Skip to content
relego.docs

Stop 1 of 3 on the round trip

Import highlights

The trip starts on the device, before Relego is involved at all. Your Kindle or Kobo writes highlights to a file, then Relego reads that file into its library.

Your reader’s file

Section titled “Your reader’s file”
Reader File to import Note
Kindle documents/My Clippings.txt Contains device highlights, notes, and bookmarks
Kobo .kobo/KoboReader.sqlite .kobo is a hidden folder

Relego reads the quote, book title, and author. You do not need SQLite tooling for Kobo, upload the file as-is.

1. Start the server

Section titled “1. Start the server”

The server is where your highlights live. It is a single Docker container with a SQLite database at /data/relego.db, one file on your disk that you can back up by copying it.

From a checkout of the repository, or any directory containing the project’s docker-compose.yml:

Terminal window
docker compose --profile app up -d

Check it came up:

Terminal window
docker compose ps

Then open http://localhost:8080. That is the Relego web UI, served by the server itself. If it loads, you are ready to import.

The server also runs the recap scheduler in the background. It does not need to be reachable from the internet.

Mail settings can wait

Section titled “Mail settings can wait”

The server reads its mail settings from the environment. Put them in a .env file next to docker-compose.yml:

RELEGO_KINDLE_EMAIL=your-name@kindle.com
RELEGO_SMTP_HOST=smtp.your-relay.example
RELEGO_SMTP_PORT=587
RELEGO_SMTP_USER=relego
RELEGO_SMTP_PASSWORD=your-relay-password

You do not need working mail settings to import. Come back to this when you reach Deliver, which covers choosing a relay; the environment variable reference has the full list.

2. Get your highlights in

Section titled “2. Get your highlights in”

Now it’s time to import higlights into Relego. You can drag and drop them to the web interface or, if you prefer a terminal, you can use the CLI.

The page reports what it added when the upload finishes. Uploading the same file twice does not create duplicates, so re-uploading after a few more reading sessions is the normal way to keep the library current.

Kindle

Section titled “Kindle”

Connect your Kindle over USB and wait for it to appear on your computer. Open http://localhost:8080, go to Import, then drop in documents/My Clippings.txt or click to browse for it.

My Clippings.txt does not include highlights made in Kindle mobile or desktop apps. Those remain in Amazon’s cloud.

Relego’s web interface open to the Import page, showing the Kindle and Kobo file upload area.

Kobo

Section titled “Kobo”

Connect your Kobo over USB and wait for it to appear on your computer. Because .kobo is hidden, enable hidden files in your file manager or copy the database off the device before uploading it. In the web UI, go to Import, then drop in .kobo/KoboReader.sqlite or click to browse for it.

Next

Section titled “Next”

You have a library. Deliver your first recap →