From 27e21389bb9c2a1a1438c22f00a8832f804d2c16 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Nate Meyer <672246+notnmeyer@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sat, 20 Jun 2026 19:46:38 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] -m for one-liner updates

---
 README.md        |  2 ++
 cmd/root.go      | 15 +++++++++++++++
 cmd/root_test.go | 33 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 50 insertions(+)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 72b418b..e964fde 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ To view today's log, run `daylog show`.
 
 To interact with a past or future log supply a date (`daylog show -- 2023/01/07`), or a more casual realtive reference, "tomorrow", "yesterday", "1 day ago", etc.
 
+You can append a quick one-line entry without opening an editor with `-m`, `daylog -m "ate a burrito"` (this appends `- ate a burrito` to today's log). It accepts the usual date references too, `daylog -m "ate a burrito" -- yesterday`.
+
 You can pipe updates as well, `echo "- ate a burrito" | daylog`.
 
 For other commands and options see, `daylog --help`.
diff --git a/cmd/root.go b/cmd/root.go
index 06fdab4..5d930bf 100644
--- a/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root.go
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import (
 
 type Config struct {
 	Project string
+	Message string
 }
 
 var (
@@ -35,6 +36,10 @@ var rootCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	`,
 
 	Run: runCommand(func(cmd *cobra.Command, dl *daylog.DayLog) error {
+		if config.Message != "" {
+			return dl.Append(formatMessage(config.Message))
+		}
+
 		piped, err := stdinIsPiped()
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
@@ -71,6 +76,16 @@ func init() {
 	// global flags
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&config.Project, "project", "p", "default", "The daylog project to use")
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().Bool("prev", false, "Operate on the most recent log that isn't today's")
+
+	rootCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&config.Message, "message", "m", "", "Append a one-line entry to the log instead of opening an editor")
+}
+
+func formatMessage(msg string) string {
+	msg = strings.TrimSpace(msg)
+	if strings.HasPrefix(msg, "- ") {
+		return msg
+	}
+	return "- " + msg
 }
 
 func runCommand(fn func(cmd *cobra.Command, dl *daylog.DayLog) error) func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
diff --git a/cmd/root_test.go b/cmd/root_test.go
index a8e4391..0707d58 100644
--- a/cmd/root_test.go
+++ b/cmd/root_test.go
@@ -44,3 +44,36 @@ func TestFormatStdinContent(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func TestFormatMessage(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name     string
+		input    string
+		expected string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:     "plain message gets a list marker",
+			input:    "ate a burrito",
+			expected: "- ate a burrito",
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "surrounding whitespace is trimmed",
+			input:    "  ate a burrito  ",
+			expected: "- ate a burrito",
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "existing list marker is preserved",
+			input:    "- ate a burrito",
+			expected: "- ate a burrito",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			result := formatMessage(tt.input)
+			if result != tt.expected {
+				t.Errorf("formatMessage(%q) = %q, want %q", tt.input, result, tt.expected)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}