Changing "Open Today's Journal Note" default location

[SpaceRaceMouse]

Hello,
Is it possible and if it is how can I accomplish the following.

When I press "Open Today's Journal Note" it saves it in the following directory structure
Journal
-> Year
----> Month
------> Note

I wish for the note to be created at the root level of Journal instead i.e.
Journal
-> Note

Any help is appreciated and please forgive my ineptness

[dosubot[bot]]

Hi @SpaceRaceMouse! I'm Dosu and I’m helping the Notes team.

Yes, you can change where "Open Today's Journal Note" creates new notes by setting the calendar root. To do this, apply the label calendarRoot to your desired "Journal" note. This will make all new daily notes appear directly under "Journal" instead of in year/month subfolders. Only one note should have the calendarRoot label at a time unless you use workspaces. More details and examples are available in the documentation and discussions (source).

If you want even more control, you can use a custom launch bar script to specify exactly where the note should go. Here’s an example script you can use in the launch bar:

const noteId = await api.runOnBackend(() => {
    const journalRootId = 'YOUR_JOURNAL_NOTE_ID'; // Replace with your Journal note's ID
    const rootNode = api.getNote(journalRootId);
    const todayNode = api.getTodayNote(rootNode);            
    return todayNode.noteId;
});
await api.waitUntilSynced();
await api.activateNote(noteId);

Replace 'YOUR_JOURNAL_NOTE_ID' with the actual note ID of your "Journal" note. This will create today's note directly under "Journal" (source).

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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[SpaceRaceMouse]

Thanks @dosu I have managed to create the script note with the above code.

This does create a new note but it creates it in the exact same structure as the original "Open Today's Journal Note" button. Is there a way I can adjust the code to change the structure so the note isn't created within subfolders.

[SpaceRaceMouse]

Thanks @dosu

There are warnings with the first two lines that values are assigned but neither "journalRootId" or "todayTitle" are used in the script.

Running the script also gives the following warnings:

1:
"You're passing an async function to api.runOnBackend() which will likely not work as you intended.\nEither make the function synchronous (by removing async keyword), or use api.runAsyncOnBackendWithManualTransactionHandling()."

2:
"Execution of JS note "customjournalnote" with ID wUyQ1Ra5pOL2 failed with error: Load of script note "customjournalnote" (wUyQ1Ra5pOL2) failed with: server error: Transaction function cannot return a promise"

[dosubot[bot]]

You’re seeing those warnings because the variables journalRootId and todayTitle are declared but not used—just remove them to clean up the script.

The main issue is that api.runOnBackend() only works with synchronous functions. Passing an async function (or one that returns a Promise) causes the warning and the “Transaction function cannot return a promise” error. To fix this, use api.runAsyncOnBackendWithManualTransactionHandling() and wrap your backend logic in api.transactional() for manual transaction management, as TriliumNext does not handle transactions automatically in this mode reference.

Here’s a corrected script that creates or opens today’s note directly under your Journal note (no subfolders):

const noteId = await api.runAsyncOnBackendWithManualTransactionHandling(({ becca, api }) => {
    const parentNoteId = 'YOUR_JOURNAL_NOTE_ID'; // Replace with your Journal note's ID
    const title = (new Date()).toISOString().slice(0, 10);

    return api.transactional(() => {
        const children = becca.getNote(parentNoteId).children;
        const existing = children.find(child => child.title === title);
        if (existing) return existing.noteId;
        return becca.createTextNote(parentNoteId, title, '').noteId;
    });
});
await api.waitUntilSynced();
await api.activateNote(noteId);

Replace 'YOUR_JOURNAL_NOTE_ID' with your actual Journal note ID. This script avoids the async/sync mismatch and ensures all DB operations are inside a transaction reference.

Let me know if you need help finding your Journal note’s ID!

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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[SpaceRaceMouse]

Thanks @dosu, I am seeing the following errors when trying to run the latest script:

"You're passing a synchronous function to api.runAsyncOnBackendWithManualTransactionHandling(),\nwhile you should likely use api.runOnBackend() instead."

"Execution of JS note "customjournalnote" with ID wUyQ1Ra5pOL2 failed with error: Load of script note "customjournalnote" (wUyQ1Ra5pOL2) failed with: server error: Load of script note "customjournalnote" (wUyQ1Ra5pOL2) failed with: Cannot destructure property 'becca' of 'undefined' as it is undefined."

[dosubot[bot]]

The errors are happening because:

1. api.runAsyncOnBackendWithManualTransactionHandling() expects an async function with manual transaction handling, but your function is synchronous—so Trilium suggests using api.runOnBackend() instead.
2. The destructuring error (Cannot destructure property 'becca' of 'undefined') happens because the backend function you pass to api.runOnBackend() or api.runAsyncOnBackendWithManualTransactionHandling() does not receive any parameters by default. You should access backend APIs (like api.getNote, api.createTextNote) directly via the provided api object, not by destructuring becca from parameters.

Here’s a corrected script that creates or opens today’s note directly under your Journal note (no subfolders), using only synchronous code and api.runOnBackend():

const noteId = await api.runOnBackend(() => {
    const parentNoteId = 'YOUR_JOURNAL_NOTE_ID'; // Replace with your Journal note's ID
    const title = (new Date()).toISOString().slice(0, 10);

    // Get all direct children of the Journal note
    const parent = api.getNote(parentNoteId);
    const children = parent.children || [];
    const existing = children.find(child => child.title === title);
    if (existing) return existing.noteId;

    // Create new note if not found
    return api.createTextNote(parentNoteId, title, '').note.noteId;
});
await api.waitUntilSynced();
await api.activateNote(noteId);

Replace 'YOUR_JOURNAL_NOTE_ID' with your actual Journal note ID. This script works because api.runOnBackend() automatically manages transactions and provides the necessary backend API methods directly—no need to destructure or reference becca yourself.

If you need help finding your Journal note’s ID, let me know!

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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[SpaceRaceMouse]

Thats working! Good bot :)