bujo

bujo - Bullet journaling on the command line.

Bullet journaling is a fast way to capture daily tasks, notes, and events. bujo lets you bring that workflow to the terminal with both a classic CLI and a rich TUI experience.

Installation

bujo can be installed via:

go install tableflip.dev/bujo@latest

Make sure to update the completion script if you are using the auto-completion:

. <(bujo completion)

Usage

The CLI is a thin layer over your bullet journal. A few common commands:

# Add a task into today's daily log
bujo add task "Finish README refresh"

# Review recently completed work (defaults to 1 week)
bujo report --last 1w

# Set or create a collection type (monthly/daily/generic/tracking)
bujo collections type "Future" monthly

# Jump into the fullscreen TUI
bujo ui

Most users keep the TUI running in a terminal pane (bujo ui) and use the CLI commands from another window to add or migrate tasks. The TUI supports calendar browsing, bullet/signifier editing, command-mode shortcuts (:), and a scrollable :report view to review completed entries within a window. Use :type [collection] <type> to update metadata in place, and launch :new-collection for a wizard that guides you through choosing the parent, name, and type. New collections created through moves, :mkdir, or the wizard surface the inferred type in their prompts.

Machine Contract (bujo api)

Machine-oriented automation should use bujo api ... commands. This namespace is JSON-first, supports explicit --journal selection, and provides structured success/error envelopes. Legacy human CLI commands remain unchanged.

bujo api info --journal /tmp/codex-bujo.db
bujo api entries add --journal /tmp/codex-bujo.db --type task --message "Follow up"
bujo api entries list --journal /tmp/codex-bujo.db --collection today
bujo api entries complete --journal /tmp/codex-bujo.db --id <entry-id>
bujo api entries ready --journal /tmp/codex-bujo.db --all
bujo api entries blocked --journal /tmp/codex-bujo.db --all
bujo api collections ensure --journal /tmp/codex-bujo.db --name project/alpha

Labels in bujo api

bujo api supports loose, queryable labels on entries.

Normalization rules:

• Labels are trimmed.
• Labels are lowercased.
• Duplicate labels are removed.
• Labels are sorted for stable output.

Filter semantics:

• --label is an AND filter. Repeating --label requires all listed labels.
• --label-any is an OR filter. At least one listed label must match.
• --without-label excludes entries that contain any listed label.

Recommended naming conventions:

• owner:<actor> for assignment (owner:codex, owner:snichols)
• area:<domain> for scope (area:api, area:docs, area:infra)
• state:<status> for workflow tags (state:open, state:blocked, state:done)

Examples:

# Add labels at create time
bujo api entries add --journal /tmp/codex-bujo.db \
  --type task \
  --message "Implement auth middleware" \
  --label owner:codex \
  --label area:api \
  --label state:open

# AND semantics: must have both labels
bujo api entries list --journal /tmp/codex-bujo.db --all \
  --label owner:codex \
  --label area:api

# OR semantics: any owner match
bujo api entries list --journal /tmp/codex-bujo.db --all \
  --label-any owner:codex \
  --label-any owner:snichols

# Exclusion filter
bujo api entries list --journal /tmp/codex-bujo.db --all \
  --without-label state:done

# Mutate labels after creation
bujo api entries labels add --journal /tmp/codex-bujo.db --id <entry-id> --label state:blocked
bujo api entries labels remove --journal /tmp/codex-bujo.db --id <entry-id> --label state:blocked
bujo api entries labels set --journal /tmp/codex-bujo.db --id <entry-id> --label state:open
bujo api entries labels clear --journal /tmp/codex-bujo.db --id <entry-id>

Dependencies in bujo api

bujo api also supports explicit dependency IDs with depends_on.

Normalization rules:

• Dependency IDs are trimmed.
• Duplicate IDs are removed.
• IDs are sorted for stable output.

Filter semantics:

• --depends-on is an AND filter. Repeating --depends-on requires all listed IDs.
• --depends-on-any is an OR filter. At least one listed ID must match.
• --without-depends-on excludes entries that contain any listed dependency ID.

Examples:

# Add dependencies at create time
bujo api entries add --journal /tmp/codex-bujo.db \
  --type task \
  --message "Implement deployment checks" \
  --depends-on <entry-id-a> \
  --depends-on <entry-id-b>

# AND semantics: must depend on both IDs
bujo api entries list --journal /tmp/codex-bujo.db --all \
  --depends-on <entry-id-a> \
  --depends-on <entry-id-b>

# OR semantics: depends on either ID
bujo api entries list --journal /tmp/codex-bujo.db --all \
  --depends-on-any <entry-id-a> \
  --depends-on-any <entry-id-b>

# Mutate dependencies after creation
bujo api entries dependencies add --journal /tmp/codex-bujo.db --id <entry-id> --depends-on <entry-id-a>
bujo api entries dependencies remove --journal /tmp/codex-bujo.db --id <entry-id> --depends-on <entry-id-a>
bujo api entries dependencies set --journal /tmp/codex-bujo.db --id <entry-id> --depends-on <entry-id-b>
bujo api entries dependencies clear --journal /tmp/codex-bujo.db --id <entry-id>

Ready / Blocked in bujo api

bujo api provides dependency-state queries for agent loops:

• bujo api entries ready: actionable entries whose dependencies are all satisfied.
• bujo api entries blocked: actionable entries with unmet dependencies.

Actionable entries:

• task, note, and event bullets
• not immutable

Dependency satisfaction:

• satisfied when a dependency entry is completed, irrelevant, or moved
• unsatisfied when a dependency is open, missing, or otherwise unresolved

Examples:

# All ready work across the journal
bujo api entries ready --journal /tmp/codex-bujo.db --all

# Ready work for a specific owner in today's collection
bujo api entries ready --journal /tmp/codex-bujo.db \
  --collection today \
  --label owner:codex

# Blocked work, including unmet dependency IDs
bujo api entries blocked --journal /tmp/codex-bujo.db --all

ready response entries use the normal entry payload shape. blocked response entries include:

• entry: normal entry payload
• unmet_depends_on: dependency IDs still blocking the entry

This pairs naturally with labels such as owner:*, area:*, and state:* for deterministic "pick one ready task and execute it" agent workflows.

Command Tree

Generated from the Cobra command tree (go run ./cmd/gendocs --check).

bujo - Bullet journaling on the command line.
  bujo add - Add something
    bujo add event - Add an event
    bujo add note - Add a note
    bujo add task - Add a task
    bujo add track - track something
  bujo api - Machine-oriented API commands
    bujo api collections - Machine-oriented collection operations
      bujo api collections ensure - Ensure a collection exists
    bujo api entries - Machine-oriented entry operations
      bujo api entries add - Create a new entry
      bujo api entries blocked - List actionable entries with unmet dependencies
      bujo api entries complete - Mutate an entry: complete
      bujo api entries delete - Mutate an entry: delete
      bujo api entries dependencies - Manage entry dependencies
        bujo api entries dependencies add - Mutate entry dependencies: add
        bujo api entries dependencies clear - Mutate an entry: clear
        bujo api entries dependencies remove - Mutate entry dependencies: remove
        bujo api entries dependencies set - Mutate entry dependencies: set
      bujo api entries labels - Manage entry labels
        bujo api entries labels add - Mutate entry labels: add
        bujo api entries labels clear - Mutate an entry: clear
        bujo api entries labels remove - Mutate entry labels: remove
        bujo api entries labels set - Mutate entry labels: set
      bujo api entries list - List entries
      bujo api entries lock - Mutate an entry: lock
      bujo api entries move - Move an entry to another collection
      bujo api entries parent - Manage entry parent relationships
        bujo api entries parent set - Set an entry parent
        bujo api entries parent unset - Remove an entry parent
      bujo api entries ready - List actionable entries whose dependencies are satisfied
      bujo api entries resolve - Resolve a selector to one entry
      bujo api entries strike - Mutate an entry: strike
      bujo api entries unlock - Mutate an entry: unlock
    bujo api info - Show resolved runtime configuration
    bujo api report - Return completed-entry report data
  bujo collections - Manage collections and metadata
    bujo collections type - Set the type for a collection
  bujo complete - complete something
  bujo completion - Generates bash completion scripts
  bujo get - get something
  bujo info - Details about collection and where they are stored.
  bujo key - Print the bullets and signifiers
  bujo log - view a log
  bujo migration - Inspect tasks eligible for migration
    bujo migration list - List migration candidates using the specified time window
  bujo report - Display recently completed entries grouped by collection
  bujo strike - mark something irrelevant
  bujo track - track something
  bujo ui - open the text-based user interface
  bujo upgrade - Upgrade bujo cli.
  bujo version - Get bujo version.

TUI / CLI Delta

As of the latest TUI overhaul there are still some capabilities that exist only in the CLI or only in the TUI. This checklist will guide future parity work.

CLI-only today

• bujo log renders day/month/future summaries for piping or quick export; the TUI has no single-shot log output (pkg/commands/log.go).
• bujo track <collection> appends an occurrence bullet and prints the counter. The TUI bullet picker doesn’t expose the tracking glyph (pkg/commands/track.go, pkg/runner/tea/ui.go:249).
• bujo key emits the bullet/signifier legend; the TUI relies on contextual help and can’t print the cheat sheet (pkg/commands/key.go).
• bujo get … offers cross-collection filters and --show-id output suitable for scripting. The TUI can’t slice entries that way (pkg/commands/get.go).
• bujo report --last prints reports to stdout for tee/redirect; the TUI :report overlay is view-only (pkg/commands/report.go, pkg/runner/tea/ui.go:4141).

TUI-only today

• Inline edit/move/future actions via i, >, < and escape hovers have no CLI equivalents (pkg/runner/tea/ui.go:2520, pkg/runner/tea/ui.go:2550).
• Indent/outdent, parent selection, and hierarchical editing live only behind tab, shift+tab, and the parent picker (pkg/runner/tea/ui.go:2695, pkg/runner/tea/ui.go:2746).
• The move selector (tab completion + create-on-enter) and type-aware validation are TUI-only (pkg/runner/tea/ui.go:1878).
• Bullet/signifier menus let you change glyphs or defaults after creation; CLI can only set signifiers at add-time (pkg/runner/tea/ui.go:3226).
• Overlay workflows—collection wizard, delete confirmation, lock/unlock commands, task metadata panel, and the scrollable report viewport—have no CLI analogs (pkg/runner/tea/ui.go:2186, pkg/runner/tea/ui.go:2963, pkg/runner/tea/ui.go:2275, pkg/runner/tea/ui.go:4381).

Bash Completion

(For Mac)

Make sure you have bash-completion installed:

brew install bash-completion

And make sure the following two lines are in your .bashrc or .profile:

. /usr/local/etc/profile.d/bash_completion.sh
. <(bujo completion)

Now tab completion should work!