when it matters.
- MCP
- The shared standard connectors are built on: it is what lets an assistant like Claude talk to an outside service such as Readwise.
Connect Readwise to Claude in three steps
- 01
Find Readwise in Claude
In Claude's settings, open Customize, then Connectors, and look for Readwise. On a Team or Enterprise workspace, an Owner or Primary Owner has to enable the connector first; then each member connects on their own.
- 02
Start the connection
Click Connect on its row, then sign in with your Readwise account in the window Readwise opens. If the link breaks one day, hit Disconnect and connect again from scratch.
- 03
Read the authorization screen
Before you accept, read what the screen asks for. It belongs to Readwise, not to Claude, and it sets what the access covers. You can also withdraw that access later from your Readwise account.
The 22 tools of the Claude Readwise connector
Readwise gives Claude 22 tools: 9 that read your account, 13 that change something in it.
Two groups: what Claude reads and what it changes. Every tool has a line in Readwise's own documentation. Names stay as Claude shows them, in English.
- 9 read
- 13 write
What Claude reads (9)
9 toolsNine tools that look through your highlights and documents without touching them.
readwise_search_highlights
Looks through your Readwise highlights with a hybrid search that mixes meaning and exact words, so a vague question still finds the right passage.
readwise_list_highlights
Returns highlights newest first, narrowed by book, tag, date range and other filters.
readwise_get_daily_review
Brings today's daily review: the highlights Readwise picked for you by spaced repetition.
reader_search_documents
Runs a hybrid search across the full text of your Reader library, not just titles.
reader_list_documents
Shows Reader documents newest first, filtered by location, category or tag, so Claude can see what sits where in your library.
reader_get_document_details
Fetches a document's metadata and its full content as Markdown, so Claude reads the whole piece.
reader_list_tags
Returns every tag used in your Reader library, the full vocabulary you have built up over the years of saving articles.
reader_get_document_highlights
Returns all the highlights made on a single Reader document, in one list Claude can quote or summarize.
reader_get_export_documents_status
Checks where a Reader export stands and, once the ZIP is ready, returns the link to download it, so you can grab the whole file.
What Claude changes (13)
13 toolsThirteen tools that save, tag, move, edit or delete. No source describes a confirmation for them: the general rule below applies.
readwise_create_highlights
Approval: see the ruleSaves one or several new highlights in Readwise, attached to a book or article if you want.
readwise_update_highlight
Approval: see the ruleEdits a highlight's text, note, location or tags in place.
readwise_delete_highlight
Approval: see the ruleRemoves a highlight from Readwise.
reader_create_document
Approval: see the ruleAdds a new URL, or a piece of HTML or plain text, to your Reader library.
reader_add_tags_to_document
Approval: see the ruleAdds one or more tags to a Reader document.
reader_remove_tags_from_document
Approval: see the ruleRemoves tags from a Reader document.
reader_move_documents
Approval: see the ruleMoves documents between Reader locations: inbox, later, shortlist, archive and feed.
reader_bulk_edit_document_metadata
Approval: see the ruleEdits metadata such as title, author or category on up to 50 documents in one go.
reader_add_tags_to_highlight
Approval: see the ruleAdds tags to a highlight inside a Reader document.
reader_remove_tags_from_highlight
Approval: see the ruleStrips one or more tags off a highlight in a Reader document.
reader_set_highlight_notes
Approval: see the ruleSets the note attached to a highlight in a Reader document.
reader_create_highlight
Approval: see the ruleCreates a highlight on a Reader document by pointing at the exact text to mark.
reader_export_documents
Approval: see the ruleStarts an export of all your Reader documents as a ZIP of Markdown files.
What Claude asks before acting
By default, Claude stops and asks for your go-ahead before any action it takes on an account for you. The request shows up in the conversation, at the moment it matters.
On Team and Enterprise workspaces, owners decide whether a member may let certain actions through without being asked every time. They can also cap what a connector may do across the organization, leaving reading open and closing writing, and nobody gets around that from their own account. Claude works with your rights and nothing more: what your Readwise account cannot reach, Claude cannot either.
Which plans include it
Of the 819 sheets in the official directory, none shows availability by plan. The per-connector answer is published nowhere, a real gap in the catalogue.
The general rule is public: remote connectors are open to all users on Claude, Cowork, Claude Desktop and mobile, and desktop extensions install on Claude Desktop. On Team and Enterprise, an Owner or Primary Owner turns the connector on for the organization before members can connect. For the current state, open the Readwise sheet in the directory from your own account.
Where this connector stops
A connector is not an automation. Claude calls these tools while it answers you; nothing starts when you save an article or highlight a line.
This connector is documented only by its publisher: neither Claude's help center nor Anthropic's developer docs cover it. The tool list is an observed floor, not a promise, since an administrator can open actions no public sheet shows. The partner badge is not a security audit, and Anthropic says on every sheet that it does not decide which tools a publisher exposes. Plug in publishers you trust, here Readwise itself.
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