vault-journal

Vault journal

A living journal of each day's work. The point is continuity: any future session can read recent daily notes and reconstruct what happened, what was decided, and what's still open.

Location & naming

• Folder: daily_notes/ in the vault root.
• Filename: YYYY-MM-DD.md, one per calendar day. Today's date comes from the session context — resolve any relative reference ("yesterday", "Monday") to absolute first.
• Template: _templates/daily-note.md. If today's note doesn't exist when an update is needed, create it from the template first.

Structure (stable headings)

Keep these exact heading names so both Claude and the user can parse:

• ## Summary — one or two lines; the headline of the day.
• ## Work log — append-only chronological bullets. Format:

  - HH:MM — <project/area>: <attempted|done> — <concise description>
  

  Time is optional if unknown — never fabricate a precise time. 24-hour local.
• ## Tasks touched — vault tasks created / advanced / completed, with the project file named (e.g. <project>.md).
• ## Decisions & notes — choices made, assumptions, things learned.
• ## Follow-ups — open threads carried into tomorrow.

When to update

• Whenever a task is attempted or accomplished, append a ## Work log bullet. This is the most common trigger.
• Always when the user says "update the vault" — the daily note is part of that convention (see vault-update skill), not a separate ask.
• New things happen anyway during normal work; capture them as they occur rather than reconstructing later.

How to update

• Surgical edits only. Append bullets under the right heading. Don't rewrite the file or reorder existing entries.
• Terse and factual. These are log lines, not published prose. Any personal writing-voice guide the user maintains does not apply here — code-style brevity is correct.
• Cross-reference project files by filename (e.g. <project>.md) so each entry links back to the task spine.
• Resolve dates/times to absolute. Today's date from session context.
• Don't pad. A single-line bullet is the right size for most events.

What goes in the journal vs. the project file

Belongs in daily note	Belongs in project file
"Attempted X at 14:30; ran into Y"	The open task "do X"
"Decided to use approach A over B"	The decision documented in ## Notes
"Talked to re: framing"	The follow-up task or status update
"Tomorrow: pick up where draft v2 left off"	Tomorrow's actual task

Daily notes are the work log. Project files are the spine. The journal references the spine; the spine doesn't duplicate the journal.