jrnl is a lightweight CLI journal application that lets you capture thoughts, daily logs, and notes without leaving the terminal. Create entries with simple natural language timestamps—just type jrnl yesterday: Your entry here and it automatically parses the date and content.

Key capabilities include:

Timestamped entries with automatic date parsing for natural language like "yesterday" or "last week"
Full-text search across your journal by keywords, dates, or custom tags
Inline tagging to organize and categorize entries on the fly
Optional AES encryption to keep sensitive journals secure
Multiple journals to separate personal, work, or project-specific notes
Starred entries for marking important moments
System editor integration for composing longer entries in your preferred editor
Flexible filtering with commands like jrnl -n 20 to view recent entries
Cloud sync support by storing journals in shared folders on services like Dropbox or Google Drive

Perfect for developers, writers, and students who prefer working in the shell. Whether you need quick daily logs, project documentation, or a personal diary, jrnl keeps everything in human-readable plain text that you fully control.