Opening Journal Entries
Use :journalOpen <ref> to open or create any journal entry.
If the entry does not exist yet, Fern creates it, applying a template if one is configured for that period.
Relative references
These references resolve relative to today's date. Hyphens and spaces are interchangeable, so this-week and this week work identically.
Daily
| Reference | Entry opened |
|---|---|
today |
Today |
yesterday |
Yesterday |
tomorrow |
Tomorrow |
Weekly
| Reference | Entry opened |
|---|---|
this-week or current-week |
The current week |
last-week or previous-week |
The previous week |
next-week |
The next week |
Monthly
| Reference | Entry opened |
|---|---|
this-month or current-month |
The current month |
last-month or previous-month |
The previous month |
next-month |
Next month |
Yearly
| Reference | Entry opened |
|---|---|
this-year or current-year |
The current year |
last-year or previous-year |
Last year |
next-year |
Next year |
Absolute references
You can open any specific entry by date.
| Format | Period | Example |
|---|---|---|
YYYY-MM-DD |
Daily | :journalOpen 2026-03-15 |
YYYY/MM/DD |
Daily | :journalOpen 2026/03/15 |
MM/DD/YYYY |
Daily | :journalOpen 03/15/2026 |
YYYY-WNN |
Weekly | :journalOpen 2026-W11 |
YYYY-MM |
Monthly | :journalOpen 2026-03 |
YYYY |
Yearly | :journalOpen 2026 |
The week number in YYYY-WNN follows the same convention as your week_start config setting (ISO week numbering for Monday, Sunday-anchored for Sunday).
Deleting an entry
:journalDelete <ref>
Accepts the same reference formats as :journalOpen. The file is deleted from disk immediately. There is no undoing once you confirm you want to delete. Use with care!
Using the command palette
All journal actions are also available in the command palette (ctrl+p).
Search for "journal" to see them listed.