Glassthought

README__generated__vh_v3_format

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Visit History V3 — focus durations: layout & format

__visit_history/
  user/
    <user-name>/                          # chosen in the plugin's user-name modal; see the user bullet
      v3/
        README__generated__vh_v3_format.md    # this file
        focus_duration_per_device/
          <device-name>/                      # hostname on desktop; mobile-XXXXXXXX on mobile
            <doc-id>.vh_v3                    # one duration file per (device, document)
  • V3 is the ONLY visit history the plugin reads and writes. The filename is the document’s persistent id. Any v2/ folder — under __visit_history/ or under a user/<user-name>/ dir — and any top-level _visit_history/ or .visit_history/ folder is legacy data from older plugin versions — no longer read or written, left untouched.
  • WHY the folder is named __visit_history (not dot-hidden): Obsidian Sync does not sync folders starting with a dot, so the history must be visible to sync across devices. The plugin’s own tracking and heatmap exclude it.
  • Per-user directories keep the histories of different people syncing one vault apart. The user name is confirmed by the human in a modal on first plugin start (existing name or a new lowercase one) and remembered per device; nothing is recorded until a name is confirmed.
  • Each .vh_v3 line is one COMPLETED focus session, newline-terminated: <ISO 8601 UTC ms stamp of focus start> D:<millis spent in focus> e.g. 2026-07-09T22:02:15.745Z D:5600
  • A session ends (and its line is written) when the user navigates away from the document, when the Obsidian window HOSTING it loses focus (including switching to another Obsidian popout window), or after the configured idle timeout without any user interaction (plugin setting, default 3 minutes) — the idle session’s duration ends at the LAST interaction, and OS sleep is never counted. Refocusing the document’s window or interacting again starts a new session for the same document.
  • Per-device directories keep synced devices from ever writing the same file (no sync conflicts).
  • Documents whose id is not filename-safe cannot be tracked and are skipped.

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