Blacklist Time Rewind Tool 📅¶
The Blacklist Time Rewind Tool allows you to "go back in time" and restore previously blacklisted links, making them available for reading again. This is perfect for testing disruptions in learning material, re-introducing content for review, or recovering from over-blacklisting.
🎯 Use Cases¶
- Testing Learning Disruptions: Remove blacklisted links to simulate new content exposure
- Content Review: Re-introduce previously read articles for reinforcement
- Experimentation: Test different content exposure patterns and timing
- Recovery: Undo accidental over-blacklisting of important content
- Content Rotation: Manage long-term content availability cycles
🚀 Quick Start¶
Preview Before Acting¶
# See what a 7-day rewind would do (without making changes)
neuron-automation --rewind-preview 7
# Preview a 3-day rewind
neuron-automation --rewind-preview 3
Perform Time Rewind¶
# Rewind blacklist by 5 days (restores links blacklisted in last 5 days)
neuron-automation --rewind 5
# Rewind 2 days without creating backup
neuron-automation --rewind 2 --no-backup
Manage Blacklist History¶
# Show recently blacklisted links
neuron-automation --recent-blacklisted 10
# Create backup of current blacklist state
neuron-automation --backup-blacklist
# View current blacklist statistics
neuron-automation --stats
📋 Command Reference¶
Main Commands¶
Command | Description | Example |
---|---|---|
--rewind-preview DAYS |
Preview rewind operation without changes | --rewind-preview 7 |
--rewind DAYS |
Restore blacklisted links from last X days | --rewind 5 |
--backup-blacklist |
Create backup of current blacklist state | --backup-blacklist |
--recent-blacklisted DAYS |
Show recently blacklisted links | --recent-blacklisted 10 |
Options¶
Option | Description | Example |
---|---|---|
--no-backup |
Skip automatic backup during rewind | --rewind 3 --no-backup |
--database PATH |
Specify database path (auto-detected) | --database /path/to/links.db |
🔧 Detailed Examples¶
Example 1: Testing Content Re-exposure¶
Scenario: You want to test how re-introducing content from 5 days ago affects your learning.
# 1. Preview what would be restored
neuron-automation --rewind-preview 5
# Output:
# 🔍 Preview: Rewind 5 days
# Cutoff date: 2025-08-14
# Links to restore: 12
#
# 📊 Restoration breakdown:
# • read: 10 links
# • not_interested: 2 links
# 2. Perform the rewind
neuron-automation --rewind 5
# Output:
# ⏪ Performing Rewind: 5 days
# This will restore 12 links to available status
# ✅ Rewind complete!
# • Restored 12 links
# • Cutoff date: 2025-08-14
# • Backup saved: /path/to/backups/blacklist_backup_20250819_143022.json
Example 2: Gradual Content Introduction¶
Scenario: Gradually re-introduce content starting with most recently blacklisted.
# Start with just 1 day
neuron-automation --rewind-preview 1
# Shows: 3 links from yesterday
neuron-automation --rewind 1
# Restores yesterday's content
# Next day, expand to 3 days
neuron-automation --rewind-preview 3
# Shows: 8 links from last 3 days (including newly blacklisted)
neuron-automation --rewind 3
# Restores 3-day content
Example 3: Content Analysis and Recovery¶
Scenario: Analyze blacklist patterns and recover accidentally blacklisted content.
# 1. View recent blacklist activity
neuron-automation --recent-blacklisted 14
# Output shows links with reasons and dates:
# 📅 2 days ago (2025-08-17)
# 🔗 https://techcrunch.com/important-ai-breakthrough
# 📂 Domain: techcrunch.com
# 💭 Reason: read
#
# 📅 5 days ago (2025-08-14)
# 🔗 https://nature.com/critical-research-paper
# 📂 Domain: nature.com
# 💭 Reason: read
# 2. Create backup before making changes
neuron-automation --backup-blacklist
# 3. Restore important content from last week
neuron-automation --rewind 7
Example 4: Experimental Learning Patterns¶
Scenario: Test different content exposure cycles for optimal learning.
# Week 1: Normal operation (links get blacklisted)
# ... content accumulates in blacklist
# Week 2: 3-day review cycle - rewind every 3 days
neuron-automation --rewind 3 # Monday
# ... automation runs, some content gets re-blacklisted
neuron-automation --rewind 3 # Thursday
# ... cycle continues
# Week 3: 7-day review cycle - rewind weekly
neuron-automation --rewind 7 # Monday
# ... all week's content available again
# Analysis: Compare learning effectiveness between cycles
neuron-automation --stats
⚙️ How It Works¶
Time-Based Restoration¶
The rewind tool works by:
- Calculating Cutoff Date:
today - X days = cutoff_date
- Finding Eligible Links: Links blacklisted on or after the cutoff date
- Removing Blacklist Status: Sets
is_blacklisted = FALSE
for eligible links - Preserving History: Keeps original blacklist dates in history for analysis
Database Changes¶
Before Rewind:
-- Link blacklisted 3 days ago
is_blacklisted: TRUE
blacklisted_date: 2025-08-16
blacklist_reason: 'read'
After 5-Day Rewind:
-- Link restored to available status
is_blacklisted: FALSE
blacklisted_date: NULL
blacklist_reason: NULL
Safety Features¶
- Automatic Backups: Created before each rewind operation
- Preview Mode: See exactly what will be restored before committing
- Selective Restoration: Only affects links within specified timeframe
- Backup Recovery: Restore previous blacklist state from backup files
📊 Integration with Automation¶
The rewind tool integrates seamlessly with the main newsletter automation:
Morning Automation Flow¶
- 6:30 AM: Automation runs, analyzes newsletter links
- Link Analysis: Restored links are now available again
- Tab Opening: Previously blacklisted content opens in new tabs
- New Blacklisting: Content gets re-blacklisted after opening (if read)
Rewind Timing Strategies¶
Daily Review Pattern:
# Every morning before automation
neuron-automation --rewind 1 # Yesterday's content
# Then normal automation runs
Weekly Deep Review:
# Sunday evening
neuron-automation --rewind 7 # Last week's content
# Monday morning automation includes restored content
Monthly Content Rotation:
🛠️ Standalone Tool¶
You can also use the rewind tool independently:
# Direct tool usage (more options)
python3 blacklist_rewind.py --preview 10
python3 blacklist_rewind.py --rewind 5 --yes # Non-interactive
python3 blacklist_rewind.py --stats
python3 blacklist_rewind.py --restore backup_file.json
🎯 Best Practices¶
1. Always Preview First¶
# Good practice
neuron-automation --rewind-preview 7
neuron-automation --rewind 7
# Risky (no preview)
neuron-automation --rewind 30 # Could restore too much
2. Create Backups for Large Operations¶
3. Monitor Recent Activity¶
# Regular monitoring
neuron-automation --recent-blacklisted 5
# Understand patterns before rewinding
4. Gradual Introduction¶
# Start small, expand gradually
neuron-automation --rewind 1 # Day 1
neuron-automation --rewind 3 # Day 3
neuron-automation --rewind 7 # Day 7
5. Document Experiments¶
# Keep notes on what works
echo "$(date): Tested 5-day rewind cycle" >> learning_experiments.log
neuron-automation --rewind 5
🔍 Troubleshooting¶
Database Not Found¶
# Specify database path explicitly
neuron-automation --rewind 5 --database ~/.config/neuron-automation/newsletter_links.db
No Links to Restore¶
Backup Recovery¶
# If rewind went wrong, restore from backup
python3 blacklist_rewind.py --restore path/to/backup.json
📈 Monitoring & Analytics¶
View Impact of Rewinds¶
# Before rewind
neuron-automation --stats
# Note: "Total blacklisted: 150"
neuron-automation --rewind 7
# After rewind
neuron-automation --stats
# Note: "Total blacklisted: 120" (30 restored)
Track Patterns¶
# Weekly pattern analysis
neuron-automation --recent-blacklisted 7 | grep "Domain:"
# See which domains get blacklisted most
This powerful time rewind feature gives you complete control over your content exposure timeline, enabling sophisticated learning pattern experimentation and content management strategies.
Neuron Daily Newsletter Automation¶
Why This Exists: Reading the Neuron Daily newsletter is a great way to start the day, but manually clicking through all the article links takes time. This automation opens everything at once, so you can spend your morning reading instead of clicking. Built collaboratively with Claude AI to solve a real daily workflow need.
If this saves you time too, give it a ⭐ and let us know how it works for you!
Cross-platform automation system that automatically opens the latest Neuron Daily newsletter with all article links in separate tabs every weekday morning.
Supported Platforms: Linux, macOS, Windows