`created` attribute is weird

General
1

I just migrated my space from one host to another. I preserved all the file attributes (thanks, rsync, you rule) so that the file creation dates would be correct on my new host. I've verified that they are in an ssh session.

Once my new space re-indexed, all my creation times matched the date the note was indexed, not the date it was created according to the file system. I thought it matched the file creation date.

I was hoping to rely on the file metadata to order my notes in some cases. For example, I'd like it if my journal entries didn't depend on a naming convention to be ordered but could use the created date. I have this whole thing about structured vs. unstructured data. :slight_smile:

It looks like lastModified works this way, but if I can't use it as a stable "created on" ordering. If I ever edit something in a note, it'll get messed up.

I found this bug where someone had a similar experience: Note creation timestamp not recorded correctly in index · Issue #1714 · silverbulletmd/silverbullet · GitHub

I did some random checks (restarted the containers, pulled latest, etc) and it looks like the https://my.private.sb/.fs entries all have created attributes that are very close in time to each other, so this looks like a server thing.

Any chance I can vote up this feature request? Anyone else doing something similar?

2

Yup, I'm replying to my own post because I realized way after I posted: the filesystem can tell you the modification date, but the creation date isn't always a thing, and, when it is, it isn't what I think it is. So I might have to live with it.

❯ stat 2026-06-11.md
  File: 2026-06-11.md
  Size: 2273            Blocks: 8          IO Block: 4096   regular file
Device: fc01h/64513d    Inode: 36050383    Links: 1
Access: (0644/-rw-r--r--)  Uid: ( 1001/     drh)   Gid: ( 1001/     drh)
Access: 2026-06-19 21:13:28.881179935 -0500
Modify: 2026-06-11 12:01:20.490000000 -0500
Change: 2026-06-19 21:13:28.881317886 -0500
 Birth: 2026-06-19 21:13:28.881179935 -0500

Dang, right, totally forgot.

My previous big note software commitment was Tiddlywiki. TW writes the created dates into its notes (it calls them "tiddlers") as a metadata attribute. I might end up doing something like that for notes where I care about the creation date.

Anyway, I did a whole thing all by myself but thought I'd write it out in case someone else benefits. Thanks!