Journal
The journal is a library's dated record of what happened and what was decided. Each entry is its own short Markdown file with a date, an optional kind, and the ids of the documents it is about.
Documents say what is true now; the journal says when it changed and why. An entry shows on every document it names, and the shell renders all entries as one timeline that filters by kind, tag, date or document.
about, so nobody keeps a "history" section by hand.This library's journal, one file each
These are the first entries in this library's own journal, from its first two days, grouped by day. The journal page holds them all, current. Each is its own file, and each links to its page. Filter by kind, as the timeline does.
- Library set up2026-10-04-library-set-up.md
- The library shares the repository's skills2026-10-04-the-library-shares-the-repository-s-skills.md
- Home maps set2026-10-04-home-maps-set.md
- Specifications stay outside the library2026-10-04-specifications-stay-outside-the-library.md
- Comments are committed by the server, as the commenter2026-10-04-comments-are-committed-by-the-server.md
- Ingested As We May Think2026-10-04-ingested-as-we-may-think.md
- Locked the check-time protocol2026-10-04-locked-the-check-time-protocol.md
- Recorded R-12026-10-04-recorded-r-1.md
- Recorded R-22026-10-04-recorded-r-2.md
- Added How folio is built as a home map2026-10-04-added-how-folio-is-built-as.md
- One journal entry per file2026-10-03-one-journal-entry-per-file.md
- Metadata holds every fact the engine reads2026-10-03-metadata-holds-every-fact-the-engine.md
- Paper versions are snapshots2026-10-03-paper-versions-are-snapshots.md
content/journal/2026/. Within a day the order here is not the order of events; the date is. The entry about journal on the first day is the decision that gave the journal this shape.Why one file per entry
A single log file would be shorter to read in an editor. One file per entry buys three things the log cannot give.
One file per entry
Two agents writing at once never touch the same file, so they never conflict. Every entry has its own address, so it can be linked and searched on its own. Every entry is a permanent record, and the gate compares each file with its first commit.
One log file
Every new entry edits the same file, so concurrent writers collide. An entry is a heading inside a long page, not a document, so nothing can name it in about or show it on a page. The file changes every day, so no line in it can be held to its first commit.
Kinds
A kind is optional. The shell filters by it, and two kinds change what readers see on the document they name. Kinds are an open set: the core has four, a pack adds its own while it is on, and the charter adds more under journal.kinds.
The core's four
- decision
- A choice that binds later work.
- lesson
- Something learned the hard way.
- correction
- Says a document was wrong and what is true instead; shows as a banner on it.
- retraction
- Withdraws a record, which is then marked retracted.
Added here by the lab pack
lock, run, kill, instrument and pivot. An entry with no kind is a plain event, such as a source ingested or a result recorded.
Related
Every entry is a permanent record, and the only document no map needs to list.
Who writes it
Every skill that makes a decision records it as a new entry with folio journal add, which writes a new file and never edits an existing one.