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EPUB Transfer to Markdown

by Taoye
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Description

Import EPUB files into a vault as chapter-based Markdown reading workspaces. - This plugin has not been manually reviewed by Obsidian staff.

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Latest Version

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EPUB Transfer to Markdown

Transfer EPUB books into chapter-based Markdown notes.

This plugin is designed for people who keep books and reading notes in a local vault. It converts an EPUB into a folder of Markdown files, keeps image assets together, and creates an index note plus an AI reading guide.

It can also export an edited book folder back to EPUB and send an existing EPUB to Kindle through your local mail client.

It also registers an EPUB reader, so .epub files in the vault can be opened directly.

What It Creates

After importing an EPUB, the plugin creates a folder like this:

Books/
  Book Title/
    00 - Index.md
    01 - Introduction.md
    02 - Chapter 1.md
    AI Reading Guide.md
    source.epub
    media/
      image-1.jpg
      image-2.png

00 - Index.md links to all generated chapter notes. media/ contains images copied from the EPUB, so chapter images stay readable after import. If "Keep source EPUB" is enabled, the original EPUB is copied into the book folder as source.epub.

Requirements

This is a desktop-only plugin for macOS and Windows.

You must install pandoc before using the plugin:

  • macOS: install pandoc with Homebrew or from the official pandoc installer.
  • Windows: install pandoc for Windows and make sure pandoc.exe is available.

The plugin tries to find pandoc automatically.

On macOS it checks:

/opt/homebrew/bin/pandoc
/usr/local/bin/pandoc
/usr/bin/pandoc

On Windows it checks:

C:\Program Files\Pandoc\pandoc.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Pandoc\pandoc.exe
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Pandoc\pandoc.exe
pandoc.exe
pandoc

If pandoc is installed somewhere else, open the plugin settings and enter the full pandoc path manually.

How to Use

Read EPUB files

Click an .epub file in the vault to open it with the built-in EPUB reader. The reader uses a paginated left/right reading mode, keeps EPUB images in place, and lets table-of-contents links jump through the book content.

EPUB to Markdown

  1. Install and enable the plugin.
  2. Open the command palette.
  3. Run Transfer EPUB to Markdown.
  4. Select an .epub file.
  5. Wait for the import to finish.
  6. Open the generated 00 - Index.md file.

You can also click the book icon in the left ribbon.

Markdown back to EPUB

  1. Open the command palette.
  2. Run Export Markdown to EPUB.
  3. Enter the source Markdown file or folder.
  4. Optionally enter the output EPUB path.
  5. Run the export.

The source can be a folder:

Books/Poor Charlies Almanack

Or a single Markdown file:

Books/Poor Charlies Almanack/01 - Dedication.md

The output can be blank, a folder, or a full .epub path.

Source paths can be vault-relative paths. Output paths can be vault-relative paths or full system paths.

If output is blank, the plugin saves the EPUB next to the source:

Books/Poor Charlies Almanack/Poor Charlies Almanack.epub

If the source is a folder, Markdown files are exported in filename order. The plugin skips 00 - Index.md and AI Reading Guide.md so they do not become book chapters.

The exported EPUB includes a table of contents. If the source folder has a cover image such as media/cover_image.jpg, it is used as the EPUB cover. Markdown image links and Obsidian image embeds are converted for pandoc before export.

After export, the plugin shows the output path and copies the full system path to the clipboard.

Send to Kindle

  1. Set your Kindle email in the plugin settings.
  2. Open an .epub file in the vault, or right-click an .epub file in the file explorer.
  3. Run Send EPUB to Kindle from the command palette or the file menu.
  4. Review the email draft and send it from your mail client.

If you edited Markdown chapters and want to send that edited book, run Export Markdown to EPUB first. Then open or right-click the exported EPUB and run Send EPUB to Kindle.

Kindle delivery uses your Kindle email address, such as [email protected]. Your sending email address must also be approved in your Amazon Kindle document settings.

On macOS, Kindle delivery uses Apple Mail. On Windows, it uses Outlook if Outlook is installed and configured. The plugin prepares a draft instead of silently sending email, so the message is sent from your own approved personal email account.

Settings

  • Output folder: the vault folder where imported books are created. The default is Books.
  • Pandoc path: optional full path to pandoc. Leave it blank for auto-detection.
  • Kindle email: optional Send-to-Kindle email address for creating Kindle delivery drafts.
  • Keep source EPUB: copy the original EPUB into the generated book folder.
  • Open index after import: open 00 - Index.md after the import finishes.

Troubleshooting

"pandoc" is not found

Install pandoc first, then restart the app and try again.

If it still fails, set the full pandoc path in the plugin settings.

Examples:

/opt/homebrew/bin/pandoc
C:\Program Files\Pandoc\pandoc.exe

The import works on macOS but fails on Windows

Check that pandoc is installed for Windows. The plugin uses PowerShell Expand-Archive to unzip EPUB files on Windows, so PowerShell must be available.

No readable chapters were found

The EPUB may have an unusual internal structure, DRM protection, or content stored as images instead of HTML text. Try opening the EPUB in a regular EPUB reader first. If the book is mostly scanned pages, the plugin cannot turn those pages into clean text notes.

Images are missing

Make sure the generated media/ folder stays next to the Markdown files. Do not move the chapter notes without moving the media/ folder too.

The generated Markdown looks messy

EPUB files vary a lot. Some books contain clean chapter HTML, while others contain layout-heavy HTML, scanned pages, or unusual navigation files. This plugin tries to create readable Markdown, but the final quality depends on the source EPUB.

EPUB export fails

Make sure pandoc is installed and the source path exists. A folder source should contain chapter Markdown files such as 01 - Introduction.md or 02 - Chapter 1.md. A file source must be a .md file.

Kindle delivery does not open an email draft

Check that your Kindle email is set in the plugin settings.

On macOS, make sure Apple Mail is installed and configured. On Windows, make sure Outlook is installed and configured. The plugin does not store SMTP passwords or send email silently in the background.

Privacy and Permissions

The plugin works locally. It does not send book files or notes to a network service.

It does use local filesystem access to read the selected EPUB, write Markdown files, and export EPUB files into your vault. It also runs local command-line tools such as pandoc, and on Windows it may run PowerShell for EPUB extraction or Outlook draft creation.

Development

npm install
npm run build

For local testing, copy or symlink this folder into:

<vault>/.obsidian/plugins/epub-reading-importer

Then enable EPUB Transfer to Markdown in community plugins.

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