Does vulpea-journal allow flexible file structure?

[agzam]

I like the features of vulpea-journal and I want to start using it, however, my current Org-Roam setup done in an usual way, maybe someone can give me pointers how to migrate the workflow.

First of all, I don't keep a file per day

I keep a file per month with a datetree structure (built-in feature of Org), So the files look something like this:

:PROPERTIES:
:ID:       FD48C905-704B-4270-AA4A-DB5A3386B744
:END:
#+title: January 2021 journal notes
#+startup: overview

[[id:59BF2462-CAEF-4CA6-B068-81F72DEFDB39][journal]]

* 2021
** 2021-01 January
*** 2021-01-12 Tuesday
***** Working on project Foo

I suppose if I just attach journal tag to each day, vulpea-journal would simply pick them up and index them?

Is that's all I need for it to recognize them as journal entries? If that is, then I suppose I just need to find a way to create new entries properly orienting itself in the date-tree, etc.

There's another dilemma

I separate work notes and personal notes

So the files look like:

2021-01-journal.org
2021-01-work-notes.org
etc.

And I find them via the inserted links, [[work]] and [[journal]] (like in the above example). It's not ideal, I wonder how I can do this much better with vulpea tools? Most importantly - I prefer separation of personal and work stuff in different files.

What would be your suggestion?

Should I ditch this approach and just use vulpea-journal's default way? For the older notes I suppose I can write a script to convert them into the new format.

I would like to find a way to keep using datetree structure, but not sure how to get there. Any pointers are highly appreciated, thanks!

[d12frosted]

Thanks for the detailed description of your setup!

On datetree / file-per-month: vulpea-journal currently assumes one-file-per-day, but supporting different granularities (file per week/month/year) is something I want to explore. The timeline is still linear in all these cases — prev/next navigation, calendar, "on this day" all conceptually work, just at coarser granularity. The main change would be shifting date resolution from file-path heuristics to DB queries (via created-at / tags), which is arguably better anyway since we have the DB.

On work vs personal separation: This is actually the harder problem. Different granularity is still a single linear timeline — but work/personal creates two parallel timelines. Consider what happens with the current commands:

• vulpea-journal-today — which journal do you open? Work or personal?
• vulpea-journal-date — same question
• vulpea-journal-next / vulpea-journal-previous — do you navigate within work entries only, or personal only?
• Calendar widget — does it show days with work entries, personal entries, or both?
• "On this day" — which stream does it look back through?

The mechanical part (creating entries) can work today with let-binding vulpea-journal-default-template in two separate commands. But every interactive feature needs to know which stream you mean.

One direction I am thinking about is a DWIM approach — if the context makes it clear which journal you are in (e.g. you are viewing a work journal entry), use that template automatically; otherwise ask. This could tie into a broader tag-based namespace feature in vulpea core (imagine vulpea-find scoped by namespace). But that is a bigger design effort.

That said — I would love to understand your actual workflow better before jumping to solutions:

1. How often do you switch between work and personal journals in a day? Is it "open work journal in the morning, personal in the evening" or more fluid?
2. When you navigate (prev/next), do you expect to stay within work entries only, or within personal only?
3. For the calendar — would you want to see both streams, or only the active one?
4. You mentioned you find entries via links ([[work]], [[journal]]). Is that your primary navigation, or would you prefer date-based access if the UX was good?

Understanding this would help me figure out whether a simple two-command approach covers 90% of what you need, or if there is something more fundamental to build.

[d12frosted]

Created d12frosted/vulpea-journal#2 to track the granularity support.

[agzam]

For the first one it seems you have a good grasp on the idea.

For the second part..

which journal do you open? Work or personal?

This this how it works in Org-Roam - it goes through Org's Capture machinery - I have independent templates for each:

(setopt org-roam-dailies-capture-templates
          '(("w" "work" plain
             "**** %?%(org-roam-capture-dailies--set-node-props \"work\")"
             :if-new
             (file+datetree
              "%<%Y-%m>-work-notes.org"
              'day)
             :jump-to-captured t
             :immediate-finish t
             :unnarrowed t)
            ("j" "journal" plain
             "%(org-roam-capture-dailies--set-node-props \"journal\")**** %?"
             :if-new
             (file+datetree
              "%<%Y-%m>-journal.org"
              'day)
             :jump-to-captured t
             :unnarrowed t)))

that org-roam-capture-dailies--set-node-props is a custom function that simply searches past the filenode properties drawer and adds the link (either 'work' or 'journal').

Org-roam-daily commands:

• org-roam-dailies-goto-date
• org-roam-dailies-goto-today
• org-roam-dailies-goto-tomorrow
• etc.

all have to go through the capture templates, basically, whenever I run any of these, after choosing the date from the calendar it pops the capture template selection buffer and I have to press either "w" or "j" key.

This isn't the most ideal workflow but that's how Org-roam does it, I just have my own stuff on top.

1. How often do you switch between work and personal journals in a day?

Quite often, having things in separate files is important to me - sometimes I have to share my screen and I don't want my colleagues to see my medical or billing notes.

Long ago I was even considering encrypting my personal notes, but I'm not sure if that would even work with Org-Roam, something you probably need to consider for Vulpea at some point.

[d12frosted]

Thanks for the detailed answers — the privacy angle (screen sharing, encryption) makes the work/personal separation a hard requirement, not just a preference. That changes the priority.

Created d12frosted/vulpea-journal#4 to track multi-stream journal support. I think I kind of grasped what you mean. I also need to think how exactly to implement it and if it needs something from vulpea core.

On the encryption front — there is a separate request for .org.age file support in d12frosted/vulpea-journal#3 which is related. Supporting encrypted notes is something I want to look into but with some considerations (please read my comment there).

[d12frosted]

Heads up - d12frosted/vulpea-journal#3 is fixed. Would love to get feedback on that.

[d12frosted]

See also d12frosted/vulpea-journal#2 (comment); there is implementation for monthly granularity. I am looking for feedback on the approach and need some tests hehe. I am unlikely to merge it in the next 24 hours as I need to properly test it. But let's see how it goes.