Commentarii Roamani

In this issue we’re sharing a simple flow for taking reading notes: it's our favorite routine for using Roam in order to make effective use of our readings.

Systems Worth Building: Reading Flows
​Part 1

Roam has many features that can elevate your reading by producing searchable and composable insights, which can serve as building input blocks for analysis, synthesis or creative work.

Here's one we'll cover today: using Roam with Matter. Create a powerful flow for memorizing, surfacing favorite highlights, saving memorable sentences, and building a system for active recall!

🧰 The Tools

Quick reminder: install extensions by going to the left sidebar into Roam Depot. Search for the extension and click Install. Each extension comes with a description from its creator. For this workflow we used:

• ​Memo by Jose Browne: to turn any block into a spaced repetition card.
• ​Matter by The Matter Team: to sync your highlights into Roam.

The [[Reading Flow 🐠]]

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The Setup

Matter is a read-later app that lets you save, highlight, and export content from across the web including Kindle, Spotify, X (ex-Twitter), Substack, etc. Here’s how to connect it to Roam:

1. Install the Matter app on your iPhone, and the Chrome extension on your computer
2. In Roam, install the Matter extension from Roam Depot
3. Use the QR code to sign in and link your graph
4. Set your Sync Frequency to every 12 hours (or less)

✅ You’re all set!
Make sure you also have the Memo extension installed for this particular flow\\\
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The Workflow

As you read or listen, highlight quotes you love, passages that resonate, or ideas you want to remember. Your highlights sync into Roam automatically: each article or book gets its own page, and the highlights also appear in your Daily Notes.

In Roam, tag a highlight with #memo to turn it into a review card. You can also add reflections, context, or thematic tags like #philosphy or #AI.This builds links between ideas across different readings.

Over time, you’ll create a reading stream that feeds your memory, connects your thoughts, and supports your creative work.

🌱 Quality of Life Improvements

• Queries now support sorting and filtering
• Sorting for Linked References moved to Settings
• “Page Date” renamed to “Most Recent” for clarity

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🛒 New Roam Depot Extensions

by Mark Lavercombe​

• Image OCR: Extract text from images using tesseract.js (great for screenshots, slides, handwritten notes)
• DOCX Viewer: Upload and preview .docx files directly in your graph

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