Notes

A journal note is an ordinary note in your vault that carries two properties: the journal's name and the date of the period it belongs to. The plugin reads which journal and which period a note belongs to from those properties, not from where the note is — so once a note is connected you can rename it or move it to any folder and it stays connected.

Every way a note gets into a journal comes down to writing those properties. The plugin can create the note for you, recognize a note you created yourself, or connect a note you point it at.

You want to…	Use
Open or create the note for a date	Creating a note
Have today's note made without opening anything	Auto-create today's note
Make notes by hand, or by clicking a link, and keep them	Auto-attach
Adopt one note that is already in your vault	Connect note to a journal
Adopt a whole folder of notes from another plugin	Bulk add

Creating a note

Opening a period that has no note yet creates it — clicking a day in a calendar, a segment of a navigation block, a command that opens a period's note, or an obsidian://journals link. Commands that jump to the nearest existing note never create one; see Commands.

• Where it goes. The note's name comes from the journal's Note name template and its folder from Folder, both on the journal's settings page. See Journals.
• The period already has a note. That note opens, wherever it is — including one you renamed or moved, or one connected with its own name. No second note is made.
• A file already sits at that path. If it belongs to no journal, it becomes this period's note instead of being duplicated. If it belongs to a different journal, nothing is changed and a notice names the journal that owns it: the plugin never takes over another journal's note. Two journals resolving to the same paths is flagged on the main settings page under Colliding journal settings.
• What goes in it. The journal's template is rendered into the new note, then the properties are written. See Journals for templates.
• Questions. A journal with questions asks them before the note is created, and cancelling creates nothing.

Confirm creating new notes — shows a confirmation dialog when navigating to a date that does not yet have a note. Off by default. The dialog, Create a new journal note?, names the note it is about to create. A journal that asks questions shows its question dialog instead, since that dialog already names the note and can be cancelled.

Auto-create today's note

Auto-create today's note — creates today's note automatically on plugin load and at every local midnight. Off by default, set per journal.

• Nothing is created on a day outside the journal's timeline.
• The confirmation dialog is never shown for an auto-created note.
• Auto-create never asks questions. A journal with a question whose answer goes into the note's name or folder, or with a required question, is skipped rather than created with a guess.
• If a template waits for input — a Templater prompt, say — auto-create stops waiting after 30 seconds and moves on to the next journal. The note is still written if the template finishes later.

Automatic note creation, in the Startup block on the main settings page, chooses which devices create notes on their own: Desktop and mobile, Desktop only or Mobile only. It covers every journal's Auto-create today's note and the startup note. Notes you open yourself are always created, on any device. Use it when sync is slow enough that your phone and your computer each create today's note before the other's copy arrives.

Opening a note when Obsidian starts

Startup, on the main settings page, opens a journal's note for today whenever you open the vault.

• Open on startup — pick a journal, or Don't open.
• Open note — Replacing the active note, In a new tab, Next to the active note or In a popout window. Applies to whichever journal the day resolves to.
• Pin the note — opens that note in a pinned tab, the same pinning commands use. With it on, each launch moves the journal's pinned tab to today's note instead of pinning a second one. With Different journal on some days, each journal keeps its own pinned tab.
• Automatic note creation — Desktop and mobile, Desktop only or Mobile only. It sits in this block but covers every journal's Auto-create today's note as well as the startup note — see Auto-create today's note.
• Different journal on some days — choose which journal opens on the days you pick; any day you don't pick opens the journal above. Add days adds a group: its Days of the week and the Journal to open. A day can belong to one group only. A group can open nothing, so a work journal can stay shut at the weekend.

On startup the plugin opens today's period in that journal — today's note in a daily journal, this week's in a weekly one — creating it if it does not exist, the same way opening a date does. It runs only when Obsidian starts, not when you turn the plugin off and on.

On a device Automatic note creation excludes, the startup note opens only if it already exists, and nothing is written to it. Renaming a journal updates these settings; deleting one removes it, and days that opened it fall back to Open on startup.

Auto-attach

When a note appears in your vault — you create it, you click a link to a note that does not exist yet, it arrives through sync, or you rename a note into place — the plugin checks whether its path is one a journal would have created. It runs the journal's Folder and Note name template backwards to read the date, and any sequence numbers, out of the path.

The note is connected when all of these hold:

• its whole path — folder and name — matches the journal's folder and name template;
• the date it reads falls inside that journal's timeline;
• exactly one journal matches. When two journals could both own the path, the note is left alone — the vault check lists it and lets you pick the journal;
• it is not connected already, and its properties do not name a journal that no longer exists. Such a note keeps its old claim so the journal's notes can be recovered.

A connected note that is still empty gets the journal's template, then its properties. A note that already has content keeps it; only the properties are added.

Notes already in your vault are not adopted. Auto-attach reacts to notes that arrive or are renamed after Obsidian has finished loading, so a folder of notes you had before installing the plugin stays as it is. Use Bulk add or Connect note to a journal for those.

When a path cannot be read backwards, notes you make yourself will not auto-attach. The journal's settings page shows a warning that names the reason, under whichever of Folder or Note name template is at fault.

A link the plugin wrote for a journal that puts a question's answer into the note name is the one case where auto-attach asks: clicking the link asks the questions, then names the note from your answers. Cancelling deletes the still-empty note Obsidian made for the link, the way Obsidian deletes any file.

Example: Keep notes you make by hand.

Connect note to a journal

Run Connect note to a journal from the command palette with a note open in the editor. It is not offered in reading view.

The dialog shows the note's path and asks:

• Journal — which journal to connect it to.
• Connect as — shown only when the journal has notelet types. The journal's own note connects it as the period's note; picking a type connects it as a notelet.
• Date — the period it belongs to. A date outside the journal's timeline cannot be connected.

Then, depending on the note and the date:

• Replace the note already connected to this date — appears when another note already holds the period. Connect stays disabled until you turn it on. The other note stays in your vault and loses its journal properties. If you are also moving this note onto that note's exact path, the other note is moved to trash to make room.
• Rename file to match the journal — appears when the note's name differs from what the journal would call it, and says both names.
• Move file into the journal's folder — appears when the note's folder differs from the journal's, and says both folders.

Rename and move start off, and changing the journal or the date turns them off again. Either is unavailable when a question's answer goes into that part of the path, because nothing is being asked here; the note keeps its own name or folder.

An empty note gets the journal's template. A note with content keeps it and only gains properties.

For a note that is already connected, the dialog names the journal it is connected to and offers Update and Disconnect. Disconnect removes the journal's properties — its date, start and end dates, sequence numbers, question answers and notelet properties — and leaves the note where it is. Connecting a note to a different journal removes the old journal's properties in the same step.

Example: Connect a stray note and file it.

Bulk add

Bulk add connects a folder of existing notes in one pass. Open it from the journals list on the main settings page: each journal row has a Bulk add notes to journal button. A journal on a shelf is listed on that shelf's page. Notelet types have their own bulk add — see Notelets.

Choosing the notes

• Source folder — subfolders are included; only markdown notes are considered.
• Read the date from — Note title, A property or Note path. For a property, give its Property name; its value has to be text. Note path reads the date from the note's folder and name together, the way the journal names its own notes, so a note filed under year and month folders is found; Date format does not apply and is hidden. It is unavailable, with the reason, for a journal whose note paths cannot be read back into a date, and notelet bulk add does not offer it.
• Date format (not shown for Note path) — the format the date is written in, prefilled with the journal's own date format. The date can sit anywhere in the title: Standup 2024-03-05 finds 2024-03-05. A value that carries a time as well, such as 2024-03-05T09:31, is read with the format it is written in, YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm, or with its date part alone, YYYY-MM-DD; the time is ignored either way. A date that falls inside a longer period is read as that period — a day's date connects the note to its week on a weekly journal.
• Filter notes — No filter, Match all conditions or Match any condition, over title, tag and property conditions like those a decoration uses.

Deciding what happens

• When a note is already connected to that date
  • Skip — the new note is left untouched and not connected.
  • Replace — the new note takes over the date; the previously connected note stays in the vault but is disconnected.
  • Merge — the new note's content is appended to the already-connected note, and the new note is deleted the way Obsidian deletes any file, following your own setting for deleted files.
  • Ask for each — decide for each note on the review screen.
• When the folder differs — Keep, Move or Ask for each.
• When the name differs — Keep, Rename or Ask for each. As with connecting a single note, a question whose answer goes into the name or folder keeps that part as it is.
• Dry run (preview only) — reports the changes that would be made without changing any notes. On by default.

Reviewing and running

Continue scans the folder and lists every note it would act on, each with the date it read, the note already connected to that date, and its new path where it would move or be renamed. Notes set to Ask for each get their choice here. Notes it will not touch are listed with the reason: Already connected, Filtered out, No date found, Date could not be parsed, Not at a path this journal uses or Outside the journal's timeline.

Run processes the notes and shows what happened to each. A dry run reports what would have happened without changing anything in your vault; start again with Dry run off to apply it.

Example: Adopt a folder of daily notes from another plugin.

Examples

Adopt a folder of daily notes from another plugin

A daily journal set up as:

Setting	Value
Period	Day
Folder	day
Note name template	{{date}}
Date format	YYYY-MM-DD

A folder bulk-match holds 2030-09-01.md and 2030-09-02.md, and bulk-skip holds 2030-10-05.md and notes.md.

Run Bulk add notes to daily on bulk-match, reading the date from Note title with format YYYY-MM-DD, turn Dry run (preview only) off, then Continue and Run. Both notes stay in bulk-match and gain:

journal: daily
journal-date: 2030-09-01

Run it on bulk-skip: 2030-10-05.md is connected, and notes.md is listed under No date found and left untouched.

With When a note is already connected to that date set to Replace, a note in the source folder takes over a date that day/2031-01-01.md already held; day/2031-01-01.md stays in your vault without its journal properties. With Merge, the source note's content is appended to the connected note and the source note goes to the trash.

Keep notes you make by hand

A daily journal with no folder, Note name template {{date}} and date format YYYY-MM-DD.

• Create a note named 2024-01-15 — it is connected to the journal for 15 January 2024.
• Rename a note draft to 2024-01-16 — it is connected for 16 January.
• In any note, click the link [[2024-02-20]] — Obsidian creates 2024-02-20.md in its default location for new notes, the vault root, and it is connected. With a different default location the new note lands elsewhere, and is connected only if that path matches the journal.
• A note named groceries is left alone.

Connect a stray note and file it

The same daily journal as the first example, with folder day. A note inbox/loose-note.md belongs to a date.

1. Open the note and run Connect note to a journal.
2. Choose Journal daily and pick the Date.
3. Turn on Rename file to match the journal and Move file into the journal's folder.
4. Connect.

The note moves to day/ and is renamed to its date, carrying its content with it, and nothing is left at inbox/loose-note.md.