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|
HLEDGER-WEB(1) hledger User Manuals HLEDGER-WEB(1)
NAME
hledger-web - robust, friendly plain text accounting (Web version)
SYNOPSIS
hledger-web [--serve|--serve-api] [OPTS] [ARGS]
hledger web -- [--serve|--serve-api] [OPTS] [ARGS]
DESCRIPTION
This manual is for hledger's web interface, version 1.32.3. See also
the hledger manual for common concepts and file formats.
hledger is a robust, user-friendly, cross-platform set of programs for
tracking money, time, or any other commodity, using double-entry ac-
counting and a simple, editable file format. hledger is inspired by
and largely compatible with ledger(1), and largely interconvertible
with beancount(1).
hledger-web is a simple web application for browsing and adding trans-
actions. 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, inter-
active searching, and bookmarking.
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.
Like hledger, it reads from (and appends to) a journal file specified
by the LEDGER_FILE environment variable (defaulting to
$HOME/.hledger.journal); or you can specify files with -f 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.)
hledger-web can be run in three modes:
o 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).
o With --serve: the app runs without stopping, and without opening a
browser.
o With --serve-api: only the JSON API is served.
In all cases hledger-web runs as a foreground process, logging requests
to stdout.
OPTIONS
hledger-web provides the following options:
--serve
serve and log requests, don't browse or auto-exit after timeout
--serve-api
like --serve, but serve only the JSON web API, not the web UI
--allow=view|add|edit
set the user's access level for changing data (default: add).
It also accepts sandstorm for use on that platform (reads per-
missions from the X-Sandstorm-Permissions request header).
--cors=ORIGIN
allow cross-origin requests from the specified origin; setting
ORIGIN to "*" allows requests from any origin
--host=IPADDR
listen on this IP address (default: 127.0.0.1)
By default the server listens on IP address 127.0.0.1, which is acces-
sible only to requests from the local machine.. You can use --host to
listen on a different address configured on the machine, eg to allow
access from other machines. The special address 0.0.0.0 causes it to
listen on all addresses configured on the machine.
--port=PORT
listen on this TCP port (default: 5000)
Similarly, you can use --port to listen on a TCP port other than 5000.
This is useful if you want to run multiple hledger-web instances on a
machine.
--socket=SOCKETFILE
listen on the given unix socket instead of an IP address and
port (unix only; implies --serve)
When --socket 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 run-
ning per-user instances behind an nginx reverse proxy. (Eg: proxy_pass
http://unix:/tmp/hledger/${remote_user}.socket;.)
--base-url=URL
set the base url (default: http://IPADDR:PORT).
You can use --base-url to change the protocol, hostname, port and path
that appear in hledger-web's hyperlinks. This is useful eg when inte-
grating hledger-web within a larger website. The default is
http://HOST:PORT/ using the server's configured host address and TCP
port (or http://HOST if PORT is 80). Note this affects url generation
but not route parsing.
--test run hledger-web's tests and exit. hspec test runner args may
follow a --, eg: hledger-web --test -- --help
hledger-web also supports many of hledger's general options. Query op-
tions and arguments may be used to set an initial filter, which al-
though not shown in the UI, will restrict the data shown, in addition
to any search query entered in the UI.
General help options
-h --help
show general or COMMAND help
--man show general or COMMAND user manual with man
--info show general or COMMAND user manual with info
--version
show general or ADDONCMD version
--debug[=N]
show debug output (levels 1-9, default: 1)
General input options
-f FILE --file=FILE
use a different input file. For stdin, use - (default:
$LEDGER_FILE or $HOME/.hledger.journal)
--rules-file=RULESFILE
Conversion rules file to use when reading CSV (default:
FILE.rules)
--separator=CHAR
Field separator to expect when reading CSV (default: ',')
--alias=OLD=NEW
rename accounts named OLD to NEW
--pivot FIELDNAME
use some other field or tag for the account name
-I --ignore-assertions
disable balance assertion checks (note: does not disable balance
assignments)
-s --strict
do extra error checking (check that all posted accounts are de-
clared)
General reporting options
-b --begin=DATE
include postings/txns on or after this date (will be adjusted to
preceding subperiod start when using a report interval)
-e --end=DATE
include postings/txns before this date (will be adjusted to fol-
lowing subperiod end when using a report interval)
-D --daily
multiperiod/multicolumn report by day
-W --weekly
multiperiod/multicolumn report by week
-M --monthly
multiperiod/multicolumn report by month
-Q --quarterly
multiperiod/multicolumn report by quarter
-Y --yearly
multiperiod/multicolumn report by year
-p --period=PERIODEXP
set start date, end date, and/or reporting interval all at once
using period expressions syntax
--date2
match the secondary date instead (see command help for other ef-
fects)
--today=DATE
override today's date (affects relative smart dates, for
tests/examples)
-U --unmarked
include only unmarked postings/txns (can combine with -P or -C)
-P --pending
include only pending postings/txns
-C --cleared
include only cleared postings/txns
-R --real
include only non-virtual postings
-NUM --depth=NUM
hide/aggregate accounts or postings more than NUM levels deep
-E --empty
show items with zero amount, normally hidden (and vice-versa in
hledger-ui/hledger-web)
-B --cost
convert amounts to their cost/selling amount at transaction time
-V --market
convert amounts to their market value in default valuation com-
modities
-X --exchange=COMM
convert amounts to their market value in commodity COMM
--value
convert amounts to cost or market value, more flexibly than
-B/-V/-X
--infer-equity
infer conversion equity postings from costs
--infer-costs
infer costs from conversion equity postings
--infer-market-prices
use costs as additional market prices, as if they were P direc-
tives
--forecast
generate transactions from periodic rules, between the latest
recorded txn and 6 months from today, or during the specified
PERIOD (= is required). Auto posting rules will be applied to
these transactions as well. Also, in hledger-ui make fu-
ture-dated transactions visible.
--auto generate extra postings by applying auto posting rules to all
txns (not just forecast txns)
--verbose-tags
add visible tags indicating transactions or postings which have
been generated/modified
--commodity-style
Override the commodity style in the output for the specified
commodity. For example 'EUR1.000,00'.
--color=WHEN (or --colour=WHEN)
Should color-supporting commands use ANSI color codes in text
output. 'auto' (default): whenever stdout seems to be a
color-supporting terminal. 'always' or 'yes': always, useful eg
when piping output into 'less -R'. 'never' or 'no': never. A
NO_COLOR environment variable overrides this.
--pretty[=WHEN]
Show prettier output, e.g. using unicode box-drawing charac-
ters. Accepts 'yes' (the default) or 'no' ('y', 'n', 'always',
'never' also work). If you provide an argument you must use
'=', e.g. '--pretty=yes'.
When a reporting option appears more than once in the command line, the
last one takes precedence.
Some reporting options can also be written as query arguments.
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.
You can restrict who can reach it by
o setting the IP address it listens on (see --host above). By default
it listens on 127.0.0.1, accessible to all users on the local ma-
chine.
o putting it behind an authenticating proxy, using eg apache or nginx
o custom firewall rules
You can restrict what the users who reach it can do, by
o using the --capabilities=CAP[,CAP..] flag when you start it, enabling
one or more of the following capabilities. The default value is
view,add:
o view - allows viewing the journal file and all included files
o add - allows adding new transactions to the main journal file
o manage - allows editing, uploading or downloading the main or in-
cluded files
o using the --capabilities-header=HTTPHEADER 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's permissions. This is disabled by default.
EDITING, UPLOADING, DOWNLOADING
If you enable the manage capability mentioned above, you'll see a new
"spanner" button to the right of the search form. Clicking this will
let you edit, upload, or download the journal file or any files it in-
cludes.
Note, unlike any other hledger command, in this mode you (or any visi-
tor) can alter or wipe the data files.
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, cur-
rently; if you use one, you'll have to arrange to commit the changes
yourself (eg with a cron job or a file watcher like entr).
Changes which would leave the journal file(s) unparseable or non-valid
(eg with failing balance assertions) are prevented. (Probably. This
needs re-testing.)
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 un-
til the file has been fixed.
(Note: if you are viewing files mounted from another machine, make sure
that both machine clocks are roughly in step.)
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 --serve-api flag. Eg:
$ hledger-web -f examples/sample.journal --serve-api
...
You can get JSON data from these routes:
/version
/accountnames
/transactions
/prices
/commodities
/accounts
/accounttransactions/ACCOUNTNAME
Eg, all account names in the journal (similar to the accounts command).
(hledger-web's JSON does not include newlines, here we use python to
prettify it):
$ curl -s http://127.0.0.1:5000/accountnames | python -m json.tool
[
"assets",
"assets:bank",
"assets:bank:checking",
"assets:bank:saving",
"assets:cash",
"expenses",
"expenses:food",
"expenses:supplies",
"income",
"income:gifts",
"income:salary",
"liabilities",
"liabilities:debts"
]
Or all transactions:
$ curl -s http://127.0.0.1:5000/transactions | python -m json.tool
[
{
"tcode": "",
"tcomment": "",
"tdate": "2008-01-01",
"tdate2": null,
"tdescription": "income",
"tindex": 1,
"tpostings": [
{
"paccount": "assets:bank:checking",
"pamount": [
{
"acommodity": "$",
"aismultiplier": false,
"aprice": null,
...
Most of the JSON corresponds to hledger's data types; for details of
what the fields mean, see the Hledger.Data.Json haddock docs and click
on the various data types, eg Transaction. And for a higher level un-
derstanding, see the journal docs.
In some cases there is outer JSON corresponding to a "Report" type. To
understand that, go to the Hledger.Web.Handler.MiscR haddock and look
at the source for the appropriate handler to see what it returns. Eg
for /accounttransactions it's getAccounttransactionsR, returning a "ac-
countTransactionsReport ...". Looking up the haddock for that we can
see that /accounttransactions returns an AccountTransactionsReport,
which consists of a report title and a list of AccountTransactionsRe-
portItem (etc).
You can add a new transaction to the journal with a PUT request to
/add, if hledger-web was started with the add capability (enabled by
default). The payload must be the full, exact JSON representation of a
hledger transaction (partial data won't do). You can get sample JSON
from hledger-web's /transactions or /accounttransactions, or you can
export it with hledger-lib, eg like so:
.../hledger$ stack ghci hledger-lib
>>> writeJsonFile "txn.json" (head $ jtxns samplejournal)
>>> :q
Here's how it looks as of hledger-1.17 (remember, this JSON corresponds
to hledger's Transaction and related data types):
{
"tcomment": "",
"tpostings": [
{
"pbalanceassertion": null,
"pstatus": "Unmarked",
"pamount": [
{
"aprice": null,
"acommodity": "$",
"aquantity": {
"floatingPoint": 1,
"decimalPlaces": 10,
"decimalMantissa": 10000000000
},
"aismultiplier": false,
"astyle": {
"ascommodityside": "L",
"asdigitgroups": null,
"ascommodityspaced": false,
"asprecision": 2,
"asdecimalpoint": "."
}
}
],
"ptransaction_": "1",
"paccount": "assets:bank:checking",
"pdate": null,
"ptype": "RegularPosting",
"pcomment": "",
"pdate2": null,
"ptags": [],
"poriginal": null
},
{
"pbalanceassertion": null,
"pstatus": "Unmarked",
"pamount": [
{
"aprice": null,
"acommodity": "$",
"aquantity": {
"floatingPoint": -1,
"decimalPlaces": 10,
"decimalMantissa": -10000000000
},
"aismultiplier": false,
"astyle": {
"ascommodityside": "L",
"asdigitgroups": null,
"ascommodityspaced": false,
"asprecision": 2,
"asdecimalpoint": "."
}
}
],
"ptransaction_": "1",
"paccount": "income:salary",
"pdate": null,
"ptype": "RegularPosting",
"pcomment": "",
"pdate2": null,
"ptags": [],
"poriginal": null
}
],
"ttags": [],
"tsourcepos": {
"tag": "JournalSourcePos",
"contents": [
"",
[
1,
1
]
]
},
"tdate": "2008-01-01",
"tcode": "",
"tindex": 1,
"tprecedingcomment": "",
"tdate2": null,
"tdescription": "income",
"tstatus": "Unmarked"
}
And here's how to test adding it with curl. This should add a new en-
try to your journal:
$ curl http://127.0.0.1:5000/add -X PUT -H 'Content-Type: application/json' --data-binary @txn.json
DEBUG OUTPUT
Debug output
You can add --debug[=N] to the command line to log debug output. N
ranges from 1 (least output, the default) to 9 (maximum output). Typi-
cally 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:
hledger-web --debug=3 2>hledger-web.log.
ENVIRONMENT
LEDGER_FILE The main journal file to use when not specified with
-f/--file. Default: $HOME/.hledger.journal.
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).
Some known issues:
Does not work well on small screens, or in text-mode browsers.
AUTHORS
Simon Michael <simon@joyful.com> and contributors.
See http://hledger.org/CREDITS.html
COPYRIGHT
Copyright 2007-2023 Simon Michael and contributors.
LICENSE
Released under GNU GPL v3 or later.
SEE ALSO
hledger(1), hledger-ui(1), hledger-web(1), ledger(1)
hledger-web-1.32.3 January 2024 HLEDGER-WEB(1)
|
