readwise-prune

Clean up stale Readwise Reader documents. Use when the user wants to declutter their reading library, remove old unread articles, or manage Reader inbox. Triggers on "clean up readwise", "prune reader", "delete old articles", "declutter reading list".

6 stars

byedwinhu

View on GitHub Installation ↓

Best use case

readwise-prune is best used when you need a repeatable AI agent workflow instead of a one-off prompt.

Teams using readwise-prune should expect a more consistent output, faster repeated execution, less prompt rewriting.

When to use this skill

You want a reusable workflow that can be run more than once with consistent structure.

When not to use this skill

You only need a quick one-off answer and do not need a reusable workflow.
You cannot install or maintain the underlying files, dependencies, or repository context.

Installation

Claude Code / Cursor / Codex

$curl -o ~/.claude/skills/readwise-prune/SKILL.md --create-dirs "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/edwinhu/workflows/main/skills/readwise-prune/SKILL.md"

Manual Installation

Download SKILL.md from GitHub
Place it in .claude/skills/readwise-prune/SKILL.md inside your project
Restart your AI agent — it will auto-discover the skill

How readwise-prune Compares

Feature / Agent	readwise-prune	Standard Approach
Platform Support	Not specified	Limited / Varies
Context Awareness	High	Baseline
Installation Complexity	Unknown	N/A

Frequently Asked Questions

What does this skill do?

Where can I find the source code?

You can find the source code on GitHub using the link provided at the top of the page.

SKILL.md Source

# Readwise Reader Prune

Two-pass stale document removal with safe defaults.

<EXTREMELY-IMPORTANT>

## IRON LAW: Dry Run First

**NEVER pass `--delete` without showing the user the dry-run output first.**

1. Run without `--delete` (dry run)
2. Show the user the candidate list and category breakdown
3. Get explicit confirmation
4. THEN run with `--delete`

</EXTREMELY-IMPORTANT>

## How It Works

**Pass 1:** Fetch all documents updated in the last N months (the "safe set" -- these have recent activity and are never pruned).

**Pass 2:** Fetch all documents matching filters. Remove from candidates any document that:
- Is in the safe set (recently active)
- Has highlights (num_highlights > 0)
- Has an excluded tag

## Commands

```bash
# Dry run (always do this first)
readwise-custom prune
readwise-custom prune --months 6
readwise-custom prune --category rss --location new
readwise-custom prune --exclude-tag "keep" --exclude-tag "reference"

# Limit candidates shown
readwise-custom prune --months 3 --limit 20

# JSON output (for review)
readwise-custom prune --months 6 --json

# Actually delete (after reviewing dry run)
readwise-custom prune --months 3 --delete
readwise-custom prune --category rss --months 1 --delete
```

## Flags

| Flag | Default | Description |
|------|---------|-------------|
| `--months <n>` | 3 | Documents inactive for this many months are candidates |
| `--location <loc>` | all | Filter: new, later, shortlist, archive, feed |
| `--category <cat>` | all | Filter: article, email, rss, pdf, epub, tweet, video |
| `--exclude-tag <tag>` | none | Skip documents with this tag (repeatable) |
| `--limit <n>` | all | Cap number of candidates |
| `--delete` | false | Actually delete (default is dry run) |
| `--json` | false | Output as JSON |

## Recommended Workflows

### Weekly RSS cleanup
```bash
readwise-custom prune --category rss --months 1 --location new
# Review, then:
readwise-custom prune --category rss --months 1 --location new --delete
```

### Quarterly deep clean
```bash
readwise-custom prune --months 6 --exclude-tag "reference"
# Review, then:
readwise-custom prune --months 6 --exclude-tag "reference" --delete
```

Related Skills

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from edwinhu/workflows

This skill should be used when the user asks to "search Readwise", "find highlights", "get quotes from my reading", "add highlights to notebook", "search my annotations", "get full document text", "fetch article content", "add tagged documents to notebook", or needs to query their Readwise library.

readwise-search

from edwinhu/workflows

Search Readwise highlights. Use when the user wants to find highlights, quotes, notes, or annotations from their reading library. Triggers on "search highlights", "find in readwise", "what did I highlight about", "my notes on".

readwise-docs

from edwinhu/workflows

Manage Readwise Reader documents. Use when the user wants to list, save, update, or delete documents in their Reader library. Triggers on "add to reader", "save article", "list my documents", "readwise list", "reader documents".

readwise-chat

from edwinhu/workflows

Chat with Readwise highlights using GPT-5.1 RAG. Use when the user wants to ask questions about their reading library, get summaries across documents, or have a conversation about their highlights. Triggers on "ask readwise", "chat about my highlights", "what do my notes say about", "summarize my reading on".

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from edwinhu/workflows

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from edwinhu/workflows

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writing-setup

from edwinhu/workflows

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writing-revise

from edwinhu/workflows

This skill should be used when the user asks to 'revise writing', 'fix review issues', 'polish draft', 'apply review feedback', 'complete writing workflow', or after /writing-review produces REVIEW.md with issues to fix.

writing-review

from edwinhu/workflows

Internal skill for hierarchical document review. Called by writing-validate after claim validation passes.

writing-precis-reviewer

from edwinhu/workflows

Internal skill used by writing-setup at exit gate. Dispatches a reviewer subagent to verify PRECIS.md quality before outlining. NOT user-facing.

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writing-outline-reviewer

from edwinhu/workflows

Internal skill used by writing-outline at exit gate. Dispatches a reviewer subagent to verify OUTLINE.md quality before drafting. NOT user-facing.