Use the YAML frontmatter key `date` for the note creation date, when provided

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
         * Use glob patterns to match multiple tags, e.g. `--tag "book-*"`.
     * Many tag flavors are supported: `#hashtags`, `:colon:separated:tags:` ([opt-in](docs/note-format.md)) and even Bear's [`#multi-word tags#`](https://blog.bear.app/2017/11/bear-tips-how-to-create-multi-word-tags/) ([opt-in](docs/note-format.md)). If you prefer to use a YAML frontmatter, list your tags with the key `tags` or `keywords`.
 * Print metadata from the YAML frontmatter in `list` output using `{{metadata.<key>}}`, e.g. `{{metadata.description}}`. Keys are normalized to lower case.
+* Use the YAML frontmatter key `date` for the note creation date, when provided.
 * Access environment variables from note templates with the `env.<key>` template variable, e.g. `{{env.PATH}}`.
 
 ### Changed

core/note/index.go

@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/mickael-menu/zk/util/errors"
 	"github.com/mickael-menu/zk/util/paths"
 	strutil "github.com/mickael-menu/zk/util/strings"
+	"github.com/relvacode/iso8601"
 	"gopkg.in/djherbis/times.v1"
 )
 
@@ -161,11 +162,31 @@ func metadata(path string, zk *zk.Zk, parser Parser) (Metadata, error) {
 	}
 
 	metadata.Modified = times.ModTime().UTC()
+	metadata.Created = creationDateFrom(metadata.Metadata, times)
+
+	return metadata, nil
+}
+
+func creationDateFrom(metadata map[string]interface{}, times times.Timespec) time.Time {
+	// Read the creation date from the YAML frontmatter `date` key.
+	if dateVal, ok := metadata["date"]; ok {
+		if dateStr, ok := dateVal.(string); ok {
+			if time, err := iso8601.ParseString(dateStr); err == nil {
+				return time
+			}
+			// Omitting the `T` is common
+			if time, err := time.Parse("2006-01-02 15:04:05", dateStr); err == nil {
+				return time
+			}
+			if time, err := time.Parse("2006-01-02 15:04", dateStr); err == nil {
+				return time
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
 	if times.HasBirthTime() {
-		metadata.Created = times.BirthTime().UTC()
-	} else {
-		metadata.Created = time.Now().UTC()
+		return times.BirthTime().UTC()
 	}
 
-	return metadata, nil
+	return time.Now().UTC()
 }

go.mod

@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/mvdan/xurls v1.1.0
 	github.com/pelletier/go-toml v1.8.1
 	github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1 // indirect
+	github.com/relvacode/iso8601 v1.1.0 // indirect
 	github.com/rivo/uniseg v0.2.0 // indirect
 	github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.6.2 // indirect
 	github.com/rvflash/elapsed v0.2.0

go.sum

@@ -145,6 +145,8 @@ github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 h1:4DBwDE0NGyQoBHbLQYPwSUPoCMWR5BEzIk/f1lZb
 github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0/go.mod h1:iKH77koFhYxTK1pcRnkKkqfTogsbg7gZNVY4sRDYZ/4=
 github.com/rainycape/unidecode v0.0.0-20150907023854-cb7f23ec59be h1:ta7tUOvsPHVHGom5hKW5VXNc2xZIkfCKP8iaqOyYtUQ=
 github.com/rainycape/unidecode v0.0.0-20150907023854-cb7f23ec59be/go.mod h1:MIDFMn7db1kT65GmV94GzpX9Qdi7N/pQlwb+AN8wh+Q=
+github.com/relvacode/iso8601 v1.1.0 h1:2nV8sp0eOjpoKQ2vD3xSDygsjAx37NHG2UlZiCkDH4I=
+github.com/relvacode/iso8601 v1.1.0/go.mod h1:FlNp+jz+TXpyRqgmM7tnzHHzBnz776kmAH2h3sZCn0I=
 github.com/rivo/uniseg v0.1.0 h1:+2KBaVoUmb9XzDsrx/Ct0W/EYOSFf/nWTauy++DprtY=
 github.com/rivo/uniseg v0.1.0/go.mod h1:J6wj4VEh+S6ZtnVlnTBMWIodfgj8LQOQFoIToxlJtxc=
 github.com/rivo/uniseg v0.2.0 h1:S1pD9weZBuJdFmowNwbpi7BJ8TNftyUImj/0WQi72jY=