go-journal

This is a Journaling utility I wrote in Go. It features a command-line utility for writing, tagging, and searching a journal, as well as a web interface for taking notes on the go.

Go-journal was originally created as a replacement for jrnl, but other than the storage format the two share very little.

Overview

This repository builds two executables. The first, jrnl, kinda sorta emulates what @maebert did. One can either pass the --create flag to add an entry by piping some text to stdin, or the --search flag to look for any journal entries that contain all of the following arguments.

The journal-server spins up a web server with an interface for adding entries to the journal. (Not reading them!) It's secured via the very advanced 'secret bookmark' method, which easily enables one to use the interface on your smartphone, no matter the species. Accidental exposure of this bookmark may result in some spam entries being added, but since the web interface is write-only your journal itself remains safe from prying eyes.

There are two notable exceptions to the "write-only" policy in the web server. First, there's the special @BWV tag. If you're anything like me, you like keeping track of which music you've played, and in particular, which BWV numbers you can cross off. journal-server exposes a (non-exhaustive) list of BWV numbers, that turn green as they become tagged in your journal.

Second, if you specify a projects directory, the file names in that directory can be selected through a dropdown list. If a project log file is selected, the journal entry is appended to that file in addition to the journal file.

Usage

jrnl

Add entries to the journal, or search for past entries.

Command-line arguments:

• --journal_file=FILE: read or write journal entries to or from FILE.
• --search: search the journal and print matching entries. All other command-line arguments are search terms.
• --create: add a new journal entry. This reads input from stdin and adds it to the journal.
• --date=DATE: (when adding an entry) use DATE for the new journal entry, instead of the current date and time.

journal-server

Start a web server

Command-line arguments:

• --listen=IP:PORT: listen on port PORT, on IP IP. Defaults to ':8848'.
• --journal_file=FILE: read or write journal entries to or from FILE. FILE defaults to 'journal.txt' in the current directory.
• --password_file=FILE: read passwords from FILE. This file should be in the apache htpasswd format, with bcrypt hashes. FILE defaults to '.htpasswd' in the current directory.
• --secret_parameter=URLKEY: Pass the API key in this URL parameter, making it less obvious to find and brute force. Defaults to 'apikey'
• --attachments_dir=DIR: Directory for storing attached files. If this parameter is not specified, attaching uploaded files is disabled.
• --projects_dir=DIR: Directory with project log files. If this parameter is not specified, adding entries to a project log is disabled.

Building

First install or update the prerequisites:

go get ./...
gem install scss

Afterwards, execute build.sh to build both binaries.

journal-server listens on port 8848 by default, and uses the file journal.txt in the current directory for storage. These options can be tweaked using the --listen and --journal-file flags respectively. Furthermore, it needs a .htpasswd file to verify the bookmarked API key. This file should take the Apache htpasswd format; use any standard utility to create it. (But tell it to use the bcrypt hash.)

If you just want to quickly give it a go, create a file .htpasswd with the following contents:

random-github-user:$2y$11$nEGADAX66RFYfTJd1b7LZuNM3zD9PxAJRnxFnEQ3vsDc3s9u7jMfm

run the binary, and point your browser to: http://localhost:8848/journal?apikey=lalala .

Custom launcher script

If you're anything like me, you lie awake at night worrying about certificate forgeries. Also, while the web interface may look okay on your phone, its design may not be all that convenient on bigger screens. One could argue that some sort of responsiveness in the style is called for, but you could also create a script that launches a custom browser window and bind it to a hotkey. For instance:

#!/bin/bash

TD=$(mktemp -d)

/usr/bin/chromium-browser \
	--incognito --disable-java --disable-client-side-phishing-detection --disable-translate \
	--no-first-run --disable-restore-session-state --no-default-browser-check \
	--window-size="335,450" \
	--user-data-dir="$TD" \
	--app="https://your.server/journal?apikey=YouKnowILearnedSomethingToday" \
	--ssl-version-min="tls1.2" \
	--hsts-hosts='{
		"/HSD/qf3UlD33yF7IbYl+Tc4w8Fu+mNUYL8m7yTxWKg=": {
			"dynamic_spki_hashes": [ "sha256/+Luw7m6APH/JszU+Yqj7zyGbCok0ZYMaKhkYmNtrKHI=", "sha256/dd+XFi9YBvUS5vB1yfv4DpSRnbPBuXenp6LPkaKXFlg=" ],
			"dynamic_spki_hashes_expiry": 1450884384.287938,
			"expiry": 1450884384.287909,
			"mode": "force-https",
			"pkp_include_subdomains": false,
			"pkp_observed": 1419348384.287938,
			"sts_include_subdomains": true,
			"sts_observed": 1419348384.287909
		}
	}'

rm -rf "$TD"