Everdo Help – Advanced

Docs: Automated Backups

Wed, 31 Mar 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Overview

To back up the database while the app is running you need to use the sqlite3 tool - the official client for working with SQlite databases.

Setting up automated SQLite backups

Create a backup script and make it executable.
Test the script - make sure a backup is created and stored where you expect.
Schedule the script to run periodically, for example as a cron job or as a scheduled task on Windows.

Here is a simple backup script. You need to replace /home/user with you unix user directory.

#!/bin/bash

TIMESTAMP=$(date +%F_%T | tr ':' '-')

sqlite3 /home/user/.config/everdo/db ".backup '/home/user/.config/everdo/backups/db_backup_$TIMESTAMP.sqlite'"

A more robust script that will retry the backup command up to 9 times if the first backup attempt fails. Credit to Christian.

#!/bin/bash

counter=0
while [ $counter -lt 9 ]
do
/usr/bin/sqlite3 /home/user/.config/everdo/db ".backup '/home/user/.config/everdo/backups/db_backup_$(date +%F_%T | tr ':' '-').sqlite'"
return_value=$?
if [ $return_value -eq 0 ]; then
counter=9
else
counter=$(( $counter + 1 ))
fi
done

Docs: Data Directory

Tue, 22 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

This page only applies to the desktop app. The data directory is sandboxed and therefore not easily accessible in the mobile apps.

Everdo stores data in a single directory on your computer. The location of this directory depends on your operating system, as shown in the table below.

OS	Path
Linux	`~/.config/everdo`
macOS	`~/Library/Application Support/everdo`
Windows	`%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\Everdo`

Within the data directory, the following files may be of interest for backup or export purposes.

File contents	Filename	Use case
Application configuration file	`config.json`	Backup, adjust settings not available on the UI
Main Sqlite database	`db`	Backup, make custom queries
Product key	`everdo.key`	Backup
ESS passphrase	`encryption-key`	Backup, copy to other clients as part of ESS Sync setup
ESS access token	`jwt`	Backup, destroy to sign out the computer
Application error log	`error.log`	Crash diagnostics
Keyboard shortcuts	`keyboard.json`	Backup, remove to reset shortcuts to defaults

Backing up the database

It’s always a good practice to backup your important data, and Everdo database is no exception.

In order to perform a backup of the database, you need to identify the location of the data directory as explained on this page, then copy the db file to a different location, preferably on a removable disk or on a different computer. See automated backups for more detail.

Docs: Command Line Options

Mon, 22 Mar 2021 00:00:00 +0000

This page only applies to the desktop app.

`--dataDir`

Specifies data directory of the application. Default value depends on the operating system.

The directory must exist and be writable by the current user. If the directory is empty, Everdo will populate it with initial data as required.

For example:

$ everdo --dataDir /home/alternativeDirectory

`--multiInstance`

Allows to run multiple instances of the application simultaneously. By default, Everdo does not let a second copy of itself run because sharing the database file is not possible. However by specifying different data directories and using this flag, you can run two copies of Everdo with different data.

Example:

everdo --multiInstance --dataDir /home/dir1 
everdo --multiInstance --dataDir /home/dir2

`--logLevel`

Specifies the verbosity of logs that Everdo writes to standard output. Possible values: ERROR, INFO, DEBUG. Default: ERROR.

Example: enable diagnostic logging

everdo --logLevel DEBUG

Example: write logs to file

everdo --logLevel DEBUG > log.txt

`--config`

Specifies the location of the config.json file where Everdo stores it’s configuration.

By default config.json is located in the data directory.

Example: create/use a config file in a specified location while using the default data directory for everything else.

everdo --config /home/alternative_everdo_config.json

Docs: API

Sun, 08 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The Curl examples on this page have been tested in a Bash environment. Some adjustments may be necessary for them to run on Windows.

API server configuration

Before making requests, you need to make sure the API is up.

Go to Settings->API and enable the API by checking a checkbox.
Specify the IP address or hostname of the computer. To be able to communicate with the API from the same computer, you can specify localhost as the hostname. If you want the API to be accessible on the network, the specify the IP address on the local network. See determining the IP address.
In most cases you will not need to change the default port value, but sometimes it’s necessary in case of a conflict.

Once configured, press Apply and restart the app. Upon restart you should see a notification saying Everdo API is up.

Creating an inbox item

This action will create a new item in inbox. You can omit the optional properties from the request model.

// Action: POST /api/items
// Request Body:
{
    "title": "Inbox item",
    "note": "Example note", // Optional; Default = null
    "isFocused": true       // Optional; Default = false
}
// Response Body:
{
    "id": "B71C671F38144A9196D7D5C81B80BD7F" // This is a UUID-v4 that identifies the item in the database
    "createdOn": 1582089151                  // Unix seconds
}

Examples with `curl`

Try calling the API from the command line using the following snippets.

Make sure to specify the correct host, port and API key for your setup.

$ curl -k --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --request POST \
  --data '{"title": "Hello API", "note": "Example" }' \
  https://localhost:11111/api/items?key=***

A command line script to add items to inbox

Here is how to make a script that allows you to create Inbox items from the terminal without opening the app. For example,

$ inbox "New item" "Some Description"
$ inbox "New item without description"

To create the inbox command:

Create a file named inbox using the snippet code below.
Make the script executable by running chmod +x inbox in the terminal
Move the inbox file to $PATH

#!/bin/bash

title=$1
note=$2

data()
{
    cat <<EOF
{
    "title": "$title",
    "note": "$note"
}
EOF
}

curl -ks --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --request POST \
  --data "$(data)" \
  https://localhost:11111/api/items?key=*** > /dev/null

Make sure to specify the correct host and api key in the script.

This provided script ignores the API response and will not report any communication errors. It should be extended to deal with such conditions if needed.

Docs: Exporting Data

Sun, 08 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The possible export options are:

Copying a specific list as plain text
JSON export of the whole database
CSV export of the whole database
Direct sqlite database access / query

Copy a specific list as text

This feature only available in the desktop app.

With this feature you can obtain a human-readable plain text representation of the current list of Everdo items. To copy the current view as text, use the corresponding button in the Filter Bar at the top of the list of items. As a result, the list will be copied to clipboard in a format similar to the following.

Next
----
[ ] Try using "Export as CSV"
[ ] Try using "Export as JSON"

Done
----
[x](Apr 2)  Use "Copy as Text"

JSON export

With JSON Export you can export all your data in a machine-readable format and move data between different devices. To perform a JSON export/import in the desktop app, use a corresponding menu option in the application’s main menu.

In the mobile apps, use the Export button in the app settings to export your data. To import data into the iOS app, share the JSON file from the Files app into Everdo. On Android, use the Import JSON button in the app settings.

You can learn more about the data structure at the Everdo JSON page.

The Import function works by overwriting the contents of any existing items and creating the missing items. It doesn’t delete any data. The Import function also doesn’t consider item modification times or attempt to merge changes. It simply matches the ids of the imported items to with the ones already in the database and then (a) overwrites the matched items and (b) creates unmatched items.

CSV export

This feature only applies to the desktop app.

The CSV format is useful to work with data in a spreadsheet application, such as Microsoft Excel or LibreOffice. To perform a CSV export, use a corresponding menu option in the application’s main menu.

Direct database access

This only applies to the desktop app.

You can query the actual Everdo database located in the home directory. You will need an SQLite client application to do so.

Warning

Always backup your database and use a copy of the database to perform any custom queries. It is very easy to corrupt a database by accidentally writing bad data, making the app crash on start.

Docs: JSON Data Format

Sun, 08 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Warning

Backup you database before trying to import any manually edited JSON. Otherwise you risk breaking the app by importing inconsistent data. You might not even notice something is wrong for a while.

Tip

Make an export of your existing Everdo data to use it as an example while reading this document. This will make it easier you understand the structure of the import objects and provide concrete examples.

Use UUID v4 for the `id` field

When creating new items via the import feature, you have to generate a random universally unique id for each new item and tag. When there’s a collision, the import code silently overwrites the existing item. To avoid a collision, always use a random UUID (v4) generator when creating the import objects (unless you do want to update existing items).

List of fields which use the UUID data type

id
parent_id (reference to the project’s/notebook’s id)
contact_id (reference to the contact tag’s id)

UUID formating

id, parent_id and other UUID fields need to be specified as an uppercase string without dashes, as follows.

id: "709632E58EF74A55A18E9347F24ED948"

Timestamps

All timestamps are integers representing Unix time in seconds. Millisecond-valued timestamps will not work.

The root object

The .json file you’ll import must contain a single object with two array properties - tags and items. Each array may contain zero or more elements.

{
  "items": [],
  "tags": []
}

You only need to specify the items you wish to add or update. The import feature does not delete missing items or tags, so you can import a completely empty file without problem.

The item object

These fields are required for all items:

id
type
list
title
created_on
is_focused
start_date or schedule for scheduled items.

Note

Some combinations of list and type are invalid. For example you can’t have a Project in the Inbox list.
Some list values require specifying additional fields. For example, in a Scheduled item you also must at least specify a Start Date.

`type`

"a": action
"p": project
"n": note
"l": notebook

`list`

"i": inbox (actions only)
"a": active/next (based on item type)
"m": someday
"s": scheduled (must also specify start_date or schedule field)
"w": waiting
"d": deleted
"r": archived (must also specify completed_on)

`completed_on`

Completion timestamp (see Timestamps for format description). Null/undefined for incomplete items. Not null for completed items.

`created_on`

Creation timestamp. Required.

`is_focused`

Values: 0 or 1. Warning: True and False will not work.

`energy`

Energy estimate. Values: null, 1, 2, 3

`time`

Time estimate. Value: number of minutes

`due_date`

Optional due date. The timestamp’s time must be set to 0 Hours, 0 Minutes, 0 Seconds.

`start_date`

For one-time scheduled items only. The timestamp’s time must be set to 0 Hours, 0 Minutes, 0 Seconds.

`schedule`

For repeating items only. This is a complex object. Try exporting some pre-scheduled items to get an idea how it works.

`recurrent_task_id`

The “template” action that was used to create an instance of this specific repeating action.

`contact_id`

Optional contact tag to wait for. The value is tag id.

`tags`

An array of tag ids. Don’t pass whole objects here, only string IDs.

`position_child`, `position_parent`, `position_focus`, `position_global`

Item’s position in a specific list:

child: position in a list of all sub-items (project actions / notes)
parent: position in a list of all parent items (projects/notebooks)
focus: position in a global focus list
global: position in a the list of all items

Examples

These examples only specify the minimum required properties.

Create an inbox action

{
  "id": "709632E58EF74A55A18E9347F24ED948" ,
  "type": "a"
  "title": "Example Inbox Action",
  "list": "i",
  "note": "optional description",
  "created_on": 1549619289,
  "is_focused" : 0
}

Create an empty active project

{
  "id": "B4F96775965F4F73A611365056301220" ,
  "type": "p"
  "title": "Example Project",
  "list": "a",
  "note": "optional description",
  "created_on": 1549619289,
  "is_focused" : 0
}

Create a project action (active and focused)

{
  "id": "B4F96775965F4F73A611365056301220" ,
  "type": "a"
  "list": "a",
  "title": "Example Project Action",
  "created_on": 1549619289,
  "is_focused" : 1,
  "parent_id": "709632E58EF74A55A18E9347F24ED948"
}

Create a tag (label)

{
  "id": "709632E58EF74A55A18E9347F24ED948",
  "title": "Example Tag",
  "type": "l"
}

Everdo Help – Advanced

Docs: Automated Backups

Overview

Setting up automated SQLite backups

Docs: Data Directory

Backing up the database

Docs: Command Line Options

--dataDir

--multiInstance

--logLevel

--config

Docs: API

API server configuration

Creating an inbox item

Examples with curl

A command line script to add items to inbox

Docs: Exporting Data

Copy a specific list as text

JSON export

CSV export

Direct database access

Warning

Docs: JSON Data Format

Warning

Tip

Use UUID v4 for the id field

List of fields which use the UUID data type

UUID formating

Timestamps

The root object

The item object

Note

type

list

completed_on

created_on

is_focused

energy

time

due_date

start_date

schedule

recurrent_task_id

contact_id

tags

position_child, position_parent, position_focus, position_global

Examples

Create an inbox action

Create an empty active project

Create a project action (active and focused)

Create a tag (label)

`--dataDir`

`--multiInstance`

`--logLevel`

`--config`

Examples with `curl`

Use UUID v4 for the `id` field

`type`

`list`

`completed_on`

`created_on`

`is_focused`

`energy`

`time`

`due_date`

`start_date`

`schedule`

`recurrent_task_id`

`contact_id`

`tags`

`position_child`, `position_parent`, `position_focus`, `position_global`