Journiv Plus Overview

Journiv Plus gives you additional features as a thank you for supporting the development of Journiv. Plus features are designed with the same privacy-first, self-hosted philosophy as the core Journiv app.

What is Journiv Plus?

Journiv Plus is an optional extension for your self-hosted Journiv instance that unlocks additional capabilities beyond the core experience. It is designed to enhance Journiv with more functionality while staying true to the app's privacy-first, self-hosted philosophy.

Journiv Plus is available to supporters and integrates with your existing setup without changing how your data is stored, processed, or owned.

Why Journiv Plus?

The goal of Journiv Plus is not to lock functionality behind a paywall, but to offer additional capabilities as a way to thank supporters who help sustain the ongoing development of Journiv.

How It Works

Journiv Plus features work within your self-hosted Journiv deployment. Your journal content stays on your infrastructure and Plus features are processed locally by your own instance.

Available Plus Features

Journiv Plus currently includes:

• Tag Analytics for deeper insight into how you use tags
• Public Publishing for sharing selected entries at public URLs
• oEmbed support for richer previews and embeds of published entries

Runtime Modes

Journiv Plus now supports two runtime models:

• Inline mode: Plus runs inside the main Journiv app container. This is the simplest setup and works well for standard deployments.
• Sidecar mode: Plus runs in a separate container and the main app proxies Plus routes to it. This is the preferred option for privacy-sensitive or air-gapped deployments.

In sidecar mode, the Plus container can be isolated from the public internet while still serving Plus features to Journiv over an internal Docker network.

License Binding

Your Plus license is bound to your installation's unique identifier (install ID). This ensures:

• Your license is tied to your specific instance
• You can use Plus features on your self-hosted server
• License sharing is prevented

Offline Capable

Plus features work offline once your license is registered. You do not need a constant internet connection to use supported Plus features because they run on your own server.

Periodically, your instance refreshes license information from the Journiv Plus service. This is required to verify that your license is still active and bound to your server.

Sidecar Mode for Privacy-Sensitive Deployments

If you want stronger isolation for Plus features, use the Plus sidecar deployment.

With sidecar mode:

• Journiv Plus runs in a dedicated container
• The main app forwards Plus requests internally
• The Plus container can be deployed without public internet access
• You keep the same user-facing Journiv experience while isolating Plus runtime responsibilities

This model is especially useful for homelabs, private servers, and air-gapped environments where minimizing network exposure matters.

Privacy and Security

Journiv Plus is built with the same privacy-first, self-hosted philosophy as the core Journiv app. Plus features are designed to enhance your experience, not extract your data.

• No journal-content collection Journiv Plus does not send your journal entries, media, tags, moods, or analytics to external services. Your personal content stays on your server.

• Fully local feature processing Journiv Plus features run on your own machine or server, alongside your Journiv deployment. There is no cloud processing of your journal content.

• Minimal external communication The only external interactions are for license operations, and these do not include journal content. These requests contain only:

  • Instance Registration:

    • An anonymous instance identifier
    • The Journiv version
    • Platform type
    • Database backend type

  • License Registration:

    • License key
    • Anonymous instance identifier
    • Email address
    • The Journiv version
    • Platform type
    • Database backend type
    • Discord ID (optional if specified during registration)

  • License Info:

    • Anonymous instance identifier
    • Signed license token

  • License Refresh:

    • Anonymous instance identifier
    • Signed license token

  These are required to verify your license binding to your server. No journal entries, media, tags, moods, or analytics are transmitted.

• Cryptographically verified licensing Journiv Plus licenses are digitally signed and verified locally. This ensures:

  • Licenses cannot be forged or tampered with
  • No secret keys are stored on your server
  • Trust is enforced mathematically, not by obscurity

• No tracking, telemetry, or ads Journiv Plus includes no usage tracking, no behavioral analytics, no fingerprinting, and no ads. What you write and how you write remains completely private.

• Transparent architecture Journiv Plus is designed so privacy claims are verifiable, not just promises:

  • Plus features are designed to perform local computation on your server
  • Journiv can run Plus inline or proxy to an isolated Plus sidecar
  • The sidecar deployment allows the Plus runtime to operate without public internet access
  • Plus features are designed to remain usable offline once your license is registered

In short: Journiv Plus adds powerful capabilities without changing the trust model. Your memories stay yours, stored locally, processed locally, and owned by you.

Getting Started

Ready to unlock Plus features?

1. Get a License - Purchase a Journiv Plus license
2. Register Your License - Enter your license key in the Journiv settings
3. Start Using Features - Access Tag Analytics, Public Publishing, oEmbed, and other Plus features immediately

For detailed instructions, see our Getting Started Guide.

Support

Need help with Journiv Plus?

• Documentation - Browse our comprehensive Plus documentation
• License Management - Learn how to manage your license
• Troubleshooting - Find solutions to common issues
• Community - Join our Discord community for support

Next Steps

• Get Started with Plus - Register your license and unlock features
• Learn About Features - Explore Tag Analytics, Public Publishing, and oEmbed
• Manage Your License - View and manage your Plus subscription