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CSS selectors give you scalpel-level control over what ends up in your markdown. You’ll reach for these when onlyMainContent isn’t precise enough, typically for sites with unusual layouts or very specific extraction requirements.

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includeTags: keep only these

Pass a list of CSS selectors, and Reader keeps only content matching them. Everything else is dropped.
Useful when a page has a predictable layout and you want only the relevant fragments: typical for product detail pages, recipe cards, event listings.

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excludeTags: drop these

The inverse. Keep everything, but drop what matches these selectors.
Useful when onlyMainContent leaves in something you don’t want, or when you’ve turned it off for a reason but there’s still boilerplate to trim.

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Combining them

Both can be passed at once. Reader runs includeTags first (narrows to matching content), then excludeTags on what remains.

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Selectors that work

Reader supports the full CSS selector grammar that your browser does:
  • Element selectors: article, main, p
  • Classes: .content, .post-body
  • IDs: #main-content
  • Attributes: [role="main"], [data-testid="article"]
  • Descendants: article .content p
  • Combinators: main > section
  • Pseudo-classes: :first-child, :not(.sidebar)

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Tips

  • Inspect the target site first. Open the URL, use devtools, find the exact selector you want, and copy it.
  • Prefer stable attributes. [data-testid="..."] and semantic tags (<article>, <main>) are more stable than class names that change with every site redesign.
  • Start broad, narrow down. Begin with a broad selector, verify Reader returns what you expect, then tighten.
  • Selectors are per-request. There’s no “global” selector list; pass them every time, or wrap your calls in a helper.

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