[IMP] Update existing notes but don't create new note with zero highlights

[johannrichard]

Currently, there is a limitation related to Reader items and deletions due to how Reader and Readwise are linked. If you delete a document in Reader, it is not completely removed from Readwise, even though it will not be visible anymore.

This leads to a regression where "deleted" Reader documents with be kept as Readwise notes with zero highlights, and where a new note without any highlights is created in return, unless we don't update existing notes if highlights are (completely) missing. However, users expect that deleted highlights are reliably removed on sync.

Furthermore, if all notes of a Readwise item are discarded, the same might happen.

In other words: we need to improve the way notes without highlights are treated:

• ✅ Update existing ones
• ❌ Don't create new note when no highlights are present

The current code does not support this easily and needs updates in several places, including the following ones:

readwise-mirror/src/services/deduplicating-vault-writer.ts

Lines 116 to 154 in 8ac0c86

	private async updateExistingFile(file: TFile, readwiseFile: ReadwiseFile): Promise<void> {
	this.notifyFileCount();
	try {
	// Only update frontmatter if frontmatter is enabled
	if (this.settings.frontMatter && this.settings.updateFrontmatter) {
	const updatedFrontmatter = this.frontmatterManager.getFrontmatter(
	readwiseFile.doc,
	this.app.metadataCache.getFileCache(file)?.frontmatter
	);
	this.logger.debug(`Updating file ${file.path} with new frontmatter`, updatedFrontmatter);
	await this.vault.process(file, () => `${updatedFrontmatter.toString()}\n${readwiseFile.contents}`);
	} else {
	const frontmatter = this.frontmatterManager.getFrontmatter(readwiseFile.doc);
	this.logger.debug(`Not updating frontmatter for file ${file.path}`, frontmatter);
	await this.vault.process(file, () => `${frontmatter.toString()}\n${readwiseFile.contents}`);
	}
	// We only rename files if the respective settings are enabled and the filenames differ
	if (this.settings.trackFiles && this.settings.enableFileNameUpdates && readwiseFile.basename !== file.basename) {
	let newPath = this.getNormalizedPath(file.parent.path, `${readwiseFile.basename}.md`);
	const newFileExists = await this.app.vault.adapter.exists(newPath, false);
	if (newFileExists) {
	// Add hash to filename if there's a collision
	const hash = this.generateShortHash(readwiseFile.doc);
	newPath = this.getNormalizedPath(file.parent.path, `${readwiseFile.basename} ${hash}.md`);
	}
	if (newPath !== file.path) {
	this.logger.debug(`Renamed file from ${file.path} to ${newPath}`);
	await this.app.fileManager.renameFile(file, newPath);
	}
	}
	} catch (err) {
	this.logger.error(`Readwise: Attempt to update file ${file.path} failed`, err);
	throw err;
	}
	}

readwise-mirror/src/services/deduplicating-vault-writer.ts

Lines 278 to 299 in 8ac0c86

	private async processTrackedFile(trackedPrimary: ReadwiseFile) {
	const existingFiles = await this.findExistingByHighlightsUrl(trackedPrimary.doc);
	if (existingFiles.length > 0) {
	const [primary, ...duplicates] = existingFiles;
	// TODO: Add an option to the plugin to link remote duplicates to the primary file
	await this.updateExistingFile(primary, trackedPrimary);
	for (const duplicate of duplicates) {
	this.logger.warn('Existing duplicate file found', { duplicate });
	await this.handleDuplicate(duplicate, trackedPrimary);
	}
	} else {
	// If the file already exists, create a new file with a hash
	if (await this.app.vault.adapter.exists(trackedPrimary.path, false)) {
	await this.writeFile(trackedPrimary);
	} else {
	await this.writeFile(trackedPrimary, true);
	}
	}
	}

readwise-mirror/src/services/deduplicating-vault-writer.ts

Lines 326 to 351 in 8ac0c86

	const fileExists = await this.app.vault.adapter.exists(path, false);
	if (fileExists) {
	if (overwrite) {
	const existingFile = await this.vault.getFileByPath(path);
	this.logger.debug('Overwriting existing file', { doc: readwiseFile.doc, ...fileOptions });
	await this.vault.process(existingFile, () => fileContents, fileOptions);
	return existingFile;
	}
	// Create new path with hash
	const hash = this.generateShortHash(readwiseFile.doc);
	const newPath = this.getNormalizedPath(
	this.getCategoryPath(readwiseFile.doc.category),
	`${readwiseFile.basename} ${hash}.md`
	);
	const newFileExists = await this.app.vault.adapter.exists(newPath, false);
	if (newFileExists) {
	const existingNewFile = await this.vault.getFileByPath(newPath);
	this.logger.debug('Overwriting existing file (with hash)', { doc: readwiseFile.doc, ...fileOptions });
	await this.vault.process(existingNewFile, () => fileContents, fileOptions);
	return existingNewFile;
	}
	this.logger.debug('Creating new file (with hash)', { doc: readwiseFile.doc, ...fileOptions });
	return await this.vault.create(newPath, fileContents, fileOptions);
	}