journal update

Pull the latest global.md and project journal files from your remote journal repository into the local cache at ~/.doraval/journals/.

doraval journal update

This is the recommended command to run at the start of a session, before skill drift, or any time you want fresh principles without publishing new ones.

Why it exists

• init --refresh works but is awkward (init sounds like a one-time setup command).
• sync only pulls as a side effect when you have pending entries.
• update gives you a clear, dedicated “get latest” operation that is always safe and has no side effects on the remote.

Options

Flag	Description
-p, --project	Project name (defaults to the mapping for current dir)
--all	Refresh every registered project plus global.md

What it does

• Requires the GitHub CLI (gh) and a valid journal configuration (run journal init first).
• Always fetches global.md (cross-project principles).
• Fetches the target project’s projects/<name>.md.
• Overwrites the corresponding files in ~/.doraval/journals/.
• If a remote file doesn’t exist yet, it creates a minimal local stub so that list and future commands don’t explode.
• Never writes to the remote repository.

Typical usage

# At the beginning of a coding session
doraval journal update

# Before checking for drift against your principles
doraval journal update && doraval skill drift ./my-skill/

# Refresh everything you have registered
doraval journal update --all

Relationship to other commands

• init — initial registration + first fetch. Use --refresh only if you really want the prompts.
• update — the everyday “make my cache current” command.
• sync — publish local pending entries (it now also does a refresh first for safety).
• list — reads only from the local cache (run update first if you suspect staleness).

See the Agent Journal concept for the full picture.