🚩 Life Checkpoints

A repository for annual public reviews and encrypted time capsules for my future self.

📂 Project Structure

This repository contains two types of content for each year:

1. Public Summary (README.md): Accessible to everyone. My annual review, technical achievements, and life updates.
2. Time Capsule (letter_to_future.enc): AES-256 Encrypted. A private letter to myself, scheduled to be delivered via email 4 years later.

📝 End-of-Year Routine

Follow these steps on December 31st of each year:

1. Create Directory：

   mkdir 20xx

2. Write Content:

   • Create 20xx/README.md (The public summary).
   • Create 20xx/letter_to_future.md (The private letter).

3. Encrypt the Capsule：

   ./encrypt.sh 20xx
   # Enter the TIME_CAPSULE_KEY when prompted
   rm 20xx/letter_to_future.md

4. Commit & Push：

   git add .
   git commit -m "chore: archive 20xx checkpoints"
   git push

⚙️ How it Works

A GitHub Action runs automatically on Dec 31th.

• calculates Target Year = Current Year - 9.
• looks for letter_to_future.enc in that year's folder.
• decrypts the file using the repository secret.
• converts the Markdown to HTML and emails it to me.

Configuration (Secrets)

The following secrets are stored in Repository Settings:

• TIME_CAPSULE_KEY: The master password for encryption/decryption.
• MAIL_USERNAME: SMTP email address.
• MAIL_PASSWORD: SMTP App Password.

🔐 Manual Decryption (Backup)

If GitHub Actions fails or need to access a letter manually:

openssl enc -d -aes-256-cbc -pbkdf2 -in 20xx/letter_to_future.enc -out output.md