journal

Included with Lifetime

$97 forever

This skill should be used when the user wants to write a journal entry, log an observation, capture a discovery, record a design insight, or note a lesson learned. Entries are timestamped and stored in notes/journal/. Triggers on: "journal", "write a journal entry", "log this", "observation", "I learned", "note to self", "capture this for later".

Designscripts

What this skill does

# Journal Skill

Write timestamped journal entries to `notes/journal/` to preserve knowledge across sessions.

## When to Write a Journal Entry

Write a journal entry when you encounter something that:

- Would be useful to know in a future session but doesn't belong in code comments
- Spans multiple issues or isn't specific to one task
- Is a discovery about the codebase, domain, or tooling
- Is a design insight or architectural observation
- Is a gotcha, workaround, or non-obvious behavior

Do NOT write a journal entry for:

- Task-specific progress notes (use your ticket/issue system)
- Durable design decisions (use `notes/DECISIONS.md` -- decisions are one-liners, not entries)
- Agent rules and patterns (use `CLAUDE.md` or auto-memory)
- Trivial observations that won't matter next week

## Creating an Entry

Use the script to create entries -- it generates the correct filename and scaffolds the frontmatter:

```bash
# Agent creating an entry
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/journal/scripts/new-entry.sh ai vllm-batch-limit --tags vllm,performance

# Human creating an entry
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/journal/scripts/new-entry.sh hu checkpoint-design-notes --tags architecture
```

The script outputs the full file path. Open it and write the body.

### Filename Template

`<YYYYMMDD>T<HHMM>Z.<ai|hu>.<slug>.md`

- Date and time: UTC, generated by the script
- Origin: `ai` for agent-written, `hu` for human-written
- Slug: short, descriptive, kebab-case

The origin marker is **immutable**. It captures who created the note, not who last edited it.

### Content

Write the entry as plain markdown. Keep it concise -- a journal entry is a note, not an essay.

The script scaffolds optional YAML frontmatter from `--tags` and `--refs` flags. Humans may skip frontmatter entirely. Agents should include `tags` when the topic is clear and `refs` when working in the context of a specific issue.

### References

If the entry relates to other journal entries, issues, wiki pages, or external resources, add a `## References` section at the bottom:

```markdown
## References

- [[related-note]]
- [Earlier observation on timeouts](20260207T0900Z.ai.vllm-timeout-mystery.md)
```

Use `[[wikilinks]]` for notes pages and relative paths for journal cross-references.

## Reasoning About Authoritativeness

Not all journal entries carry equal weight. The primary authority signal is **being linked from a hub file**. A journal entry referenced from `notes/INDEX.md`, `docs/`, or another promoted entry has been actively vouched for.

When entries conflict, use this hierarchy:

1. **Human-written** (`hu.` in filename) -- highest baseline trust
2. **AI-written, human-edited** (`ai.` in filename, but `git log` shows human commits) -- validated
3. **Linked from a hub file** (`notes/INDEX.md`, `docs/`) -- promoted
4. **AI-written, recent** (< 2 weeks old) -- likely still accurate
5. **AI-written, old, not linked** -- treat as possibly stale

When in doubt, flag the conflict to the user rather than silently choosing.

## Promoting Entries

Journal entries start as raw observations. They gain authority through promotion -- being linked from hub files:

- `notes/INDEX.md` -- project-facing index of active knowledge
- `docs/` -- durable reference content

If an entry isn't linked from any hub, it's raw material -- useful for search, but not actively trusted.

## Consolidation

Over time, entries accumulate. Periodically consolidate:

1. Read entries on a shared topic
2. Write a consolidated entry (or page in `docs/`) summarizing the current understanding
3. Move the original entries to `notes/journal/archive/`
4. Update hub files to point to the consolidated page

Consolidation is itself a form of validation. A consolidated page is more authoritative than the raw entries it replaced.

## Searching the Journal

Before starting work on a topic, search existing entries:

```
# Find entries by topic
Glob: notes/journal/*.<topic>*.md

# Search entry contents
Grep: pattern="<keyword>" path="notes/journal/"
```

Also check `notes/INDEX.md` for curated links.

## Directory Structure

```
notes/journal/
├── archive/ # stale or consolidated entries
├── 20260209T1430Z.ai.vllm-batch-limit.md
├── 20260209T1512Z.hu.checkpoint-design-notes.md
└── ...
```

Files: 2

Size: 6.0 KB

Complexity: 33/100

Category: Design

Source: https://github.com/a3lem/my-claude-plugins/tree/main/plugins/project-notes/skills/journal

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