
hledger-web(1)               hledger User Manuals               hledger-web(1)



NAME
       hledger-web - web interface for the hledger accounting tool

SYNOPSIS
       hledger-web [OPTIONS]
       hledger web -- [OPTIONS]

DESCRIPTION
       hledger  is  a  cross-platform program 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).

       hledger-web is hledger's web interface.  It starts a simple web  appli-
       cation for browsing and adding transactions, and optionally opens it in
       a web browser window if possible.  It provides a more user-friendly  UI
       than the hledger CLI or hledger-ui interface, showing more at once (ac-
       counts, the current account register, balance charts) and allowing his-
       tory-aware data entry, interactive searching, and bookmarking.

       hledger-web  also  lets you share a ledger 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 data from one or more files in hledger journal,
       timeclock, timedot, or CSV format specified with -f,  or  $LEDGER_FILE,
       or        $HOME/.hledger.journal       (on       windows,       perhaps
       C:/Users/USER/.hledger.journal).  For more about this  see  hledger(1),
       hledger_journal(5) etc.

OPTIONS
       Command-line options and arguments may be used to set an initial filter
       on the data.  These filter options are not shown in the web UI, but  it
       will be applied in addition to any search query entered there.

       Note:  if invoking hledger-web as a hledger subcommand, write -- before
       options, as shown in the synopsis above.

       --serve
              serve and log requests, don't browse or auto-exit

       --serve-api
              like --serve, but serve only  the  JSON  web  API,  without  the
              server-side web UI

       --host=IPADDR
              listen on this IP address (default: 127.0.0.1)

       --port=PORT
              listen on this TCP port (default: 5000)

       --base-url=URL
              set  the  base  url  (default:  http://IPADDR:PORT).   You would
              change this when sharing over the network, or integrating within
              a larger website.

       --file-url=URL
              set the static files url (default: BASEURL/static).  hledger-web
              normally serves static files itself, but if you wanted to  serve
              them  from  another server for efficiency, you would set the url
              with this.

       --capabilities=CAP[,CAP..]
              enable the  view,  add,  and/or  manage  capabilities  (default:
              view,add)

       --capabilities-header=HTTPHEADER
              read  capabilities  to  enable  from a HTTP header, like X-Sand-
              storm-Permissions (default: disabled)

       hledger 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

       --anon anonymize accounts and payees

       --pivot FIELDNAME
              use some other field or tag for the account name

       -I --ignore-assertions
              ignore any failing balance assertions

       hledger reporting options:

       -b --begin=DATE
              include postings/txns on or after this date

       -e --end=DATE
              include postings/txns before this date

       -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)

       -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 at transaction time (using the
              transaction price, if any)

       -V --value
              convert amounts to their market value on  the  report  end  date
              (using the most recent applicable market price, if any)

       --auto apply automated posting rules to modify transactions.

       --forecast
              apply  periodic  transaction  rules  to generate future transac-
              tions, to 6 months from now or report end date.

       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.

       hledger help options:

       -h --help
              show general usage (or after COMMAND, command usage)

       --version
              show version

       --debug[=N]
              show debug output (levels 1-9, default: 1)

       A @FILE argument will be expanded to the contents of FILE, which should
       contain one command line option/argument per line.  (To  prevent  this,
       insert a -- argument before.)

       By default, hledger-web starts the web app in "transient mode" and also
       opens it in your default web browser if possible.  In this mode the web
       app will keep running for as long as you have it open in a browser win-
       dow, and will exit after two minutes of inactivity (no requests and  no
       browser  windows  viewing  it).  With --serve, it just runs the web app
       without exiting, and logs requests to the console.   With  --serve-api,
       only  the  JSON  web  api  (see  below)  is served, with the usual HTML
       server-side web UI disabled.

       By default the server listens on IP address 127.0.0.1, accessible  only
       to  local  requests.   You  can  use  --host  to change this, eg --host
       0.0.0.0 to listen on all configured addresses.

       Similarly, use --port to set a TCP port other than 5000, eg if you  are
       running multiple hledger-web instances.

       You  can use --base-url to change the protocol, hostname, port and path
       that appear in hyperlinks, useful eg for integrating 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).

       With --file-url you can set a different base url for static  files,  eg
       for better caching or cookie-less serving on high performance websites.

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 provides some API routes that
       serve JSON in  response  to  GET  requests.   (And  when  started  with
       --serve-api, it provides only these routes.):

              /accountnames
              /transactions
              /prices
              /commodities
              /accounts
              /accounttransactions/#AccountName

       Also,  you can append a new transaction to the journal by sending a PUT
       request to /add (hledger-web only).  As with the  web  UI's  add  form,
       hledger-web  must  be started with the add capability for this (enabled
       by default).

       The payload should be a valid hledger transaction as JSON,  similar  to
       what you get from /transactions or /accounttransactions.

       Another  way  to generate test data is with the readJsonFile/writeJson-
       File helpers in Hledger.Web.Json, which read or write any of  hledger's
       JSON-capable  types  from  or  to  a  file.  Eg here we write the first
       transaction of a sample journal:

              $ make ghci-web
              >>> :m +*Hledger.Web.Json
              >>> writeJsonFile "txn.json" (head $ jtxns samplejournal)
              >>> :q
              $ python -m json.tool <txn.json >txn.pretty.json  # optional: make human-readable

       (sample output & discussion)

       And here's how to test adding that with curl:

              $ curl -s http://127.0.0.1:5000/add -X PUT -H 'Content-Type: application/json' --data-binary @txn.pretty.json; echo

       By default, both the server-side HTML UI and the JSON API  are  served.
       Running  with  --serve-api disables the former, useful if you only want
       to serve the API.

ENVIRONMENT
       LEDGER_FILE The journal file path when not specified with -f.  Default:
       ~/.hledger.journal  (on  windows,  perhaps C:/Users/USER/.hledger.jour-
       nal).

FILES
       Reads data from one or more files in hledger journal, timeclock,  time-
       dot,   or   CSV   format   specified   with  -f,  or  $LEDGER_FILE,  or
       $HOME/.hledger.journal          (on          windows,           perhaps
       C:/Users/USER/.hledger.journal).

BUGS
       The  need  to precede options with -- when invoked from hledger is awk-
       ward.

       -f- doesn't work (hledger-web can't read from stdin).

       Query arguments and some hledger options are ignored.

       Does not work in text-mode browsers.

       Does not work well on small screens.



REPORTING BUGS
       Report bugs at http://bugs.hledger.org (or on the #hledger IRC  channel
       or hledger mail list)


AUTHORS
       Simon Michael <simon@joyful.com> and contributors


COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (C) 2007-2019 Simon Michael.
       Released under GNU GPL v3 or later.


SEE ALSO
       hledger(1),      hledger-ui(1),     hledger-web(1),     hledger-api(1),
       hledger_csv(5), hledger_journal(5), hledger_timeclock(5), hledger_time-
       dot(5), ledger(1)

       http://hledger.org



hledger-web 1.15.99               August 2019                   hledger-web(1)
