Obsidian Is for Thinking. Screvi Is for Collecting.

If you're an Obsidian power user, you've probably spent real time on your highlights workflow. The typical setup looks something like this: the Readwise Official plugin or Kindle Highlights plugin to pull in book highlights, a YAML frontmatter template with properties for author, ISBN, genre, and status, Dataview queries to build reading dashboards, maybe Templater scripts to format highlights on import.

It works. But it takes effort to set up, and it takes ongoing effort to maintain. Plugins break after Obsidian updates. Kindle sync requires a Readwise subscription (which adds cost on top of Obsidian Sync). Dataview queries need tweaking when you change your template structure. And if you want to add a new source (say, podcast transcripts or physical book highlights), you're back to researching plugins and writing more templates.

There's also the review problem. Obsidian has a spaced repetition plugin, but it's designed for flashcards, not highlight review. It doesn't have the SM-2 scheduling that purpose-built review tools use. Most Obsidian users end up with a vault full of highlights they imported once and never looked at again.

Search is keyword-based. Obsidian's built-in search and Dataview both match exact text. If you're looking for "that highlight about why people resist change" but the actual text says "status quo bias in organizational behavior," you won't find it.

None of this means Obsidian is bad at what it does. Obsidian is one of the best tools for connected thinking. The graph view, backlinks, block references, and local-first Markdown files make it a genuinely powerful second brain. But collecting raw highlights from multiple sources and scheduling reviews, that's a different job.

The best setup isn't picking one over the other. It's using each tool for what it's built to do.

Screvi handles the collection layer. Connect your Kindle and highlights sync automatically. Save a web article with the browser extension, highlight as you read. Scan a page from a physical book with the AI camera. Subscribe to a newsletter and highlight it in your inbox. Screvi pulls everything into one place without plugins, templates, or manual effort.

Screvi also handles the review layer. Spaced repetition with the SM-2 algorithm resurfaces highlights at the right intervals. A daily email digest arrives in your inbox. A scrollable highlights feed lets you browse your own ideas. AI semantic search lets you find highlights by meaning. Ask a question in plain language and get results across every source.

When a highlight sparks something worth developing (a connection between two ideas, a concept you want to explore in writing, a theme across multiple books), that's when you move it to your vault. Export from Screvi in Markdown format and it drops right into Obsidian. Add your backlinks, connect it to your existing notes, and let the graph do its work.

Screvi collects and reviews. Obsidian connects and develops. Each tool does its job without getting in the other's way.