Annotation Inbox imports your Hypothesis highlights into Obsidian notes

Name: Annotation Inbox
Author: theluckystrike

Your Hypothesis highlights, page notes and tags arrive as one note per page, with no duplicates on a resync.

MIT · no telemetry · core features free

The note How to read a paper with four properties, a source link, one page note and the first highlight. — Open larger

version: 1.0.0
released: 2026-10-11
downloads: 1
review: Passed
health: Excellent
license: MIT
listed for: Desktop, Mobile
obsidian: 1.13.4 or later

The end-to-end tests run in the desktop app against a stand-in for Hypothesis, with no real token and no real request. The directory lists the plugin for desktop and mobile, and the repository has no mobile test.

Directory facts fetched 2026-10-11 03:49 UTC from community.obsidian.md/users/theluckystrike.

About Annotation Inbox

You annotate web pages with Hypothesis and want those highlights in your vault as notes that you can link and edit.

Annotation Inbox reads the annotations under your Hypothesis user name, with a developer token that you make yourself. A page that you annotated becomes one note, with your highlights, comments, page notes and tags. A later sync starts where the last one stopped and adds what is new or changed.

The plugin is free and has no paid features. It is unofficial, and Hypothesis does not make or endorse it. You start each sync yourself, so nothing runs in the background.

The settings with a token and the user name jane, then a sync that reports 3 new notes. Next come the imported note, a resync with 1 updated note, and a sync that skips a deleted note.

Free features

Sync now, from a command or the ribbon

Select the highlighter icon in the ribbon, or run the command Sync now. The plugin asks Hypothesis for your annotations in pages of 200, oldest change first, and waits one second between requests. A notice then counts the annotations it read, the new notes and the updated notes.

The note Reading list with a notice that says Imported 7 annotations, 3 new notes, 0 updated. — Open larger

One note per page

A page with an annotation gets one note with the properties url, title, tags and updated. Page notes come first, then highlights, in page order where Hypothesis gives a position. A highlight is a quote, then your comment, then its tags and a link that opens it on the page.

Resync without duplicates

The plugin saves the latest update time it has read and starts the next sync just before it. A block is replaced only when its annotation is newer on Hypothesis, and a new annotation goes to the end of its section. A sync writes between the two marker comments and to the properties updated and tags, and leaves the rest of the note body alone.

The end of the note after a resync, with a third highlight, a line the user wrote, and a notice that says 1 updated. — Open larger

Notes that you delete stay deleted

Delete a note that the plugin made, and the plugin remembers the page. Later annotations on that page don't bring the note back, and the notice counts the skipped pages. The command Forget deleted notes clears that list, so a later sync can make those notes again.

The note Reading list with a notice that says 0 new notes, 0 updated, 1 skipped because you deleted it. — Open larger

Folder and file name

Choose the folder in the settings, or leave it empty for the vault root. The file name template has four tokens, {title}, notemods.com, {date} and {id}, and the default is {title}. Names are cut at 100 characters, and a second page with the same title gets Title (2).

The settings tab with the token, user name, Check connection, folder, file name, Sync now, Forget deleted notes and the status line. — Open larger

Tags that Obsidian accepts

The tags of the annotations on a page go into the tags property, each one once. A tag with a space gets a hyphen, so Reading List becomes Reading-List. A tag of digits only gets a prefix, so 2026 becomes tag-2026.

A token that stays in secret storage

Your Hypothesis developer token goes into Obsidian secret storage, not into a note and not into data.json. The plugin reads it for each request and sends it to api.hypothes.is only.

Annotation Inbox has no paid version, no license key, no trial and no sign in of its own.

Set up Annotation Inbox

needs

Obsidian 1.13.4 or later
A Hypothesis account and a developer token that you make on your account page.
A connection to Hypothesis each time you run Sync now or Check connection.

steps

Install Annotation Inbox from Community plugins and enable it.
Log in to Hypothesis in your browser, open hypothes.is/account/developer, and generate your API token.
In Obsidian, open Settings, then Annotation Inbox, and paste the token into the token field.
Select Check connection. Hypothesis answers with your account name, and the plugin fills in an empty user name field.
Run Sync now from the ribbon, the command palette or the settings.

If the app can't find a new plugin yet, try again later. Obsidian says a plugin that passes the review shows in the app within 24 hours.

Why this exists

The older Hypothes.is plugin has 15k downloads, and the directory now says it is archived and no longer available. An issue on its repository, Resync deleted files broken, has been open since March 2022.

How to import Hypothesis annotations into Obsidian

How it compares

Hypothes.is (obsidian-hypothesis-plugin): The older plugin by weichenw did the same job, and the directory now says it is archived and no longer available. Annotation Inbox shares no code with it, has another note layout, and does not read its notes.

Known limits of Annotation Inbox

Forget deleted notes does not reset the sync cursor, so a deleted note returns only when its page gets a new or changed annotation, and it then holds only those.
A page is matched by its address, so the same article with and without www., or with a tracking parameter, gets two notes.
A sync only adds to the tags property, so a tag that you remove on Hypothesis stays there, and title and url keep their first values.
The plugin remembers deleted notes but not deleted blocks, so a block that you remove comes back when a sync reads its annotation again, which usually happens for your newest annotation.

Questions about Annotation Inbox

Is Annotation Inbox made by Hypothesis?

No. It is an unofficial plugin by an independent developer, and it uses the public Hypothesis API with your own token. Hypothesis is a trademark of its owner. For help with your Hypothesis account, ask Hypothesis.

Does it sync automatically?

No. You select Sync now each time, so the number of requests stays under your control. One run reads up to 10,000 annotations, and the notice tells you to run it again when there are more.

What happens to an annotation that I delete on Hypothesis?

Nothing changes in your vault. The README says the search API does not list deleted annotations, so the plugin can't see them. The block stays in your note until you delete it.

Does it import replies, groups or PDFs?

Replies and hidden annotations are skipped. The plugin asks for the annotations under your user name and sets no group filter. The README says this includes your annotations in groups that you belong to. A PDF with no web address gets a note under the identifier that Hypothesis gives it.

What if I move or rename an imported note?

While Obsidian is open, the plugin follows the note to its new path. If the note moved while Obsidian was closed, the plugin looks for a note whose url property is that page. If it finds none, it treats the note as deleted and does not make it again.

Network use

Annotation Inbox talks to one host, api.hypothes.is, and only when you run Sync now or select Check connection. Each request is a read that carries your developer token, and a sync request also carries your user name and the sync cursor. The released build contacts no other host, GitHub included, and sends no note text, file names or vault data.

Read the full network disclosure

Annotation Inbox 1.0.0, MIT license

Install in Obsidian

Directory page Source on GitHub