Simplify vault/config APIs for SQLCipher-first storage model

Journal.Core/Dtos/CommandDtos.cs

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 namespace Journal.Core.Dtos;
 
 internal sealed record VaultInitializePayload(string Password, string VaultDirectory);
-internal sealed record VaultPayload(string Password, string VaultDirectory, string? NowUtc = null);
+internal sealed record VaultPayload(string Password, string VaultDirectory);
 internal sealed record ClearDataPayload();
 internal sealed record EntryListPayload();
 internal sealed record EntryLoadPayload(string FilePath);

Journal.Core/Entry.cs

@@ -346,11 +346,11 @@ public class Entry(
                     var saveCurrentPayload = DeserializePayload<VaultPayload>(cmd.Payload);
                     if (saveCurrentPayload is null)
                         return Error("Missing or invalid payload");
-                    result = _vaultStorage.SaveCurrentMonthVault(
+                    _vaultStorage.RebuildAllVaults(
                         saveCurrentPayload.Password,
                         saveCurrentPayload.VaultDirectory,
-                        ResolveVaultStorageDirectory(),
+                        ResolveVaultStorageDirectory());
-                        ParseNowOrDefault(saveCurrentPayload.NowUtc));
+                    result = true;
                     break;
                 case "vault.rebuild_all":
                     var rebuildPayload = DeserializePayload<VaultPayload>(cmd.Payload);
@@ -445,23 +445,6 @@ public class Entry(
         return payload.Value.Deserialize<T>(JsonOptions);
     }
 
-    private static DateTime ParseNowOrDefault(string? nowUtc)
-    {
-        if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(nowUtc))
-            return DateTime.UtcNow;
-
-        if (DateTime.TryParse(
-            nowUtc,
-            CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
-            DateTimeStyles.AssumeUniversal | DateTimeStyles.AdjustToUniversal,
-            out var parsed))
-        {
-            return parsed;
-        }
-
-        throw new ArgumentException("Invalid nowUtc value. Expected ISO date/time.");
-    }
-
     private void TryAutoSyncVault(string action, string correlationId)
     {
         if (!VaultSyncActions.Contains(action))

Journal.Core/Models/JournalConfig.cs

@@ -3,13 +3,11 @@ namespace Journal.Core.Models;
 public sealed record JournalConfig(
     string ProjectRoot,
     string AppDirectory,
-    string DataDirectory,
     string VaultDirectory,
     string LogDirectory,
     string PidFile,
     string ServerControlFile,
     string DatabaseFilename,
-    string MonthlyVaultFormat,
     string CloudAiApiKey,
     string CloudAiApiUrl,
     string LlamaCppUrl,

Journal.Core/Services/Config/JournalConfigService.cs

@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ public sealed class JournalConfigService : IJournalConfigService
         var projectRoot = ResolveProjectRoot();
         var appDirectory = ResolvePath("JOURNAL_APP_DIR", Path.Combine(projectRoot, "journal"));
 
-        var dataDirectory = ResolvePath("JOURNAL_DATA_DIR", Path.Combine(appDirectory, "data"));
         var vaultDirectory = ResolvePath("JOURNAL_VAULT_DIR", Path.Combine(appDirectory, "vault"));
         var logDirectory = ResolvePath("JOURNAL_LOG_DIR", Path.Combine(projectRoot, "logs"));
 
@@ -37,13 +36,11 @@ public sealed class JournalConfigService : IJournalConfigService
         return new JournalConfig(
             ProjectRoot: projectRoot,
             AppDirectory: appDirectory,
-            DataDirectory: dataDirectory,
             VaultDirectory: vaultDirectory,
             LogDirectory: logDirectory,
             PidFile: pidFile,
             ServerControlFile: serverControlFile,
             DatabaseFilename: Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("JOURNAL_DATABASE_FILENAME") ?? "journal_cache.db",
-            MonthlyVaultFormat: Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("JOURNAL_MONTHLY_VAULT_FORMAT") ?? "%Y-%m.vault",
             CloudAiApiKey: Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("CLOUDAI_API_KEY") ?? "",
             CloudAiApiUrl: Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("CLOUDAI_API_URL") ?? "",
             LlamaCppUrl: Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("LLAMA_CPP_URL") ?? "http://127.0.0.1:8085/v1/completions",

Journal.Core/Services/Database/JournalDatabaseService.cs

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 using System.Security.Cryptography;
 using System.Text;
+using System.Globalization;
 using Journal.Core.Dtos;
 using Journal.Core.Services.Config;
 using Microsoft.Data.Sqlite;
@@ -171,17 +172,17 @@ public sealed class JournalDatabaseService(IJournalConfigService config) : IJour
         EnsureSchema(connection);
         var runtimeReady = HasRequiredTables(connection);
 
-        var entryFilesProcessed = Directory.GetFiles(directory, "*.md", SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly).Length;
+        var entryDocumentsProcessed = CountEntryDocuments(connection);
         var schemaPath = WriteSchemaBootstrap(directory);
 
         return new JournalDatabaseHydrationResult(
             DatabasePath: GetDatabasePath(directory),
             SchemaBootstrapPath: schemaPath,
-            EntryFilesProcessed: entryFilesProcessed,
+            EntryFilesProcessed: entryDocumentsProcessed,
             RuntimeReady: runtimeReady,
             Message: runtimeReady
-                ? "Workspace hydration completed with SQLCipher runtime schema validation."
+                ? "Workspace hydration completed with SQLCipher runtime schema validation and document store readiness."
-                : "Workspace hydration completed, but required schema tables were not found.");
+                : "Workspace hydration completed, but required SQLCipher schema tables were not found.");
     }
 
     private static void EnsureSqliteInitialized()
@@ -262,6 +263,17 @@ public sealed class JournalDatabaseService(IJournalConfigService config) : IJour
         }
     }
 
+    private static int CountEntryDocuments(SqliteConnection connection)
+    {
+        using var cmd = connection.CreateCommand();
+        cmd.CommandText = "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM entry_documents;";
+        var scalar = cmd.ExecuteScalar();
+        if (scalar is null || scalar is DBNull)
+            return 0;
+
+        return Convert.ToInt32(scalar, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
+    }
+
     private string ResolveDatabaseDirectory()
     {
         var overrideDir = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("JOURNAL_DATABASE_DIR");

Journal.Core/Services/Vault/IVaultStorageService.cs

@@ -2,9 +2,7 @@ namespace Journal.Core.Services.Vault;
 
 public interface IVaultStorageService
 {
-    string GetMonthlyVaultFileName(DateTime date);
     bool LoadAllVaults(string password, string vaultDirectory, string dataDirectory);
-    bool SaveCurrentMonthVault(string password, string vaultDirectory, string dataDirectory, DateTime now);
     void RebuildAllVaults(string password, string vaultDirectory, string dataDirectory);
     void ClearDataDirectory(string dataDirectory);
 }

Journal.Core/Services/Vault/VaultStorageService.cs

@@ -13,8 +13,6 @@ public class VaultStorageService(IVaultCryptoService crypto, IJournalDatabaseSer
     private const string DatabaseVaultPrefix = "_db_";
     private const string DatabaseVaultSuffix = ".vault";
 
-    public string GetMonthlyVaultFileName(DateTime date) => date.ToString("yyyy-MM") + ".vault";
-
     public bool LoadAllVaults(string password, string vaultDirectory, string dataDirectory)
     {
         EnsureRequiredArguments(password, vaultDirectory, dataDirectory);
@@ -30,22 +28,6 @@ public class VaultStorageService(IVaultCryptoService crypto, IJournalDatabaseSer
         }
     }
 
-    public bool SaveCurrentMonthVault(string password, string vaultDirectory, string dataDirectory, DateTime now)
-    {
-        EnsureRequiredArguments(password, vaultDirectory, dataDirectory);
-
-        lock (_vaultIoLock)
-        {
-            Directory.CreateDirectory(vaultDirectory);
-            var dbDirectory = GetDatabaseDirectory();
-            if (!Directory.Exists(dbDirectory))
-                return false;
-
-            SaveDatabaseVaults(password, vaultDirectory, dbDirectory);
-            return true;
-        }
-    }
-
     public void RebuildAllVaults(string password, string vaultDirectory, string dataDirectory)
     {
         EnsureRequiredArguments(password, vaultDirectory, dataDirectory);

README.md

@@ -185,9 +185,9 @@ dotnet run --project Journal.SmokeTests
 
 | Variable | Default | Description |
 |----------|---------|-------------|
-| `JOURNAL_PROJECT_ROOT` | auto-detected | Override project root (vault + data path resolution) |
+| `JOURNAL_PROJECT_ROOT` | auto-detected | Override project root (vault path resolution) |
-| `JOURNAL_DATA_DIR` | `<root>/journal/data` | Override decrypted data directory |
 | `JOURNAL_VAULT_DIR` | `<root>/journal/vault` | Override vault directory |
+| `JOURNAL_DATABASE_DIR` | `<vault>/db` | Override SQLCipher database directory |
 | `JOURNAL_AI_PROVIDER` | `none` | `none` or `python-sidecar` |
 | `JOURNAL_PYTHON_EXE` | `python` | Python executable for AI/speech sidecar |
 | `JOURNAL_AI_SIDECAR_PATH` | auto | Path to Python AI sidecar script |
@@ -370,20 +370,20 @@ Error:
 | `todos.items.create` | Add todo item | `payload` |
 | `todos.items.update` | Update todo item | `id`, `payload` |
 | `todos.items.delete` | Delete todo item | `id` |
-| `entries.list` | List decrypted `.md` entries | optional `payload.dataDirectory` |
+| `entries.list` | List persisted entries from SQLCipher store | — |
 | `entries.load` | Load one entry file | `payload.filePath` |
 | `entries.save` | Save/merge entry content | `payload.content`, optional `payload.filePath`, `payload.mode`, `payload.fileName` |
 | `entries.delete` | Delete an entry file | `payload.filePath` |
-| `templates.list` | List `.template.md` files | optional `payload.dataDirectory` |
+| `templates.list` | List templates from SQLCipher store | — |
 | `templates.load` | Load a template | `payload.filePath` |
 | `templates.save` | Save/create a template | `payload.name` |
 | `templates.delete` | Delete a template | `payload.filePath` |
-| `search.entries` | Search entries with filters | `payload.dataDirectory`, optional query/section/date/tags/types/checked/unchecked |
+| `search.entries` | Search entries with filters | optional query/section/date/tags/types/checked/unchecked |
 | `vault.initialize` | Ensure vault directory exists | `payload.password`, `payload.vaultDirectory` |
-| `vault.load_all` | Decrypt all monthly vaults → data dir | `payload.password`, `payload.vaultDirectory`, `payload.dataDirectory` |
+| `vault.load_all` | Restore encrypted SQLCipher DB snapshot from vault | `payload.password`, `payload.vaultDirectory` |
-| `vault.save_current_month` | Encrypt only current month (optimized) | `payload.password`, `payload.vaultDirectory`, `payload.dataDirectory` |
+| `vault.save_current_month` | Alias for vault rebuild (DB snapshot persist) | `payload.password`, `payload.vaultDirectory` |
-| `vault.rebuild_all` | Rebuild all monthly vaults from data | `payload.password`, `payload.vaultDirectory`, `payload.dataDirectory` |
+| `vault.rebuild_all` | Persist encrypted SQLCipher DB snapshot to vault | `payload.password`, `payload.vaultDirectory` |
-| `vault.clear_data_directory` | Wipe decrypted data directory | `payload.dataDirectory` |
+| `vault.clear_data_directory` | No-op for SQLCipher-first mode (compat command) | — |
 | `db.status` | DB key/schema compatibility snapshot | `payload.password`, optional `payload.dataDirectory` |
 | `db.initialize_schema` | Write SQL schema bootstrap file | optional `payload.dataDirectory` |
 | `db.hydrate_workspace` | Bootstrap DB + set session password | `payload.password`, optional `payload.dataDirectory` |
@@ -416,8 +416,8 @@ dotnet run --project Journal.Sidecar -- search "common text" --tag stress --type
 - Pass `--password <value>` → non-interactive/automation mode
 
 **Optional path overrides:**
-- `--vault-dir <path>` / `--data-dir <path>`
+- `--vault-dir <path>`
-- Env fallback: `JOURNAL_VAULT_DIR`, `JOURNAL_DATA_DIR`, `JOURNAL_APP_DIR`
+- Env fallback: `JOURNAL_VAULT_DIR`, `JOURNAL_DATABASE_DIR`, `JOURNAL_APP_DIR`
 
 **Search CLI flags:**
 - positional `query` (optional)
@@ -428,8 +428,6 @@ dotnet run --project Journal.Sidecar -- search "common text" --tag stress --type
 - `--section` / `-sec`
 - `--checked` / `-chk` (repeatable)
 - `--unchecked` / `-uchk` (repeatable)
-- `--data-dir <path>` (optional override)
-
 ---
 
 ## Publishing
@@ -532,7 +530,7 @@ Quick reference:
 
 ## Notes
 
-- Decrypted journal data in `journal/data/` is cleared on graceful shutdown (`vault.clear_data_directory`).
+- Journal content and templates persist in SQLCipher (`entry_documents`) under the vault DB directory.
 - The legacy Python placeholder file `_init_vault.vault` is treated as obsolete — the C# backend ignores and removes it during vault load.
 - `Journal.WebGateway` is intentionally excluded from `Journal.slnx`; it is built/run independently via `dotnet` or the scripts wrappers.
 - On Windows + Tauri, the sidecar process is spawned with `CREATE_NO_WINDOW` to suppress the console window.