Help
Common questions, plus the data file, keys and source for people who like to tinker.
Check here first
Sync seems to have stopped?
First check that both devices are open and online. On a phone, Zhujian catches up only while it is in the foreground; in the background it is not guaranteed to be live. When a new device has just joined, the old one must be open too, or the new one cannot fetch all the data.
If both are open and it still doesn't move, run the network check: on a computer it is under Settings → About → Diagnostics, on a phone under Settings → Diagnostics. It goes step by step and tells you where it gets stuck. If that doesn't help, email me. On a computer, the last row of that page copies the results as one block of text to paste into the email; on a phone, a screenshot is fine.
Lost your phone?
Your other devices still hold a full copy of your data; only this phone is gone. On a device you still have, open the device list under Sync and remove the lost one, and it can no longer sync through the server.
Two things to know. First, removing it cannot take back what is already on that phone. Zhujian has no app lock of its own, so that part is protected only by the phone's own screen lock. Second, only devices marked “Admin” can remove other devices. If the lost phone was your only admin device, or you want to cut it off completely and replace the whole account's key, email me.
If it was your only device and you had no backup, the data cannot be recovered. Nobody can help with that, including me.
Got a new phone (or computer)? How do I move my data?
If the old device is still around, there is nothing to move by hand. On the old device, open Sync and choose Add device; on the new one, install Zhujian, open Sync, and scan the code or enter the pairing code. All your data comes over by itself. While it does, keep the old device open; if it is a phone, keep the screen on with Zhujian in front.
The same works if you never turned on sync: first create an account under Sync on the old device (no email or phone number needed), then add the new device as above.
Once everything is on the new device, remove the old one from the device list. Uninstalling Zhujian on a phone deletes its data too, so don't rush to uninstall it from the old phone.
Does it cost anything?
It is free to use today, multi-device sync included. Your data sits in a SQLite file on your own device, and the code is open source (MIT). If you ever stop using it, everything is still in your hands.
Data, keyboard, and source
Your data is one SQLite file
On a computer the main space lives here; other spaces are files named by an ID in the same folder:
Windows %APPDATA%\app.zhujian.notebook\notebook.sqlite3 macOS ~/Library/Application Support/app.zhujian.notebook/notebook.sqlite3 Linux ~/.local/share/app.zhujian.notebook/notebook.sqlite3
Notes and tasks share one items table; which column a row sits in tells them apart. The five latest notes:
sqlite3 notebook.sqlite3 "select i.created_at, i.content from items i join board_column c on c.id = i.stage where c.kind = 'idea' and i.archived_at is null order by i.created_at desc limit 5;"
Read it, but I would not edit it. Changes made outside the app are not something it looks after, and if it breaks I may not be able to help you recover. On phones the database sits in the app's private folder and is not reachable.
Or skip the database: on a computer, Settings → Backup & restore → Export as Markdown writes the whole space, images and comments included, as plain .md files any editor can open.
Hands on the keyboard
- Ctrl+Alt+N brings up the slip, Ctrl+Alt+M opens the main window; both can be changed. On a Mac it is Cmd+Alt.
- In the slip, start a line with /: /task saves it as a task, /tag name adds a tag, /space picks another space.
- Every item in a card's ⋯ menu shows a single key: E edit, C copy, L tags, S due date, P priority, B send back, D delete, ] and [ move a column right or left.
- Start a line with - [ ] and it becomes a box you can tick.