Distillate

A reading workflow for researchers who use Zotero and reMarkable.

Save paper in Zotero ──> PDF on reMarkable │ Read & highlight on tablet Move to Read folder when done │ Distillate picks it up: ├── Extract highlighted text ├── Keep notes and a reading log └── Archive PDFs once read Want more? ├── AI paper summaries ├── Daily paper suggestions └── Weekly digest emails
pip install distillate && distillate --init

How it works

1 Save a paper to Zotero

Use the Zotero browser connector or mobile app. Distillate watches for new papers tagged "inbox".

2 PDF syncs to your reMarkable

Distillate uploads the PDF to your tablet. Optionally removes it from Zotero to save storage (300 MB free tier).

3 Read and highlight on your tablet

Highlight the passages that matter. When you're done, move the document to the Read folder.

4 Distillate extracts your highlights

Highlighted text is pulled from the reMarkable, cleaned up, and saved as a structured markdown note grouped by page.

5 Notes and PDFs are archived locally

Your highlights, reading log, and PDFs are saved to an Obsidian vault or a plain folder on your computer.

Want more?

AI summaries One-liner, key learnings, and a paragraph summary for each paper you read (via Claude)
Paper suggestions Pick what to read next from your queue, based on your reading history
Weekly digest A summary of what you read this week, with stats and queue health
Obsidian integration Wiki-links between papers, searchable database, reading stats, deep links from Zotero

What you need

ComponentNotes
Zotero accountFree — manages your paper library
reMarkable tabletWhere you read and highlight
rmapiFree — syncs files with reMarkable Cloud
Obsidian or output folderOptional — where notes are saved locally
Anthropic API keyOptional — for AI summaries
Resend API keyOptional — for email digest
GitHub PyPI Install guide