About Journal

What you can do

• Write entries in plain text or Markdown. You can write more than one entry a day.
• Add a mood from five faces, and up to 10 tags.
• Read your entries in a list, on a calendar or with search. You can filter the list by tag and by mood.
• Get a writing idea for the day. The ideas are only help. Press Skip to see another one.
• Get a daily reminder, if you want one.

Where your entries live

Your browser saves each entry in IndexedDB on your device. The page sends your entries to no server, unless you turn on sync (see below). If the browser blocks storage, the page keeps your entries in memory and tells you. They are lost when you close the page, so download a backup.

The journal holds 5000 entries. One entry can have 50,000 characters.

How the lock works

• The lock is optional. You turn it on in Settings with a passphrase of 12 characters or more.
• Your browser makes a random key for your entries. It wraps that key with a key from your passphrase (PBKDF2-SHA-256, 600,000 rounds). Each entry is encrypted with AES-GCM.
• The key stays in memory only. A reload, the Lock button or 15 minutes with no input remove it.
• You get a recovery code when you turn the lock on. It wraps the same key a second time. If you forget the passphrase, the code lets you choose a new one.
• If you lose the passphrase and the recovery code, your entries are gone. Nobody can get them back.

Sync between devices (optional)

• Sync is off until you sign in and turn it on in Settings. It needs the passphrase lock.
• Your browser encrypts each entry with your key before it leaves the device. The server keeps only encrypted entries and your wrapped keys. It cannot read your text, moods or tags.
• On a new device, sign in and type your passphrase. The journal then appears there. Changes go both ways, and deletes too.
• If two devices change the same entry, the newest change stays.
• You can turn sync off, or delete the copy on the server, at any time. Your entries on your devices stay.

What the app cannot do

• It does not sync unless you turn sync on. Without sync, use a JSON export and import to move your entries.
• The files you download are plain text. They are not encrypted, even when the lock is on.
• The lock cannot protect your entries from software that already runs on your device.
• It is not a medical tool. It does not find or treat any condition.

Read what happens to your data on the privacy page.