Journals

Rules for the journal file (notes/work/journal.md).

Format

• Reverse chronological order — newest at top, oldest at bottom
• Current section — exception to chronological; always at the very top for active work
• Bold dates — each entry starts with **Date** (e.g., **January 18, 2026**)
• No headings — dates are bold text, not H2 or H3
• Two blank lines between entries — two empty lines separate paragraphs
• Single file — no directory structure, just one scrollable document

What goes in

• What we did (facts)
• What surprised me (insights)
• What's next (threads to pick up)
• Reference to relevant guide file(s)
• work and work/done only useful material (ask if you need clarity)

What stays out

• Detailed work tracking (that's work/*.md)
• How-to guides (that's guides/)
• Code snippets (if essential to the story, assure they are in referenced guide)

Daily workflow

1. Start of session: read notes/work/journals/journal.md to recall context
2. During work: update active work files in notes/work/
3. End of session: add a journal entry summarizing what happened

The journal is the archive — distilled, prose, permanent. Work files are the scratch pad — detailed, messy, checkboxes.

Example

# Journal

**Current** Working on checkbox plugin for VitePress.


**2025** Started webseriously as graph visualization tool.


**January 8, 2026** Pushed enhanced template to GitHub.


**January 11, 2026** Planned the monorepo migration.