Featherwise

Save pages to Readwise Reader and text selections as Readwise highlights — designed to request the minimum permissions possible. Available two ways:

• Chrome extension (Manifest V3) — the leanest footprint. See below.
• Tampermonkey userscript — one auditable file, network-locked to readwise.io, for environments where a userscript manager is approved but custom extensions aren't. Jump to it ↓

Featherwise is an independent, community-built tool. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Readwise.

Permissions

Permission	Why	Install warning?
storage	Store your access token locally	None
activeTab	Read the current tab's URL/title when you invoke the extension	None
contextMenus	Right-click "Save to Readwise" items	None
host_permissions: https://readwise.io/*	Call the Readwise API directly	"Read & change data on readwise.io"
scripting (optional)	Capture full page HTML — only requested when you turn it on	None

Explicitly not used: tabs, <all_urls>, broad host access, notifications. Feedback uses the toolbar badge (✓ / !).

Full-page HTML capture (opt-in)

By default, saving sends only the page URL and Readwise fetches the article server-side. Enable Capture full page HTML in the options page to send the page's own HTML instead — needed for paywalled or logged-in pages. Enabling it requests the scripting permission at runtime; disabling it removes the permission. Highlights from the right-click menu never need this permission.

Setup

1. Go to chrome://extensions, enable Developer mode, click Load unpacked, and select this folder.
2. Open the extension's options and paste your token from readwise.io/access_token. It is validated against the API before being stored.
3. (Optional) Set a keyboard shortcut at chrome://extensions/shortcuts (default Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+S).

Usage

• Toolbar icon / keyboard shortcut → popup: pick tags + location, save the page, or (with HTML capture on) save a selection as a highlight.
• Right-click a page → "Save page to Readwise Reader" (quick save).
• Right-click a selection → "Save selection as highlight" (works without the scripting permission).

API

Uses the Readwise Reader API (/api/v3/save/), the classic Highlights API (/api/v2/highlights/), token validation (/api/v2/auth/), and tag suggestions (/api/v3/tags/). All requests are authenticated with an Authorization: Token … header.

Notes

• No build step and no dependencies — plain ES modules, loadable unpacked as-is.
• The token is stored in chrome.storage.local, which is unencrypted but isolated to this extension.

Tampermonkey userscript

For environments where Tampermonkey is approved but custom extensions are not, userscript/featherwise.user.js delivers the same features as one small, auditable file.

Install: with Tampermonkey installed, open userscript/featherwise.user.js (raw) and Tampermonkey will offer to install it. Then run Featherwise settings… from the Tampermonkey menu and paste your token from readwise.io/access_token.

Use — from the Tampermonkey menu, the right-click menu, or a keyboard shortcut:

• Save page to Readwise Reader (Alt/Opt+Shift+S) → an in-page panel for tags, location, and optional full-HTML capture.
• Save selection as highlight (Alt/Opt+Shift+H) → saves the current text selection.
• Featherwise settings… → token, default location, and default HTML capture.

What IT reviews — the metadata block declares the entire surface:

Directive	Value	Meaning
@connect	readwise.io	Network allow-list — the script can reach no other host, enforced by Tampermonkey.
@grant	GM_getValue, GM_setValue, GM_xmlhttpRequest, GM_registerMenuCommand	Storage, the Readwise request, and menu items. No clipboard, cookies, tabs, or eval.
@match	*://*/*	Runs on any page so you can save it — but is inert until you invoke a command, reading page content only at that moment.
@noframes	—	Never runs inside iframes.

Notable differences from the extension: the UI is an injected panel (isolated in a Shadow DOM) instead of a toolbar popup, and full-HTML capture is a per-save checkbox rather than a runtime permission (a userscript inherently has page access). The token is stored in Tampermonkey's storage and sent only to readwise.io.

License

MIT © 2026 Jay Goldman