Excerpt can be opened and controlled with deeplinks using the URL scheme excerpt://. A link can open a book or a highlight, control playback, take a highlight, search the Vault, or import a file, and you can put one in a note, a shortcut, a widget, or any other app that opens URLs.
Open a book, highlight, or screen
| Link | What it does |
|---|---|
excerpt://book/<uuid> | Opens the book in the player. An archived book opens in the Vault. |
excerpt://highlight/<uuid> | Opens the highlight. |
excerpt://book/<uuid>/add-epub | Opens the book’s ebook picker. excerpt://add-epub?book=<uuid> does the same. |
excerpt://search?q=<text> | Searches every highlight in the Vault. |
excerpt://settings | Opens Settings. |
excerpt://insights | Opens Insights. |
Replace <uuid> with the identifier of the book or highlight. The easiest way to get one is to copy the link from Excerpt.
Control playback
| Link | What it does |
|---|---|
excerpt://play | Plays the current book, or the one you played last. |
excerpt://play?book=<uuid>&position=<seconds>&read-along=1 | Plays a book from a position with Read Along open. Every parameter is optional. |
excerpt://pause | Pauses. |
excerpt://highlight/new | Saves a highlight from the book that is playing, using your Highlight Length. |
excerpt://highlight/new?length=<seconds> | Saves a highlight of a set length. |
read-along accepts 1, true, yes, or on.
Change a highlight or import a file
| Link | What it does |
|---|---|
excerpt://update-highlight?id=<uuid>&text=<text> | Replaces a highlight’s text. |
excerpt://import?url=<https link> | Downloads a file and imports it. Excerpt asks Download and Import File? and names the site first. |
Any text or link passed as a parameter needs to be URL-encoded (so a space becomes %20).
Copy a link from Excerpt
For a highlight, open the book’s Highlights screen, press and hold the highlight, then choose Copy Highlight URL.
For a book, open Edit Book and choose Copy Book URL. Paste the link wherever you want to get back to that book or highlight from later (such as a note).
If a link does not open
Check that the link contains a complete UUID and matches one of the forms above. A link to an item that has been deleted shows Book Not Found or Highlight Not Found.
If nothing happens at all, check the link for a typing mistake in excerpt:// or in the command that follows it.