Skim Highlights

Highlight in Skim → auto-copied to clipboard → paste anywhere in your notes. Zero clicks.

How It Works

The plugin polls Skim from within your note-taking app every 1.5 seconds, detecting new highlights. When you highlight text in Skim:

1. A markdown card is auto-copied to your clipboard
2. Paste with Cmd+V into any note
3. Click the 📖 pXX link to jump back to the exact PDF page

Card Format

> [!quote]+ Page 187
> One advantage of functions is the way they separate...
>
> 📖 [p187](file:///tmp/skim_links/p187.command)

Installation

From Community Plugins (Recommended)

1. Open Settings → Community Plugins
2. Turn off Restricted Mode if prompted
3. Click Browse and search for "Skim Highlights"
4. Install and Enable

Manual Installation

1. Download main.js, manifest.json, and versions.json from the latest release
2. Create a folder: .obsidian/plugins/skim-highlights/
3. Copy the three files into that folder
4. Enable the plugin in Settings → Community Plugins
5. You should see a 🟢 indicator in the status bar

Requirements

• macOS (uses AppleScript to communicate with Skim)
• Skim PDF Reader installed
• Desktop app (not compatible with mobile)

Usage

Control	Action
Status bar	🟢 Listening / ⚫ Stopped — click to toggle
Ribbon icon	Highlight pen icon — click to toggle
Command palette	Skim Highlights: Toggle

Once enabled, just highlight text in Skim as you normally would. Each new highlight is automatically copied to your clipboard as a formatted markdown card.

First-Time Setup

The first time you click a 📖 pXX link, macOS may prompt you to allow opening the file. Click "Open" to confirm.

License

MIT