Light Diary

A simple command-line diary tool written in Python.

Features

• Markdown entries with YAML front matter
• Date tracking that persists through edits
• Inline input or system editor support
• Organized by year/month folders (~/diary/2026/01/10.md)

Installation

git clone https://github.com/realwaynesun/diary-cli.git
cd diary-cli
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

Add an alias to your shell config (~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc):

alias diary="~/diary-cli/venv/bin/python ~/diary-cli/diary.py"

Usage

# Add a new entry for today
diary add

# Add entry for a specific date
diary add --date 2026-01-15

# Quick shortcut for today (appends if exists)
diary today

# Use system editor instead of inline input
diary add --editor
diary today -e

# List all entries
diary list
diary list --year 2026
diary list --month 01

# View an entry
diary view 2026-01-10

# Edit an entry (preserves original date)
diary edit 2026-01-10

# Edit and change the date
diary edit 2026-01-10 --date 2026-01-12

File Format

Entries are stored as markdown with YAML front matter:

---
date: 2026-01-10
---

Your diary content here...

Storage Location

Entries are stored in ~/diary/ organized by year and month:

~/diary/
├── 2026/
│   ├── 01/
│   │   ├── 10.md
│   │   └── 15.md
│   └── 02/
│       └── 01.md

License

MIT