Papeer

What is Papeer?

Papeer is a specialized web scraping tool designed for the e-ink era, built by developer lapwat and first released in September 2021. Written in Go, this command-line utility addresses a specific need: converting web content into formats optimized for e-readers like Kindle, reMarkable tablets, and other digital reading devices.

The tool's primary strength lies in its ability to extract clean, readable content from websites while preserving essential formatting like bold text, italics, links, and images. Unlike general-purpose scrapers, Papeer focuses on creating distraction-free reading experiences by automatically removing ads, navigation menus, and other web clutter using the go-readability library.

With 346 stars and 25 forks on GitHub as of March 2026, Papeer has carved out a niche among developers and digital reading enthusiasts who want to convert web articles, documentation, and entire websites into portable ebook formats.

Getting Started

Installation is straightforward with multiple options available. For Go developers, the simplest method is using go install:

go install github.com/lapwat/papeer@latest

Alternatively, you can download pre-compiled binaries from the GitHub releases page for your specific platform. The tool requires no additional dependencies for basic functionality.

For users who need MOBI format support (though Kindle now supports EPUB), you'll need to install kindlegen on Linux:

TMPDIR=$(mktemp -d -t papeer-XXXXX)
curl -L https://github.com/lapwat/papeer/releases/download/kindlegen/kindlegen_linux_2.6_i386_v2_9.tar.gz > $TMPDIR/kindlegen.tar.gz
tar xzvf $TMPDIR/kindlegen.tar.gz -C $TMPDIR
chmod +x $TMPDIR/kindlegen
sudo mv $TMPDIR/kindlegen /usr/local/bin
rm -rf $TMPDIR

Once installed, verify the installation by running:

papeer --help

Usage & Practical Examples

Papeer's command-line interface is built around two main commands: list for previewing content structure and get for actual scraping.

Single Page Scraping

The simplest use case involves scraping a single web page:

papeer get https://example.com/article

This creates a Markdown file with the cleaned content. To specify different output formats:

papeer get https://example.com/article --format=epub
papeer get https://example.com/article --format=html --output="my-article"

Website Documentation Scraping

One of Papeer's most powerful features is scraping entire documentation sites. First, use the list command to preview the table of contents:

papeer list https://12factor.net/ --selector='section.concrete>article>h2>a'

This displays a numbered list of all pages that would be scraped. Once satisfied with the structure, run the actual scraping:

papeer get https://12factor.net/ --selector='section.concrete>article>h2>a' --format=epub

The tool will create a complete ebook with all the documentation pages as chapters, complete with a table of contents.

Advanced Options

Papeer provides fine-grained control over the scraping process:

# Limit to first 10 chapters
papeer get https://docs.example.com --selector='nav a' --limit=10

# Skip first 5 chapters, reverse order
papeer get https://blog.example.com --selector='.post-link' --offset=5 --reverse

# Add delays between requests (respectful scraping)
papeer get https://example.com --selector='a.chapter' --delay=1000 --threads=2

Performance & Benchmarks

Built in Go, Papeer offers solid performance characteristics. The tool's concurrent downloading capability allows it to process multiple pages simultaneously, with the thread count configurable via the --threads option. In testing scenarios, Papeer can process documentation sites with dozens of pages in under a minute, depending on network conditions and target server response times.

Memory usage remains modest even when processing large websites, as the tool streams content rather than loading everything into memory simultaneously. The go-readability library adds minimal overhead while providing significant value in content cleaning.

The built-in delay mechanism helps maintain respectful scraping practices, preventing server overload while still maintaining reasonable processing speeds.

Who Should Use Papeer?

Papeer targets several specific user groups:

Digital Reading Enthusiasts: Users who prefer reading web content on e-readers will find Papeer invaluable for converting articles, documentation, and blog posts into comfortable reading formats.

Developers and Technical Writers: Those who need to convert technical documentation, API references, or tutorial series into offline-readable formats for reference or distribution.

Researchers and Students: Academic users who want to compile web-based research materials into organized, searchable ebook formats for easier study and annotation.

Content Curators: Individuals who aggregate content from multiple sources and need to present it in a unified, professional format.

The tool is less suitable for users who need graphical interfaces, real-time content monitoring, or integration with content management systems.

Verdict

Papeer excels in its specific niche of converting web content for e-reader consumption. Its intelligent content extraction, multiple format support, and recursive scraping capabilities make it a powerful tool for anyone serious about digital reading. While the command-line interface and CSS selector requirements create a learning curve, the results justify the effort for users who regularly consume web content on e-readers. The active development and GPL-3.0 license ensure long-term viability, making Papeer a solid choice for web-to-ebook conversion workflows.