From 5759cf29a6808e4f96c52fcdf89cddb69161e495 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Tucker Johnson <tucker@newer.systems>
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 2026 12:55:50 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] note-struct

---
 extras/dmenu-scripts/dm-notepick | 546 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
 1 file changed, 510 insertions(+), 36 deletions(-)

diff --git a/extras/dmenu-scripts/dm-notepick b/extras/dmenu-scripts/dm-notepick
index daa42a5..852e5f1 100755
--- a/extras/dmenu-scripts/dm-notepick
+++ b/extras/dmenu-scripts/dm-notepick
@@ -1,39 +1,513 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
-
+#
+# dmenu-notes — dmenu front end for a front-matter-driven markdown notes tree.
+#
 # Tucker Johnson (git.newer.systems) (tucker@newer.systems)
+#
+# Expects a tree along these lines:
+#
+#   $NOTES/
+#     teaching/classes/<course>/<term>/
+#     teaching/lessons/<lastname-firstname>/
+#     compositions/<piece>/
+#     studies/  projects/  inbox/  ref/  meta/  archive/
+#     calendar/            (institution-split .rem tree; see $NOTES_CALENDAR)
+#     check-out.md  todo.txt
+#
+# Paths are canonical; front matter is authoritative. This script writes only
+# the keys a human must decide, then hands the file to notes-lint --fix, which
+# fills in everything the path (or another key) already determines. The
+# derivation rules live in exactly one place: $NOTES/meta/schema.md, as
+# implemented by $NOTES/meta/notes-lint.
+
+set -o pipefail
+
+notes="${NOTES:-$HOME/Notes}"
+notes="${notes%/}"
+calendar="${NOTES_CALENDAR:-$notes/calendar}"
+calendar="${calendar%/}"
+editor="${EDITOR:-vi}"
+lint="${NOTES_LINT:-$notes/meta/notes-lint}"
+gitea="${NOTES_GITEA:-http://elektra:3000/tuckerj}"
+termemu="${TERMINAL:-st}"
+
+# Directories skipped when listing recent notes.
+prune_names=(.git .obsidian node_modules)
+prune_paths=("$notes/archive")
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------- helpers ---
+
+die() { printf '%s\n' "$*" >&2; exit 1; }
+
+menu()   { dmenu -l 20 -i -p "$1"; }
+ask()    { dmenu -p "$1" </dev/null; }   # free text; returns what you typed
+
+open_file() {
+	mkdir -p "$(dirname "$1")" || return 1
+	setsid -f "$termemu" -e "$editor" "$1" >/dev/null 2>&1
+}
+
+open_at_end() {
+	mkdir -p "$(dirname "$1")" || return 1
+	set -- "$editor" "$1"          # $1 = editor word(s), $2 = file
+	case "${editor%% *}" in
+		*vim|*vi|*nvim) setsid -f $editor + "$2" >/dev/null 2>&1 ;;
+		*)              setsid -f $editor "$2" >/dev/null 2>&1 ;;
+	esac
+}
+
+# slug "Jane Smith — Viola"  ->  jane-smith-viola
+slug() {
+	printf '%s' "$1" \
+		| tr 'A-Z' 'a-z' \
+		| tr -cs 'a-z0-9' '-' \
+		| sed 's/^-*//; s/-*$//'
+}
+
+# Current term slug, e.g. 2026-spring
+current_term() {
+	local y m
+	y=$(date +%Y); m=$(date +%-m)
+	if   [ "$m" -ge 8 ]; then printf '%s-fall' "$y"
+	elif [ "$m" -le 5 ]; then printf '%s-spring' "$y"
+	else printf '%s-summer' "$y"; fi
+}
+
+find_prune_expr() {
+	local first=1 n p
+	printf '('
+	for n in "${prune_names[@]}"; do
+		[ $first -eq 1 ] || printf ' -o'
+		printf ' -name %s' "$n"; first=0
+	done
+	for p in "${prune_paths[@]}"; do
+		printf ' -o -path %s' "$p"
+	done
+	printf ' )'
+}
+
+# All notes, newest first, paths relative to $notes.
+list_notes() {
+	# shellcheck disable=SC2046
+	find "$notes" $(find_prune_expr) -prune -o \
+		-type f \( -name '*.md' -o -name '*.rem' -o -name '*.txt' \) \
+		-printf '%T@ %P\n' 2>/dev/null | sort -nr | cut -d' ' -f2-
+}
+
+# All directories under a base, relative, with "." first so you can pick the
+# base itself. Typing a path that does not exist creates it.
+pickdir() {
+	local base="$1" label="${2:-Directory}" rel
+	mkdir -p "$base" || return 1
+	rel="$( { printf '.\n'
+	          cd "$base" && find . -mindepth 1 -type d -not -path '*/.git*' \
+	                             -printf '%P\n' 2>/dev/null | sort
+	        } | menu "$label (type a new one to create): " )" || return 1
+	[ -z "$rel" ] && return 1
+	rel="${rel#./}"
+	[ "$rel" = "." ] && rel=""
+	mkdir -p "$base/$rel" || return 1
+	printf '%s' "${base}${rel:+/$rel}"
+}
+
+# ----------------------------------------------------------- front matter ---
+
+# Emit a front matter block on stdout: fm <type> [extra yaml lines...]
+#
+# Authored keys only. No id, no composition/course/term/people, and no
+# md2pdfpy — the first group is derived by notes-lint, and md2pdfpy belongs
+# only on documents you actually print, naming a template that exists.
+fm() {
+	local type="$1"; shift
+	printf -- '---\n'
+	printf 'type: %s\n' "$type"
+	local line
+	for line in "$@"; do printf '%s\n' "$line"; done
+	printf -- '---\n\n'
+}
+
+# Write front matter only if the file is new, then let the linter fill in the
+# derived keys. Running logs get appended to for years; never staple a second
+# block onto the top of one.
+seed() {
+	local file="$1"; shift
+	[ -e "$file" ] && return 0
+	mkdir -p "$(dirname "$file")" || return 1
+	fm "$@" > "$file"
+	[ -x "$lint" ] && "$lint" --root "$notes" --fix "$file" >/dev/null 2>&1
+	return 0
+}
+
+# Closed vocabulary; see meta/schema.md.
+pick_institution() {
+	printf '%s\n' eastman ecms fredonia private | menu 'Institution: '
+}
+
+# ------------------------------------------------------------ note makers ---
+
+new_lesson() {
+	local dir student file
+	dir="$(pickdir "$notes/teaching/lessons" 'Student')" || return 0
+	student="$(basename "$dir")"
+	[ "$student" = "lessons" ] && { student="$(slug "$(ask 'New student (lastname-firstname): ')")"
+	                                [ -z "$student" ] && return 0
+	                                dir="$notes/teaching/lessons/$student"; }
+
+	# Durable profile, created once per student. institution is derived from
+	# enrollment, so only the history is ever authored.
+	if [ ! -e "$dir/index.md" ]; then
+		local inst; inst="$(pick_institution)" || return 0
+		[ -z "$inst" ] && return 0
+		seed "$dir/index.md" student \
+			"discipline: composition" \
+			"aliases: []" \
+			"focus: []" \
+			"excluded: []" \
+			"tools: []" \
+			"enrollment:" \
+			"  - institution: $inst" \
+			"    from: $(date +%Y-%m)" \
+			"    to: null"
+	fi
+
+	file="$dir/log.md"
+	seed "$file" log
+
+	printf '\n## %s \n\n' "$(date +%F)" >> "$file"
+	open_at_end "$file"
+}
+
+new_class() {
+	local dir course term file
+	dir="$(pickdir "$notes/teaching/classes" 'Course')" || return 0
+	course="$(basename "$dir")"
+	[ "$course" = "classes" ] && { course="$(slug "$(ask 'New course: ')")"
+	                               [ -z "$course" ] && return 0
+	                               dir="$notes/teaching/classes/$course"; }
+
+	term="$(ask "Term [$(current_term)]: ")" || return 0
+	: "${term:=$(current_term)}"
+	term="$(slug "$term")"
+
+	local name; name="$(ask 'Note name (blank for today): ')" || return 0
+	: "${name:=$(date +%F)}"
+	name="$(slug "$name")"
+
+	file="$dir/$term/$name.md"
+	if [ ! -e "$file" ]; then
+		local type inst
+		case "$name" in
+			syllabus) type=syllabus ;;
+			*)        type=note ;;
+		esac
+		inst="$(pick_institution)" || return 0
+		[ -z "$inst" ] && return 0
+		seed "$file" "$type" "institution: [$inst]"
+	fi
+	open_file "$file"
+}
+
+# Pieces are entities: the directory gets an index, leaves get a document type.
+new_composition() {
+	local dir piece file name type
+	dir="$(pickdir "$notes/compositions" 'Piece')" || return 0
+	piece="$(basename "$dir")"
+	[ "$piece" = "compositions" ] && { piece="$(slug "$(ask 'New piece: ')")"
+	                                   [ -z "$piece" ] && return 0
+	                                   dir="$notes/compositions/$piece"; }
+
+	seed "$dir/index.md" composition "status: active"
+
+	name="$(ask 'Note name (blank for the piece index): ')" || return 0
+	if [ -z "$name" ]; then
+		file="$dir/index.md"
+	else
+		name="$(slug "$name")"
+		file="$dir/$name.md"
+		if [ ! -e "$file" ]; then
+			type="$(printf '%s\n' note sketch analysis journal | menu 'Type: ')" \
+				|| return 0
+			: "${type:=note}"
+			seed "$file" "$type"
+		fi
+	fi
+	open_file "$file"
+}
+
+# Courses live directly under studies/, so the two reserved names are filtered
+# out here; see "Reserved names under studies/" in meta/schema.md.
+pick_course() {
+	local base="$notes/studies" rel
+	mkdir -p "$base" || return 1
+	rel="$( { cd "$base" && find . -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d -printf '%P\n' \
+	            2>/dev/null | grep -vxE 'dissertation|independent' | sort
+	        } | menu 'Course (type a new one to create): ' )" || return 1
+	[ -z "$rel" ] && return 1
+	printf '%s' "$(slug "$rel")"
+}
+
+# Coursework: studies/<course>/<term>/<name>.md
+new_study_course() {
+	local course term name type inst file
+	course="$(pick_course)" || return 0
+	[ -z "$course" ] && return 0
+
+	term="$(ask "Term [$(current_term)]: ")" || return 0
+	: "${term:=$(current_term)}"
+	term="$(slug "$term")"
+
+	name="$(ask 'Name (blank for today): ')" || return 0
+	: "${name:=$(date +%F)}"
+	name="$(slug "$name")"
+
+	file="$notes/studies/$course/$term/$name.md"
+	if [ ! -e "$file" ]; then
+		type="$(printf '%s\n' note reading paper research assignment \
+		                      presentation analysis | menu 'Type: ')" || return 0
+		: "${type:=note}"
+		inst="$(pick_institution)" || return 0
+		[ -z "$inst" ] && return 0
+		seed "$file" "$type" "institution: [$inst]" "date: $(date +%F)"
+	fi
+	open_file "$file"
+}
+
+# Long-form study: a dissertation or an independent-study topic. Both are
+# project entities with an index and freely-named leaves.
+new_study_long() {
+	local dir name type inst file
+	dir="$1"
+	if [ ! -e "$dir/index.md" ]; then
+		inst="$(pick_institution)" || return 0
+		[ -z "$inst" ] && return 0
+		seed "$dir/index.md" project "status: active" "institution: [$inst]"
+	fi
+
+	name="$(ask 'Name (blank for the index): ')" || return 0
+	if [ -z "$name" ]; then
+		file="$dir/index.md"
+	else
+		name="$(slug "$name")"
+		file="$dir/$name.md"
+		if [ ! -e "$file" ]; then
+			type="$(printf '%s\n' note research paper analysis sketch journal \
+				| menu 'Type: ')" || return 0
+			: "${type:=note}"
+			seed "$file" "$type"
+		fi
+	fi
+	open_file "$file"
+}
+
+new_study() {
+	local kind topic
+	kind="$(printf '%s\n' course dissertation independent | menu 'Study: ')" \
+		|| return 0
+	case "$kind" in
+		course)       new_study_course ;;
+		dissertation) new_study_long "$notes/studies/dissertation" ;;
+		independent)
+			topic="$(pickdir "$notes/studies/independent" 'Topic')" || return 0
+			[ "$(basename "$topic")" = independent ] && {
+				topic="$(slug "$(ask 'New topic: ')")"
+				[ -z "$topic" ] && return 0
+				topic="$notes/studies/independent/$topic"; }
+			new_study_long "$topic" ;;
+		*) return 0 ;;
+	esac
+}
+
+# Projects document something that lives outside the notes tree. tracks points
+# at the canonical remote, never a local path — these notes sync across
+# machines, so ~/Documents/... is wrong everywhere but one. See meta/schema.md.
+new_project() {
+	local dir project file name type tracks
+	dir="$(pickdir "$notes/projects" 'Project')" || return 0
+	project="$(basename "$dir")"
+	[ "$project" = "projects" ] && { project="$(slug "$(ask 'New project: ')")"
+	                                 [ -z "$project" ] && return 0
+	                                 dir="$notes/projects/$project"; }
+
+	if [ ! -e "$dir/index.md" ]; then
+		# The Gitea convention is offered first; anything else can be typed,
+		# and "(none)" suits a project that documents hardware, not a repo.
+		tracks="$(printf '%s\n' "$gitea/$project.git" '(none)' | menu 'Tracks: ')" \
+			|| return 0
+		[ "$tracks" = '(none)' ] && tracks=""
+		if [ -n "$tracks" ]; then
+			seed "$dir/index.md" project "status: active" "tracks: [$tracks]"
+		else
+			seed "$dir/index.md" project "status: active"
+		fi
+	fi
+
+	name="$(ask 'Note name (blank for the project index): ')" || return 0
+	if [ -z "$name" ]; then
+		file="$dir/index.md"
+	else
+		name="$(slug "$name")"
+		file="$dir/$name.md"
+		if [ ! -e "$file" ]; then
+			type="$(printf '%s\n' note sketch analysis journal | menu 'Type: ')" \
+				|| return 0
+			: "${type:=note}"
+			seed "$file" "$type"
+		fi
+	fi
+	open_file "$file"
+}
+
+# inbox/ and ref/ are deliberately outside the schema (meta/schema.md), so
+# these are created bare — no front matter at all.
+new_plain() {
+	local base="$1" name file
+	name="$(ask 'Name (blank for today): ')" || return 0
+	: "${name:=$(date +%F)}"
+	file="$notes/$base/$(slug "$name").md"
+	mkdir -p "$(dirname "$file")" || return 1
+	[ -e "$file" ] || : > "$file"
+	open_file "$file"
+}
+
+new_calendar() {
+	local dir name file
+	dir="$(pickdir "$calendar" 'Calendar directory')" || return 0
+	name="$(slug "$(ask 'Name: ')")" || return 0
+	[ -z "$name" ] && return 0
+	file="$dir/$name.rem"
+	if [ ! -e "$file" ]; then
+		mkdir -p "$dir"
+		printf '# %s\n# included by %s\n\n' "$name" "$calendar/calendar.rem" > "$file"
+	fi
+	open_file "$file"
+}
+
+newnote() {
+	local type
+	type="$(printf '%s\n' lesson class composition study project inbox ref calendar \
+		| menu 'Note type: ')" || return 0
+	case "$type" in
+		lesson)      new_lesson ;;
+		class)       new_class ;;
+		composition) new_composition ;;
+		study)       new_study ;;
+		project)     new_project ;;
+		inbox)       new_plain inbox ;;
+		ref)         new_plain ref ;;
+		calendar)    new_calendar ;;
+		*)           return 0 ;;
+	esac
+}
+
+# ------------------------------------------------- front matter query mode ---
+
+# Files whose front matter has <key> matching <regex>. Handles both inline
+# values and "  - item" continuation lists. No nextfile/gawk extensions used.
+fm_files() {
+	local key="$1" val="$2"
+	# shellcheck disable=SC2046
+	find "$notes" $(find_prune_expr) -prune -o -type f -name '*.md' -print0 2>/dev/null \
+	| xargs -0 -r awk -v K="$key" -v V="$val" '
+		FNR == 1 { infm = 0; started = 0; hit = 0; key = "" }
+		/^---[[:space:]]*$/ {
+			if (!started) { started = 1; infm = 1; next }
+			if (infm) { infm = 0; if (hit) print FILENAME; next }
+		}
+		infm {
+			if ($0 ~ /^[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*:/) {
+				key = $0; sub(/:.*/, "", key)
+				rest = $0; sub(/^[^:]*:[[:space:]]*/, "", rest)
+			} else {
+				rest = $0; sub(/^[[:space:]]*-[[:space:]]*/, "", rest)
+			}
+			gsub(/^[\[ ]+|[\] ]+$/, "", rest)
+			if (key == K && rest != "" && rest ~ V) hit = 1
+		}
+	'
+}
+
+# Distinct values seen for a key, across the whole tree. This is the vocabulary
+# check: if "fredonia" and "Fredonia" both show up here, fix them now.
+fm_values() {
+	local key="$1"
+	# shellcheck disable=SC2046
+	find "$notes" $(find_prune_expr) -prune -o -type f -name '*.md' -print0 2>/dev/null \
+	| xargs -0 -r awk -v K="$key" '
+		FNR == 1 { infm = 0; started = 0; key = "" }
+		/^---[[:space:]]*$/ {
+			if (!started) { started = 1; infm = 1; next }
+			if (infm) { infm = 0; next }
+		}
+		infm {
+			if ($0 ~ /^[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*:/) {
+				key = $0; sub(/:.*/, "", key)
+				rest = $0; sub(/^[^:]*:[[:space:]]*/, "", rest)
+			} else {
+				rest = $0; sub(/^[[:space:]]*-[[:space:]]*/, "", rest)
+			}
+			if (key != K) next
+			gsub(/^[\[ ]+|[\] ]+$/, "", rest)
+			n = split(rest, parts, /[[:space:]]*,[[:space:]]*/)
+			for (i = 1; i <= n; i++)
+				if (parts[i] != "") print parts[i]
+		}
+	' | sort -u
+}
+
+fm_keys() {
+	# shellcheck disable=SC2046
+	find "$notes" $(find_prune_expr) -prune -o -type f -name '*.md' -print0 2>/dev/null \
+	| xargs -0 -r awk '
+		FNR == 1 { infm = 0; started = 0 }
+		/^---[[:space:]]*$/ {
+			if (!started) { started = 1; infm = 1; next }
+			if (infm) { infm = 0; next }
+		}
+		infm && /^[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*:/ { k = $0; sub(/:.*/, "", k); print k }
+	' | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr | sed 's/^ *[0-9]* //'
+}
+
+query() {
+	local key val file
+	key="$(fm_keys | menu 'Key: ')" || return 0
+	[ -z "$key" ] && return 0
+	val="$(fm_values "$key" | menu "$key = ")" || return 0
+	[ -z "$val" ] && return 0
+	file="$(fm_files "$key" "$val" | sed "s|^$notes/||" | sort | menu 'Match: ')" || return 0
+	[ -n "$file" ] && open_file "$notes/$file"
+}
+
+# --------------------------------------------------------------- dispatch ---
+
+main() {
+	[ -d "$notes" ] || die "notes directory not found: $notes"
+	command -v dmenu >/dev/null || die 'dmenu not found'
+
+	local choice
+	choice="$( { printf '%s\n' \
+			'+ new note' \
+			'+ find by front matter' \
+			'+ todo.txt' \
+			'+ check-out.md' \
+			'+ calendar.rem' \
+			'+ lint notes'
+		     list_notes
+		   } | menu 'Note: ' )" || exit 0
+
+	case "$choice" in
+		'')                       exit 0 ;;
+		'+ new note')             newnote ;;
+		'+ find by front matter') query ;;
+		'+ todo.txt')             open_file "$notes/todo.txt" ;;
+		'+ check-out.md')         open_file "$notes/check-out.md" ;;
+		'+ calendar.rem')         open_file "$calendar/calendar.rem" ;;
+		'+ lint notes')           setsid -f "$termemu" -e sh -c \
+		                              "'$lint' --root '$notes'; \
+		                               printf '\n[enter to close] '; read _" \
+		                              >/dev/null 2>&1 ;;
+		*.md|*.rem|*.txt)         open_file "$notes/$choice" ;;
+		*)                        exit 0 ;;
+	esac
+}
 
-# This script is to add out-of the box features to my dmenu build. If you want
-# to make changes, make them in the source directory and reinstall.
-
-folder="${NOTES:-$HOME/Notes}"
-
-newnote () { \
-  fType="$(echo -e "markdown\ngroff_ms\nspreadsheet\ncalendar" | dmenu -i -p 'File type: ')" || exit 0
-  dir="$(command ls -d "$folder" "$folder"*/ | dmenu -i -p 'Choose directory: ')" || exit 0
-  : "${dir:=$folder}"
-  name="$(echo "" | dmenu -p "Enter a name: " <&-)" || exit 0
-  : "${name:=$(date +%F_%H-%M-%S)}"
-  case $fType in
-    markdown) setsid -f "$TERMINAL" -e $EDITOR $dir$name".md" >/dev/null 2>&1 ;;
-    groff_ms) setsid -f "$TERMINAL" -e $EDITOR $dir$name".ms" >/dev/null 2>&1 ;;
-    spreadsheet) setsid -f "$TERMINAL" -e sc-im $dir$name".sc" >/dev/null 2>&1 ;;
-    calendar) setsid -f "$TERMINAL" -e $EDITOR $dir$name".rem" >/dev/null 2>&1 ;;
-    *) exit ;;
-  esac
-}
-
-selected () { \
-  choice=$(
-    echo -e "New\n$(find $folder -type f -printf '%T@ %P\n' | sort -nr | cut -d' ' -f2-)" | dmenu -l 20 -i -p "Choose note or create new: "
-  )
-  case $choice in
-    New) newnote ;;
-    *.md) setsid -f "$TERMINAL" -e $EDITOR "$folder/$choice" >/dev/null 2>&1 ;;
-    *.sc) setsid -f "$TERMINAL" -e sc-im "$folder/$choice" >/dev/null 2>&1 ;;
-    *.ms) setsid -f "$TERMINAL" -e $EDITOR "$folder/$choice" >/dev/null 2>&1 ;;
-    *.rem) setsid -f "$TERMINAL" -e $EDITOR "$folder/$choice" >/dev/null 2>&1 ;;
-    *) exit ;;
-  esac
-}
-
-selected
+main "$@"
-- 
2.39.5