🔐 Secure Time-Locked Journal CLI

A secure, offline, encrypted journal system that lets you write now and read later — like a digital time capsule for your thoughts.

🤔 The Problem We're Solving

"How can someone securely record private thoughts or sensitive life logs, knowing they are encrypted, locked until the right time, and totally offline?"

🔍 Problem Breakdown

1. People want to journal privately

• Writing in plaintext files or apps like Notion isn't secure
• Even password managers aren't designed for expressive text entries
• Privacy concerns with cloud-based solutions

2. They want it encrypted + offline

• No cloud storage dependencies
• No trackers, accounts, or potential data leaks
• Complete control over your data

3. They want time-lock control

• "I want to write something now, but not read it until 1 year later"
• Personal time capsule functionality
• Emotional release mechanism without immediate access

4. They want organization & tags

• Tag entries with mood, dream, goal, memory, etc.
• Easy searching and filtering when entries unlock
• Meaningful categorization of thoughts over time

💡 Our Solution

A CLI vault that provides:

• init - Create a secure journal vault with encrypted metadata & entries
• write - Add entries with optional tags and labels
• lock - Set time-locks on entries (only readable after unlock date)
• list - View encrypted entries without seeing content
• unlock - Access entries when the time-lock expires

🎯 Who Would Use This?

Privacy-conscious users

• Journalists and activists who need secure documentation
• Anyone concerned about digital privacy
• People who want guaranteed offline storage

Self-reflective individuals

• Those who want to write letters to their future selves
• People processing emotions or major life events
• Anyone interested in tracking personal growth over time

Professionals

• Therapists or coaches who encourage emotional processing
• Researchers documenting sensitive findings
• Writers working on confidential projects

🚀 Why I Built This

This project started as a fun exploration of cryptography and CLI development, but quickly became something more meaningful. I realized how often we want to capture thoughts in the moment without the immediate ability to overthink or delete them.

The time-lock feature creates a unique psychological space — you can be completely honest knowing you won't be able to second-guess yourself until later. It's like having a conversation with your future self while giving your present self the freedom to be vulnerable.

Plus, in an age where everything lives in the cloud, there's something refreshing about a tool that's completely offline and under your control.

✨ Key Features

• 🔒 Military-grade encryption - Your thoughts stay private
• ⏰ Time-lock mechanism - Write now, read later
• 🏷️ Smart tagging system - Organize your entries meaningfully
• 📱 Completely offline - No internet required, no data leaks
• 🎨 Simple CLI interface - Clean, intuitive commands
• 🔍 Searchable when unlocked - Find entries by tags or content

🏁 Getting Started

# Initialize your secure vault
journal init

# Write your first entry
journal write "Today I realized..." --tags mood,reflection

# Lock an entry for 1 year
journal lock --entry-id 123 --until 2025-12-01

# List all entries (encrypted)
journal list

# Unlock available entries
journal unlock

🤝 Contributing

This project welcomes contributions! Whether you're interested in cryptography, CLI design, or just want to help make private journaling more accessible, there are many ways to get involved.

📜 License

[Insert your chosen license here]

TL;DR: A secure, offline, encrypted, time-locked journal system — like a cross between a diary and a time capsule, but in your terminal. Built for privacy, designed for reflection, perfect for anyone who wants to have honest conversations with their future self.