The JD CLI

Tools that help you work at your command-line. They're compatible with bash (3.2+) and zsh and are MIT licensed so you're free to adapt them for other shells.1

Requires the configuration file and jq.

Basic movement

jd 11.11         # cd to a folder by ID
jd tripsy        # cd to a folder by name

Names match by search. If there's more than one, you'll be shown a list. Search ignores case.

jd trip

# jd: 2 matches for 'trip':
#   10-19 Life admin/15 Travel/15.52 Family trip
#   20-29 Hobbies/21 Fun projects/21.15 Replacing Tripsy

You can use multiple search terms.

jd family trip   # cd to 15.52 without ambiguity

If the first term is a number, your search is scoped to that category/area.

jd 21 trip       # cd to 21.15 without ambiguity
jd 20-29 trip    # broader search, same result

It supports movement to any level of your system.

jd               # cd to the system root
jd 20-29         # cd to an area
jd 22            # cd to a category
jd 23.45         # cd to an ID
jd W0189         # cd to a work package

Creates the folder if required

If the filesystem folder doesn't exist and a JDex entry is found, the folder will be created.

jd 67.89         # JDex entry exists; folder does not

# 67.89 <Title> is created and you're taken there

This needs a jdex path in your configuration file, so the tool can read the entry's name.

Only ID folders will be created. If the parent category folder doesn't exist, an error is thrown.

jd 98.76

# jd: the JDex has 98.76 but there is no folder for category 98

Multiple systems

If you have multiple systems, the script detects them from the configuration file and gives you a command for each.

Say I have d25 and p76 defined.

d25 12.34        # <d25 root>/ā€¦/12.34
p76 56.78        # <p76 root>/ā€¦/56.78

jd still works, acting on your default system.

Move to a JDex folder

If your JDex is files on disk (e.g. Obsidian), the jdex verb moves you there.

jd jdex 11.11    # cd to <JDex path>/<11.11's parent folder>

Help

p76 help         # shows all commands
p76 version      # print the version

Known bugs

Many! This tool is very early in its development and will change often. I'll blog changes.

See the repository README for update instructions.

A shorter path in your zsh prompt

Johnny.Decimal paths can be long. This is by design: you should name your folders expressively, for human consumption. But if you show it in your prompt you end up with something like this.

/Users/Shared/D25 Johnny.Decimal/10-19 Business administration/11 The business & its people/11.11 Structure & registrations $

This utility shortens it to only show the system ID and the final path segment.

D25:ā€¦/11.11 Structure & registrations $

Install

The code and installation documentation is at cli.johnnydecimal.com. I won't repeat it here as I'll just forget to update it.

AI attribution

  • Johnny:
    • Designs the utility, i.e. decides what it does and how it behaves.
    • Writes the words on this page.
  • Claude:
    • Writes the code.
    • Writes the text in the repository, e.g. the installation instructions, which Johnny then edits to save you from reading too much Claude šŸ« .

Footnotes

  1. PRs welcome if you do. ā†©