Notes, in blocks
blk/txt is a notes app for dated notes, logs and agent journals.
Searchable blocks
It turns the notes and logs you already keep into searchable blocks you can count and open.
Counts that open
blk/txt groups notes by week and day, with each count linking to its entries.
Tickets and summaries
blk/txt uses those entries to reconstruct a ticket’s history and provide sources for a summary.
Your originals
Your plain text files remain unchanged when blk/txt imports them.
Logs and agents
blk/txt imports supported access logs, syslog and JSON lines alongside notes. It gives each agent a separate token for posting entries.
Plain text users
People and agents can use blk/txt to search dated plain text notes and logs and follow recorded changes.
One plan
It costs 8 dollars a month or 72 dollars a year, and the trial needs no account and ends after 48 hours of inactivity.
Chased TICK-1842 with @dana, prod tunnel to the VPN still dropping.
My dated work notes
I kept dated work notes with ticket references and wanted to search them. I found that those entries could also reconstruct ticket histories, reveal recurring issues and provide sources for project summaries.
Ticket history
blk/txt lists matching ticket entries in date order with the surrounding sentence.
Recurring issues
For tickets and phrases, blk/txt counts mentions and links each count to its entries.
Summaries with sources
You can select entries and export them as one file that opens without an account, with the figures and their sources beside them.
Searchable dated notes
blk/txt turns dated plain text into searchable blocks and recognises the identifiers you track. It also imports supported access logs, syslog and JSON lines.
- 01 · source
Original text files
Dated notes from
.txt,.mdor.logfiles become blk/txt blocks without changes to the originals. - 02 · parse
Editable matching rules
blk/txt recognises tickets, tags, mentions and metrics using rules you can change. Its preview shows affected matches and warns when it could not check the whole input.
- 03 · index
Search and import history
Your unlocked imported notes are searchable in blk/txt, which reports what each import added or skipped. It can rebuild search from your source text.
- 04 · read
Web and mobile access
blk/txt uses the same account on the web and your phone, and accepts notes from your tools through its JSON API.
Custom entity types
blk/txt recognises date headers and common identifiers such as ticket IDs, tags, mentions, environments and web links. You can add your own types, reject false matches and preview changes before saving. It suggests recurring fields from at least five blocks, with examples and counterexamples for review. A suggested type joins your rules only after you approve it.
Before applying rule changes, blk/txt checks saved examples and asks you to confirm any broken match. A search can still find ‘the thing broke again’ by its words, though blk/txt has no identifier linking it to other reports.
Presets in blk/txt cover incidents, research, support, journal and agents, with rules you can adjust. For sharing, blk/txt exports the rules you taught without notes and previews someone else’s rules before importing them.
Nested note blocks
blk/txt opens block counts onto their notes without a search and groups agent entries from other machines in the same account, where their counts open the same way. Its timelines distinguish days with writing but no subject mention from days with no writing, including a count of days without writing in each quiet stretch. Agent entries and logs do not count as writing activity.
Notes without times
Notes without a recorded time keep their date in blk/txt, which lists them under "any time" instead of assigning an hour.
Ticket mentions by day
For INC-9021, blk/txt groups mentions by day, with each count opening the notes it counts.
Agent posting tokens
Agents on different machines can post entries to blk/txt through revocable tokens. It groups those entries by agent and day and shows subjects that two agents mentioned on the same day.
Daily and weekly digests
Daily and weekly agent digests open in blk/txt, and connected agents can check open loose ends before starting work. It names the agent behind each supplied summary and excludes those summaries from note counts.
Values and loose ends
Recorded values appear inside notes in blk/txt. Its loose ends view lists subjects with an opening note but no matching closing note. It also summarises logs by hour and exports selected blocks for sharing.
Values inside notes
Inside notes, blk/txt shows counts such as {{ count ticket:INC-9021 in 30d }} and latest readings such as {{ latest p95 }}, with links to their supporting blocks. These use subjects and metrics you track. Set views show up to 20 subjects: {{ timeline ticket:INC-9021 }} shows mention days with days without writing marked separately, and {{ open ticket:* }} lists tickets with open loose ends. Tables such as {{ rows #release show version, shipped }} show recorded fields, including version: and shipped:, and display “not written” where a selected field is missing.
Open loose ends
For tracked subjects, blk/txt lists opening notes that lack a matching closing note dated later, and you can edit its opening and closing phrases or dismiss an item. Each result quotes its opening note, identifies the matching rule and gives the count of recent blocks checked. A closing note phrased differently can leave an item on the list.
Hourly log summaries
Hourly summaries in blk/txt remain after it removes the raw log lines. Each summary opens its raw lines while they remain available, and a source with no lines in the selected window shows its latest recorded date.
The numbers
| Hour | Log lines |
|---|---|
| 08:00 | 120 |
| 09:00 | 180 |
| 10:00 | 320 |
| 11:00 | 412 |
| 12:00 | 250 |
| 13:00 | 140 |
| 14:00 | 90 |
| 15:00 | 200 |
| 16:00 | 280 |
| 17:00 | 160 |
| 18:00 | 100 |
| 19:00 | 60 |
| Total | 2312 |
Shareable offline files
With selected unlocked blocks, blk/txt creates one export file readable without an account. It freezes instrument values at export, and their links work when the file includes every supporting block.
Letters about changes
blk/txt’s letter lists newly quiet subjects, first appearances, changed numbers and newly opened loose ends. Each item links to its supporting notes.
Newly quiet subjects
blk/txt reports a subject when it first qualifies as quiet in the selected period, by default after 30 days without a mention. It leaves that subject out of later letters while it remains quiet.
Saved letter figures
Saved letters appear newest first in blk/txt, with each letter’s recorded figures preserved. When you lock a source block, blk/txt removes its material from saved letters.
Shared reporting periods
Within each reporting period, blk/txt groups subjects without claiming that one caused another.
Related subject notes
blk/txt links tracked subjects and dates to their notes and shows each metric’s latest reading and earlier changes. It displays relationships you explicitly recorded between tickets, including addresses:, reverses:, follows: and led to:. Shared mentions appear separately and do not establish a cause. Its data figures link to supporting blocks and include captions, tables, CSV and SVG exports and styles for printing and electronic paper. The file format page explains how to record relationships.
Daily block counts
- no blocks
- 1 block
- 2 to 3 blocks
- 4 to 6 blocks
- 7 or more blocks
The numbers, by week
| Week of | Blocks | Busiest day |
|---|---|---|
| Mon 30 Mar 2026 | 21 | Fri 3 Apr 2026, 8 |
| Mon 6 Apr 2026 | 21 | Mon 6 Apr 2026, 8 |
| Mon 13 Apr 2026 | 9 | Thu 16 Apr 2026, 4 |
| Mon 20 Apr 2026 | 17 | Wed 22 Apr 2026, 6 |
| Mon 27 Apr 2026 | 20 | Fri 1 May 2026, 6 |
| Mon 4 May 2026 | 20 | Fri 8 May 2026, 8 |
| Mon 11 May 2026 | 12 | Tue 12 May 2026, 6 |
| Mon 18 May 2026 | 15 | Wed 20 May 2026, 5 |
| Mon 25 May 2026 | 12 | Mon 25 May 2026, 4 |
| Mon 1 Jun 2026 | 16 | Mon 1 Jun 2026, 4 |
| Mon 8 Jun 2026 | 13 | Wed 10 Jun 2026, 5 |
| Mon 15 Jun 2026 | 23 | Tue 16 Jun 2026, 8 |
| Mon 22 Jun 2026 | 29 | Mon 22 Jun 2026, 8 |
| Mon 29 Jun 2026 | 11 | Fri 3 Jul 2026, 6 |
| Mon 6 Jul 2026 | 18 | Fri 10 Jul 2026, 8 |
| Mon 13 Jul 2026 | 12 | Mon 13 Jul 2026, 4 |
| Mon 20 Jul 2026 | 23 | Fri 24 Jul 2026, 8 |
| Mon 27 Jul 2026 | 20 | Mon 27 Jul 2026, 8 |
| Mon 3 Aug 2026 | 12 | Tue 4 Aug 2026, 4 |
| Mon 10 Aug 2026 | 22 | Tue 11 Aug 2026, 8 |
| Mon 17 Aug 2026 | 20 | Tue 18 Aug 2026, 8 |
| Mon 24 Aug 2026 | 13 | Tue 25 Aug 2026, 6 |
| Mon 31 Aug 2026 | 18 | Fri 4 Sep 2026, 5 |
| Mon 7 Sep 2026 | 12 | Mon 7 Sep 2026, 4 |
| Mon 14 Sep 2026 | 15 | Tue 15 Sep 2026, 8 |
| Mon 21 Sep 2026 | 14 | Tue 22 Sep 2026, 4 |
| Total | 438 |
TICK-1842 across three weeks
- a day with a mention
- nothing written
- written, no mention
The numbers
| Day | Blocks |
|---|---|
| Thu 2 Jul 2026 | 2 |
| Fri 3 Jul 2026 | 1 |
| Tue 7 Jul 2026 | 1 |
| Sat 11 Jul 2026 | 2 |
| Thu 16 Jul 2026 | 1 |
| Sun 19 Jul 2026 | 3 |
| Total | 10 |
Metric reading history
The numbers
| Day | Readings |
|---|---|
| 310 ms on Wed 2 Sep 2026 | 1 |
| 340 ms on Tue 8 Sep 2026 | 1 |
| 420 ms on Tue 15 Sep 2026 | 1 |
| 480 ms on Tue 22 Sep 2026 | 1 |
| Total | 4 |
Notes you can export
Notes and exports
blk/txt exports notes as JSON, CSV or Markdown at any time, including after your plan ends. Locked text needs your vault open first. Markdown preserves the dates of your notes, and every export also carries your manual links, confirmed labels and dismissals. During import, blk/txt restores these only to newly added blocks and lists any details it could not match.
Notes from your tools
Notes from other machines reach blk/txt through its JSON API with an account token. It applies your account’s rules and adds the notes to your blocks.
Separate account notes
blk/txt keeps each account’s notes separate from other accounts. Its trial needs no account and ends after 48 hours of inactivity.
Repeatable note queries
Counts and changes in blk/txt link to their supporting notes. Each linked result has a query you can rerun. Its optional analysis suggests key terms and similar notes where your notes are already stored, without changing your source text.
Sample note blocks
blk/txt’s trial accepts pasted text or uploaded files and shows their blocks, recognised identifiers and configured metrics. Its sample notes also show a letter and views of recorded changes.