Pulp

Self-hosted PDF and EPUB reader that syncs with Obsidian literature notes. Stores reading progress, highlights, and bookmarks in markdown frontmatter.

Works best with BibLib, an Obsidian plugin for managing literature notes with bibliographic metadata.

Screenshots

Library

Reader

Mobile

Features

• PDF and EPUB reading with progress sync
• Highlights and bookmarks stored in frontmatter
• Full-text search across documents
• Reading statistics and daily goals
• Dictionary lookup
• E-ink display mode

Requirements

• Node.js 20+
• A directory with markdown files linking to PDF/EPUB files

Setup

Create pulp.yaml in ~/.config/pulp/ or set PULP_CONFIG:

library_path: ~/path/to/literature-notes
source_key: source  # frontmatter key pointing to the PDF/EPUB file

Development

npm install

# Start both servers
npm run dev:server  # http://localhost:3000
npm run dev:web     # http://localhost:5173

Build

npm run build
npm start -w @pulp/server

Tests

npm run test:e2e
npm run typecheck
npm run lint

Structure

packages/
├── server/   # Fastify API server
├── web/      # React frontend (Vite)
└── shared/   # TypeScript types