.TH "HLEDGER\-WEB" "1" "September 2024" "hledger-web-1.40 " "hledger User Manuals" .SH NAME hledger\-web \- web interface and API for \f[CR]hledger\f[R], a robust, friendly plain text accounting app. .SH SYNOPSIS \f[CR]hledger\-web [OPTS] [QUERY]\f[R] .PD 0 .P .PD or .PD 0 .P .PD \f[CR]hledger web \-\- [OPTS] [QUERY]\f[R] .SH DESCRIPTION This manual is for hledger\[aq]s web interface, version 1.40. See also the hledger manual for common concepts and file formats. .PP hledger is a robust, user\-friendly, cross\-platform set of programs for tracking money, time, or any other commodity, using double\-entry accounting and a simple, editable file format. hledger is inspired by and largely compatible with ledger(1), and largely interconvertible with beancount(1). .PP hledger\-web is a simple web application for browsing and adding transactions. It provides a more user\-friendly UI than the hledger CLI or hledger\-ui TUI, showing more at once (accounts, the current account register, balance charts) and allowing history\-aware data entry, interactive searching, and bookmarking. .PP hledger\-web also lets you share a journal with multiple users, or even the public web. There is no access control, so if you need that you should put it behind a suitable web proxy. As a small protection against data loss when running an unprotected instance, it writes a numbered backup of the main journal file (only) on every edit. .PP Like hledger, it reads from (and appends to) a journal file specified by the \f[CR]LEDGER_FILE\f[R] environment variable (defaulting to \f[CR]$HOME/.hledger.journal\f[R]); or you can specify files with \f[CR]\-f\f[R] options. It can also read timeclock files, timedot files, or any CSV/SSV/TSV file with a date field. (See hledger(1) \-> Input for details.) .PP hledger\-web can be run in three modes: .IP \[bu] 2 Transient mode (the default): your default web browser will be opened to show the app if possible, and the app exits automatically after two minutes of inactivity (no requests received and no open browser windows viewing it). .IP \[bu] 2 With \f[CR]\-\-serve\f[R]: the app runs without stopping, and without opening a browser. .IP \[bu] 2 With \f[CR]\-\-serve\-api\f[R]: only the JSON API is served. .PP In all cases hledger\-web runs as a foreground process, logging requests to stdout. .SH OPTIONS hledger\-web provides the following options: .IP .EX Flags: \-\-serve \-\-server serve and log requests, don\[aq]t browse or auto\-exit \-\-serve\-api like \-\-serve, but serve only the JSON web API, not the web UI \-\-allow=view|add|edit set the user\[aq]s access level for changing data (default: \[ga]add\[ga]). It also accepts \[ga]sandstorm\[ga] for use on that platform (reads permissions from the \[ga]X\-Sandstorm\-Permissions\[ga] request header). \-\-cors=ORIGIN allow cross\-origin requests from the specified origin; setting ORIGIN to \[dq]*\[dq] allows requests from any origin \-\-host=IPADDR listen on this IP address (default: 127.0.0.1) \-\-port=PORT listen on this TCP port (default: 5000) \-\-socket=SOCKET listen on the given unix socket instead of an IP address and port (unix only; implies \-\-serve) \-\-base\-url=BASEURL set the base url (default: http://IPADDR:PORT) \-\-test run hledger\-web\[aq]s tests and exit. hspec test runner args may follow a \-\-, eg: hledger\-web \-\-test \-\- \-\-help .EE .PP By default hledger\-web listens only on IP address \f[CR]127.0.0.1\f[R], which be accessed only from the local machine. .PP To allow access from elsewhere, use \f[CR]\-\-host\f[R] to specify an externally accessible address configured on this machine, The special address \f[CR]0.0.0.0\f[R] causes it to listen on all of this machine\[aq]s addresses. .PP Similarly, you can use \f[CR]\-\-port\f[R] to listen on a TCP port other than 5000. This is useful if you want to run multiple hledger\-web instances on a machine. .PP When \f[CR]\-\-socket\f[R] is used, hledger\-web creates and communicates via a socket file instead of a TCP port. This can be more secure, respects unix file permissions, and makes certain use cases easier, such as running per\-user instances behind an nginx reverse proxy. (Eg: \f[CR]proxy_pass http://unix:/tmp/hledger/${remote_user}.socket;\f[R].) .PP You can use \f[CR]\-\-base\-url\f[R] to change the protocol, hostname, port and path that appear in hledger\-web\[aq]s hyperlinks. This is useful eg when integrating hledger\-web within a larger website. The default is \f[CR]http://HOST:PORT/\f[R] using the server\[aq]s configured host address and TCP port (or \f[CR]http://HOST\f[R] if PORT is 80). Note this affects url generation but not route parsing. .PP hledger\-web also supports many of hledger\[aq]s general options: .IP .EX General input/data transformation flags: \-f \-\-file=[FMT:]FILE Read data from FILE, or from stdin if FILE is \-, inferring format from extension or a FMT: prefix. Can be specified more than once. If not specified, reads from $LEDGER_FILE or $HOME/.hledger.journal. \-\-rules=RULESFILE Use rules defined in this rules file for converting subsequent CSV/SSV/TSV files. If not specified, uses FILE.csv.rules for each FILE.csv. \-\-alias=A=B|/RGX/=RPL transform account names from A to B, or by replacing regular expression matches \-\-auto generate extra postings by applying auto posting rules (\[dq]=\[dq]) to all transactions \-\-forecast[=PERIOD] Generate extra transactions from periodic rules (\[dq]\[ti]\[dq]), from after the latest ordinary transaction until 6 months from now. Or, during the specified PERIOD (the equals is required). Auto posting rules will also be applied to these transactions. In hledger\-ui, also make future\-dated transactions visible at startup. \-I \-\-ignore\-assertions don\[aq]t check balance assertions by default \-\-infer\-costs infer conversion equity postings from costs \-\-infer\-equity infer costs from conversion equity postings \-\-infer\-market\-prices infer market prices from costs \-\-pivot=TAGNAME use a different field or tag as account names \-s \-\-strict do extra error checks (and override \-I) \-\-verbose\-tags add tags indicating generated/modified data General output/reporting flags (supported by some commands): \-b \-\-begin=DATE include postings/transactions on/after this date \-e \-\-end=DATE include postings/transactions before this date (with a report interval, will be adjusted to following subperiod end) \-D \-\-daily multiperiod report with 1 day interval \-W \-\-weekly multiperiod report with 1 week interval \-M \-\-monthly multiperiod report with 1 month interval \-Q \-\-quarterly multiperiod report with 1 quarter interval \-Y \-\-yearly multiperiod report with 1 year interval \-p \-\-period=PERIODEXP set begin date, end date, and/or report interval, with more flexibility \-\-today=DATE override today\[aq]s date (affects relative dates) \-\-date2 match/use secondary dates instead (deprecated) \-U \-\-unmarked include only unmarked postings/transactions \-P \-\-pending include only pending postings/transactions \-C \-\-cleared include only cleared postings/transactions (\-U/\-P/\-C can be combined) \-R \-\-real include only non\-virtual postings \-\-depth=NUM or \-NUM: show only top NUM levels of accounts \-E \-\-empty Show zero items, which are normally hidden. In hledger\-ui & hledger\-web, do the opposite. \-B \-\-cost show amounts converted to their cost/sale amount \-V \-\-market Show amounts converted to their value at period end(s) in their default valuation commodity. Equivalent to \-\-value=end. \-X \-\-exchange=COMM Show amounts converted to their value at period end(s) in the specified commodity. Equivalent to \-\-value=end,COMM. \-\-value=WHEN[,COMM] show amounts converted to their value on the specified date(s) in their default valuation commodity or a specified commodity. WHEN can be: \[aq]then\[aq]: value on transaction dates \[aq]end\[aq]: value at period end(s) \[aq]now\[aq]: value today YYYY\-MM\-DD: value on given date \-c \-\-commodity\-style=S Override a commodity\[aq]s display style. Eg: \-c \[aq].\[aq] or \-c \[aq]1.000,00 EUR\[aq] \-\-color=YN \-\-colour Use ANSI color codes in text output? Can be \[aq]y\[aq]/\[aq]yes\[aq]/\[aq]always\[aq], \[aq]n\[aq]/\[aq]no\[aq]/\[aq]never\[aq] or \[aq]auto\[aq]. \-\-pretty[=YN] Use box\-drawing characters in text output? Can be \[aq]y\[aq]/\[aq]yes\[aq] or \[aq]n\[aq]/\[aq]no\[aq]. If YN is specified, the equals is required. General help flags: \-h \-\-help show command line help \-\-tldr show command examples with tldr \-\-info show the manual with info \-\-man show the manual with man \-\-version show version information \-\-debug=[1\-9] show this much debug output (default: 1) .EE .PP hledger\-web shows accounts with zero balances by default (like \f[CR]hledger\-ui\f[R], and unlike \f[CR]hledger\f[R]). Using the \f[CR]\-E/\-\-empty\f[R] flag will reverse this behaviour. If you see accounts which appear to have a zero balance, but cannot be hidden with \f[CR]\-E\f[R], it\[aq]s because they have a mixed\-cost balance, which looks like zero when costs are hidden. (hledger\-web does not show costs.) .PP Reporting options and/or query arguments can be used to set an initial query, which although not shown in the UI, will restrict the data shown (in addition to any search query entered in the UI). .SH PERMISSIONS By default, hledger\-web allows anyone who can reach it to view the journal and to add new transactions, but not to change existing data. .PP You can restrict who can reach it by .IP \[bu] 2 setting the IP address it listens on (see \f[CR]\-\-host\f[R] above). By default it listens on 127.0.0.1, accessible to all users on the local machine. .IP \[bu] 2 putting it behind an authenticating proxy, using eg apache or nginx .IP \[bu] 2 custom firewall rules .PP You can restrict what the users who reach it can do, by .IP \[bu] 2 using the \f[CR]\-\-capabilities=CAP[,CAP..]\f[R] flag when you start it, enabling one or more of the following capabilities. The default value is \f[CR]view,add\f[R]: .RS 2 .IP \[bu] 2 \f[CR]view\f[R] \- allows viewing the journal file and all included files .IP \[bu] 2 \f[CR]add\f[R] \- allows adding new transactions to the main journal file .IP \[bu] 2 \f[CR]manage\f[R] \- allows editing, uploading or downloading the main or included files .RE .IP \[bu] 2 using the \f[CR]\-\-capabilities\-header=HTTPHEADER\f[R] flag to specify a HTTP header from which it will read capabilities to enable. hledger\-web on Sandstorm uses the X\-Sandstorm\-Permissions header to integrate with Sandstorm\[aq]s permissions. This is disabled by default. .SH EDITING, UPLOADING, DOWNLOADING If you enable the \f[CR]manage\f[R] capability mentioned above, you\[aq]ll see a new \[dq]spanner\[dq] button to the right of the search form. Clicking this will let you edit, upload, or download the journal file or any files it includes. .PP Note, unlike any other hledger command, in this mode you (or any visitor) can alter or wipe the data files. .PP Normally whenever a file is changed in this way, hledger\-web saves a numbered backup (assuming file permissions allow it, the disk is not full, etc.) hledger\-web is not aware of version control systems, currently; if you use one, you\[aq]ll have to arrange to commit the changes yourself (eg with a cron job or a file watcher like entr). .PP Changes which would leave the journal file(s) unparseable or non\-valid (eg with failing balance assertions) are prevented. (Probably. This needs re\-testing.) .SH RELOADING hledger\-web detects changes made to the files by other means (eg if you edit it directly, outside of hledger\-web), and it will show the new data when you reload the page or navigate to a new page. If a change makes a file unparseable, hledger\-web will display an error message until the file has been fixed. .PP (Note: if you are viewing files mounted from another machine, make sure that both machine clocks are roughly in step.) .SH JSON API In addition to the web UI, hledger\-web also serves a JSON API that can be used to get data or add new transactions. If you want the JSON API only, you can use the \f[CR]\-\-serve\-api\f[R] flag. Eg: .IP .EX $ hledger\-web \-f examples/sample.journal \-\-serve\-api \&... .EE .PP You can get JSON data from these routes: .IP .EX /version /accountnames /transactions /prices /commodities /accounts /accounttransactions/ACCOUNTNAME .EE .PP Eg, all account names in the journal (similar to the accounts command). (hledger\-web\[aq]s JSON does not include newlines, here we use python to prettify it): .IP .EX $ curl \-s http://127.0.0.1:5000/accountnames | python \-m json.tool [ \[dq]assets\[dq], \[dq]assets:bank\[dq], \[dq]assets:bank:checking\[dq], \[dq]assets:bank:saving\[dq], \[dq]assets:cash\[dq], \[dq]expenses\[dq], \[dq]expenses:food\[dq], \[dq]expenses:supplies\[dq], \[dq]income\[dq], \[dq]income:gifts\[dq], \[dq]income:salary\[dq], \[dq]liabilities\[dq], \[dq]liabilities:debts\[dq] ] .EE .PP Or all transactions: .IP .EX $ curl \-s http://127.0.0.1:5000/transactions | python \-m json.tool [ { \[dq]tcode\[dq]: \[dq]\[dq], \[dq]tcomment\[dq]: \[dq]\[dq], \[dq]tdate\[dq]: \[dq]2008\-01\-01\[dq], \[dq]tdate2\[dq]: null, \[dq]tdescription\[dq]: \[dq]income\[dq], \[dq]tindex\[dq]: 1, \[dq]tpostings\[dq]: [ { \[dq]paccount\[dq]: \[dq]assets:bank:checking\[dq], \[dq]pamount\[dq]: [ { \[dq]acommodity\[dq]: \[dq]$\[dq], \[dq]aismultiplier\[dq]: false, \[dq]aprice\[dq]: null, \&... .EE .PP Most of the JSON corresponds to hledger\[aq]s data types; for details of what the fields mean, see the Hledger.Data.Json haddock docs and click on the various data types, eg Transaction. And for a higher level understanding, see the journal docs. There is also a basic OpenAPI specification. .PP In some cases there is outer JSON corresponding to a \[dq]Report\[dq] type. To understand that, go to the Hledger.Web.Handler.MiscR haddock and look at the source for the appropriate handler to see what it returns. Eg for \f[CR]/accounttransactions\f[R] it\[aq]s getAccounttransactionsR, returning a \[dq]\f[CR]accountTransactionsReport ...\f[R]\[dq]. Looking up the haddock for that we can see that /accounttransactions returns an AccountTransactionsReport, which consists of a report title and a list of AccountTransactionsReportItem (etc). .PP You can add a new transaction to the journal with a PUT request to \f[CR]/add\f[R], if hledger\-web was started with the \f[CR]add\f[R] capability (enabled by default). The payload must be the full, exact JSON representation of a hledger transaction (partial data won\[aq]t do). You can get sample JSON from hledger\-web\[aq]s \f[CR]/transactions\f[R] or \f[CR]/accounttransactions\f[R], or you can export it with hledger\-lib, eg like so: .IP .EX \&.../hledger$ stack ghci hledger\-lib >>> writeJsonFile \[dq]txn.json\[dq] (head $ jtxns samplejournal) >>> :q .EE .PP Here\[aq]s how it looks as of hledger\-1.17 (remember, this JSON corresponds to hledger\[aq]s Transaction and related data types): .IP .EX { \[dq]tcomment\[dq]: \[dq]\[dq], \[dq]tpostings\[dq]: [ { \[dq]pbalanceassertion\[dq]: \f[B]null\f[R], \[dq]pstatus\[dq]: \[dq]Unmarked\[dq], \[dq]pamount\[dq]: [ { \[dq]aprice\[dq]: \f[B]null\f[R], \[dq]acommodity\[dq]: \[dq]$\[dq], \[dq]aquantity\[dq]: { \[dq]floatingPoint\[dq]: 1, \[dq]decimalPlaces\[dq]: 10, \[dq]decimalMantissa\[dq]: 10000000000 }, \[dq]aismultiplier\[dq]: \f[B]false\f[R], \[dq]astyle\[dq]: { \[dq]ascommodityside\[dq]: \[dq]L\[dq], \[dq]asdigitgroups\[dq]: \f[B]null\f[R], \[dq]ascommodityspaced\[dq]: \f[B]false\f[R], \[dq]asprecision\[dq]: 2, \[dq]asdecimalpoint\[dq]: \[dq].\[dq] } } ], \[dq]ptransaction_\[dq]: \[dq]1\[dq], \[dq]paccount\[dq]: \[dq]assets:bank:checking\[dq], \[dq]pdate\[dq]: \f[B]null\f[R], \[dq]ptype\[dq]: \[dq]RegularPosting\[dq], \[dq]pcomment\[dq]: \[dq]\[dq], \[dq]pdate2\[dq]: \f[B]null\f[R], \[dq]ptags\[dq]: [], \[dq]poriginal\[dq]: \f[B]null\f[R] }, { \[dq]pbalanceassertion\[dq]: \f[B]null\f[R], \[dq]pstatus\[dq]: \[dq]Unmarked\[dq], \[dq]pamount\[dq]: [ { \[dq]aprice\[dq]: \f[B]null\f[R], \[dq]acommodity\[dq]: \[dq]$\[dq], \[dq]aquantity\[dq]: { \[dq]floatingPoint\[dq]: \-1, \[dq]decimalPlaces\[dq]: 10, \[dq]decimalMantissa\[dq]: \-10000000000 }, \[dq]aismultiplier\[dq]: \f[B]false\f[R], \[dq]astyle\[dq]: { \[dq]ascommodityside\[dq]: \[dq]L\[dq], \[dq]asdigitgroups\[dq]: \f[B]null\f[R], \[dq]ascommodityspaced\[dq]: \f[B]false\f[R], \[dq]asprecision\[dq]: 2, \[dq]asdecimalpoint\[dq]: \[dq].\[dq] } } ], \[dq]ptransaction_\[dq]: \[dq]1\[dq], \[dq]paccount\[dq]: \[dq]income:salary\[dq], \[dq]pdate\[dq]: \f[B]null\f[R], \[dq]ptype\[dq]: \[dq]RegularPosting\[dq], \[dq]pcomment\[dq]: \[dq]\[dq], \[dq]pdate2\[dq]: \f[B]null\f[R], \[dq]ptags\[dq]: [], \[dq]poriginal\[dq]: \f[B]null\f[R] } ], \[dq]ttags\[dq]: [], \[dq]tsourcepos\[dq]: { \[dq]tag\[dq]: \[dq]JournalSourcePos\[dq], \[dq]contents\[dq]: [ \[dq]\[dq], [ 1, 1 ] ] }, \[dq]tdate\[dq]: \[dq]2008\-01\-01\[dq], \[dq]tcode\[dq]: \[dq]\[dq], \[dq]tindex\[dq]: 1, \[dq]tprecedingcomment\[dq]: \[dq]\[dq], \[dq]tdate2\[dq]: \f[B]null\f[R], \[dq]tdescription\[dq]: \[dq]income\[dq], \[dq]tstatus\[dq]: \[dq]Unmarked\[dq] } .EE .PP And here\[aq]s how to test adding it with curl. This should add a new entry to your journal: .IP .EX $ curl http://127.0.0.1:5000/add \-X PUT \-H \[aq]Content\-Type: application/json\[aq] \-\-data\-binary \[at]txn.json .EE .SH DEBUG OUTPUT .SS Debug output You can add \f[CR]\-\-debug[=N]\f[R] to the command line to log debug output. N ranges from 1 (least output, the default) to 9 (maximum output). Typically you would start with 1 and increase until you are seeing enough. Debug output goes to stderr, interleaved with the requests logged on stdout. To capture debug output in a log file instead, you can usually redirect stderr, eg: .PD 0 .P .PD \f[CR]hledger\-web \-\-debug=3 2>hledger\-web.log\f[R]. .SH ENVIRONMENT \f[B]LEDGER_FILE\f[R] The main journal file to use when not specified with \f[CR]\-f/\-\-file\f[R]. Default: \f[CR]$HOME/.hledger.journal\f[R]. .SH BUGS We welcome bug reports in the hledger issue tracker (shortcut: http://bugs.hledger.org), or on the #hledger chat or hledger mail list (https://hledger.org/support). .PP Some known issues: .PP Does not work well on small screens, or in text\-mode browsers. .SH AUTHORS Simon Michael and contributors. .br See http://hledger.org/CREDITS.html .SH COPYRIGHT Copyright 2007-2023 Simon Michael and contributors. .SH LICENSE Released under GNU GPL v3 or later. .SH SEE ALSO hledger(1), hledger\-ui(1), hledger\-web(1), ledger(1)