Clinkding - Linkding Bookmark Integration

clinkding - Linkding Bookmark Manager CLI

A modern Go-based CLI for managing bookmarks in linkding, a self-hosted bookmark manager.

What This Does

Linkding is a self-hosted bookmark manager (like Pocket, Instapaper). clinkding is the CLI that lets you manage your bookmarks from the terminal or via AI agents.

Think of it as:

Quick Start

Initial Setup

# Interactive configuration
clinkding config init
Or manually configure
clinkding config set url https://your-linkding-instance.com
clinkding config set token YOUR_API_TOKEN
Test connection
clinkding config test

Configuration File

Location: ~/.config/clinkding/config.yaml

url: https://linkding.example.com
token: your-api-token-here
defaults:
  bookmark_limit: 100
  output_format: auto

Environment Variables

export LINKDING_URL="https://linkding.example.com"
export LINKDING_TOKEN="your-api-token-here"

Core Commands

Bookmarks

#### List & Search

# List recent bookmarks
clinkding bookmarks list
Search by keyword
clinkding bookmarks list --query "golang tutorial"
Filter by tag
clinkding bookmarks list --query "tag:programming"
Recent bookmarks (last 7 days)
clinkding bookmarks list --added-since "7d"
Unread bookmarks
clinkding bookmarks list --query "unread:yes"
JSON output for scripting
clinkding bookmarks list --json
Plain text (tab-separated)
clinkding bookmarks list --plain

#### Create Bookmarks

# Simple bookmark
clinkding bookmarks create https://go.dev
With metadata
clinkding bookmarks create https://go.dev \
  --title "Go Programming Language" \
  --tags "golang,programming,reference" \
  --description "Official Go website" \
  --unread
Check if URL already exists before creating
clinkding bookmarks check https://go.dev

#### Update Bookmarks

# Update title
clinkding bookmarks update 42 --title "New Title"
Add tags
clinkding bookmarks update 42 --add-tags "important,work"
Remove tags
clinkding bookmarks update 42 --remove-tags "old-tag"
Mark as read
clinkding bookmarks update 42 --read
Update description
clinkding bookmarks update 42 --description "Updated notes"

#### Get Bookmark Details

# Full details
clinkding bookmarks get 42
JSON output
clinkding bookmarks get 42 --json

#### Archive & Delete

# Archive (hide from main list)
clinkding bookmarks archive 42
Unarchive
clinkding bookmarks unarchive 42
Delete permanently
clinkding bookmarks delete 42

Tags

# List all tags
clinkding tags list
Create a tag
clinkding tags create "golang"
Get tag details
clinkding tags get 1
Plain text output
clinkding tags list --plain

Bundles

Bundles are collections of related bookmarks.

# List bundles
clinkding bundles list
Create a bundle
clinkding bundles create "Go Resources" \
  --description "Everything related to Go programming"
Update a bundle
clinkding bundles update 1 --name "Go Lang Resources"
Get bundle details
clinkding bundles get 1
Delete a bundle
clinkding bundles delete 1

Assets

Upload and manage file attachments for bookmarks.

# List assets for a bookmark
clinkding assets list 42
Upload a file
clinkding assets upload 42 ~/Documents/screenshot.png
Download an asset
clinkding assets download 42 1 -o ./downloaded-file.png
Delete an asset
clinkding assets delete 42 1

User Profile

# Get user profile info
clinkding user profile

Agent Usage Patterns

Save URL from Conversation

# User: "Save this for later: https://example.com"
clinkding bookmarks create https://example.com \
  --title "Article Title" \
  --description "Context from conversation" \
  --tags "topic,context"

Search Bookmarks

# User: "Find my golang bookmarks"
clinkding bookmarks list --query "golang"
User: "Show me unread programming articles"
clinkding bookmarks list --query "tag:programming unread:yes"
User: "What did I save last week?"
clinkding bookmarks list --added-since "7d"

Organize & Tag

# User: "Tag bookmark 42 as important"
clinkding bookmarks update 42 --add-tags "important"
User: "Create a bundle for my AI research links"
clinkding bundles create "AI Research" \
  --description "Machine learning and AI papers"

Retrieve for Reading

# User: "Give me something to read"
clinkding bookmarks list --query "unread:yes" --limit 5
User: "Show me my golang tutorials"
clinkding bookmarks list --query "tag:golang tag:tutorial"

Output Formats

Auto (Default)

JSON

clinkding bookmarks list --json

Plain Text

clinkding bookmarks list --plain

Relative Date Filtering

Supports human-friendly time ranges:

# Last 24 hours
clinkding bookmarks list --added-since "24h"
Last 7 days
clinkding bookmarks list --added-since "7d"
Last 6 months
clinkding bookmarks list --modified-since "180d"

Supported units: h (hours), d (days), y (years)

Common Workflows

Morning Reading Routine

# Check unread bookmarks
clinkding bookmarks list --query "unread:yes"
Get top 5 most recent
clinkding bookmarks list --limit 5

Save from Clipboard

# macOS
pbpaste | xargs -I {} clinkding bookmarks create {}
Linux
xclip -o | xargs -I {} clinkding bookmarks create {}

Batch Operations

# Tag multiple bookmarks
for id in 42 43 44; do
  clinkding bookmarks update $id --add-tags "important"
done
Archive old unread bookmarks
clinkding bookmarks list --query "unread:yes" --added-since "30d" --plain | \
  while read id _; do
    clinkding bookmarks archive "$id"
  done

Backup Bookmarks

# Export all bookmarks as JSON
clinkding bookmarks list --json > bookmarks-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).json
Export specific tag
clinkding bookmarks list --query "tag:important" --json > important.json

Global Flags

Available on all commands:

| Flag | Description | |------|-------------| | -c, --config | Config file path | | -u, --url | Linkding instance URL | | -t, --token | API token | | --json | Output as JSON | | --plain | Output as plain text | | --no-color | Disable colors | | -q, --quiet | Minimal output | | -v, --verbose | Verbose output |

Exit Codes

| Code | Meaning | |------|---------| | 0 | Success | | 1 | General error (API/network) | | 2 | Invalid usage (bad flags/args) | | 3 | Authentication error | | 4 | Not found | | 130 | Interrupted (Ctrl-C) |

Troubleshooting

Test Configuration

# Verify settings
clinkding config show
Test connection
clinkding config test

Common Issues

Authentication Error:

Command-Specific Help:

clinkding bookmarks --help
clinkding bookmarks create --help

Links

Installation

Homebrew (macOS/Linux)

brew install daveonkels/tap/clinkding

Go Install

go install github.com/daveonkels/clinkding@latest

Binary Download

Download from releases for your platform.

Shell Completion

# Bash
clinkding completion bash > /etc/bash_completion.d/clinkding
Zsh
clinkding completion zsh > "${fpath[1]}/_clinkding"
Fish
clinkding completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/clinkding.fish

Built by: @daveonkels License: MIT

Agent Workflows for Smart Bookmark Creation

Adding URLs with Automatic Metadata

When a user says "Add this to linkding" or "Save this URL", follow this workflow:

1. Extract metadata from the URL

Use the summarize skill to get title and description:

# Get page metadata
summarize url https://example.com --format json

This returns structured data with:

2. Infer appropriate tags from content

Map the content to existing canonical tags only. Do NOT create new tags.

Use this canonical tag list (263 tags total):

Tag Selection Rules:

3. Create the bookmark with metadata

clinkding bookmarks create "https://example.com" \
  --title "Title from summarize" \
  --description "Summary from summarize (1-2 sentences)" \
  --tags "webdev,tools,reference"

Example Workflow

User: "Save this to linkding: https://github.com/awesome/project"

Agent Actions:

# 1. Check if already bookmarked
clinkding bookmarks check https://github.com/awesome/project
2. Get metadata (use summarize skill)
summarize url https://github.com/awesome/project --format json
3. Analyze content and infer tags
From summary: "A CLI tool for Docker container management"
Canonical tags: docker, devops, cli, tools
4. Create bookmark
clinkding bookmarks create https://github.com/awesome/project \
  --title "Awesome Project - Docker Container CLI" \
  --description "Command-line tool for managing Docker containers with enhanced features" \
  --tags "docker,devops,cli"

Tag Mapping Heuristics

Use these rules to map content → canonical tags:

| Content Type | Canonical Tags | |--------------|----------------| | Web development, HTML, CSS, JavaScript | webdev, css, javascript | | React, frameworks, frontend | webdev, react | | Design, UI/UX, mockups | design | | Python, Go, Ruby code | programming, python/ruby | | Docker, K8s, DevOps | docker, devops, cloud | | Home automation, ESP32, sensors | smart-home, esphome, iot | | AI, ML, LLMs | ai, llm | | Productivity tools, workflows | productivity, tools | | Finance, investing, crypto | finance | | Marketing, SEO, ads | marketing | | Shopping, deals, stores | ecommerce | | Tutorials, guides, docs | guide, howto, documentation | | Security, privacy, encryption | security, privacy | | Local (DFW/Seattle) | texas, seattle |

Validation Before Creating

Always run these checks:

# 1. Does URL already exist?
clinkding bookmarks check 
2. Do the tags exist?
clinkding tags list --plain | grep -iE "^(tag1|tag2|tag3)$"
3. Are we using canonical tags?
Cross-reference against the 263 canonical tags
Never create new tags without explicit user request

User Requests to Save Multiple Links

If user provides multiple URLs:

# Process each URL separately with metadata extraction
for url in url1 url2 url3; do
  # Get metadata
  # Infer tags
  # Create bookmark
done

Updating Existing Bookmarks

If user says "Update that bookmark" or "Add tags to my last save":

# Get most recent bookmark
recent_id=$(clinkding bookmarks list --limit 1 --plain | cut -f1)
Add tags (don't remove existing ones unless asked)
clinkding bookmarks update $recent_id --add-tags "new-tag"
Update description
clinkding bookmarks update $recent_id --description "Updated notes"

Key Principles

1. Always fetch metadata - Use summarize to get good titles/descriptions 2. Use existing tags - Never create new tags without checking canonical list 3. Be selective - 2-5 tags max, choose the most specific applicable 4. Validate first - Check for duplicates before creating 5. Provide context - Include brief description explaining why it's useful

Current Canonical Tag Structure

Dave's linkding instance has 263 canonical tags after consolidation from 17,189 duplicates.

Top categories (by bookmark count):

Golden Rule: When in doubt, use broader existing tags rather than creating new specific ones.

Initial Setup

# Interactive configuration
clinkding config init
Or manually configure
clinkding config set url https://your-linkding-instance.com
clinkding config set token YOUR_API_TOKEN
Test connection
clinkding config test

Configuration File

Location: ~/.config/clinkding/config.yaml

url: https://linkding.example.com
token: your-api-token-here
defaults:
  bookmark_limit: 100
  output_format: auto

Environment Variables

export LINKDING_URL="https://linkding.example.com"
export LINKDING_TOKEN="your-api-token-here"

Test Configuration

# Verify settings
clinkding config show
Test connection
clinkding config test

Common Issues

Authentication Error:

Command-Specific Help:

clinkding bookmarks --help
clinkding bookmarks create --help