TripScribe User Guide

TripScribe is a desktop app built for operations executives at tour agencies who manage client contacts, vendor bookings and itineraries on a daily basis. If you can type fast, TripScribe lets you manage contacts and itineraries much faster than other mouse-based apps, through a simple command-based interface with an informative and clean view.

New to TripScribe? Start with Quick Start to install the app and try your first commands.

Looking for a specific command? Jump to the Command Summary for a quick reference, or pick a feature from the table of contents below.

Table of Contents

  1. Quick Start
  2. Features
  3. Data Management
  4. FAQ
  5. Known Issues

Quick Start

1. Set Up Java for TripScribe

TripScribe needs Java 17 or above to run. Here is how to check if you already have it installed:

  • Open a command terminal as follows:

    Your computer Steps to open a terminal
    Windows Press Win + R, type cmd, press Enter
    Mac Press Cmd + Space, type Terminal, press Enter
    Linux Press Ctrl + Alt + T

  • Type the following command and press Enter:

    java -version

  • If the output shows version "17" or higher, you are all set. If you get an error, download Java 17 by following one of these guides:

    • Installation guide for Linux users here.
    • Installation guide for Windows users here.
    • Installation guide for Mac users here.

2. Download TripScribe

  • Download the latest tripscribe.jar from here
  • Move the file to a folder of your choice. For example, a folder called TripScribe on your desktop.

3. Run TripScribe

  • Open a command terminal, as described in Step 1.
  • Navigate into the folder containing the tripscribe.jar file using the cd command:
    cd path/to/your/folder
    • For example:
      • Linux/Mac: cd ~/Desktop/TripScribe
      • Windows: cd C:\Users\YourName\Desktop\TripScribe
  • Run TripScribe by typing the command java -jar tripscribe.jar into the terminal.
    A pop-up window similar to the below should appear in a few seconds. On first start, the app will load sample data so you can explore its features right away.
    Ui

4. Try Your First Commands

  • Type a command in the command box and press Enter to execute it.
  • Commands follow a consistent format throughout this guide. In brief, words in UPPER_CASE are values you supply, and items in [square brackets] are optional. For a full explanation, see Reading Command Formats.
  • Try some example commands to get started:
Action Command
List all contacts list /contact
Add a contact named John Doe addc r/client n/John Doe p/(+65) 98765432 e/johnd@example.com a/John street, block 123, #01-01
Add an itinerary named Bali Getaway addi n/Bali Getaway dest/Bali from/2026-07-01 to/2026-07-05
Delete the third contact shown in the current list delete /contact 3
Clear all contacts and itineraries clear
Open the help window help
Exit TripScribe exit

You can refer to the Features below to learn more details of each command.

Features

Reading Command Formats

  • Words in UPPER_CASE are values you supply.

    • Example: In addc r/ROLE, ROLE is entered as addc r/client.

  • Items in square brackets are optional.

    • Example: n/NAME [t/TAG] can be entered as n/John Doe t/Bus or n/John Doe.

  • Inputs with …​ after them can be used zero or more times.

    • Example:[t/TAG]…​ can be used as   (i.e. zero times), t/Bus, t/Bus t/Speaks English etc.

  • Information can be supplied in any order.

    • Example: If the command specifies n/NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER, p/PHONE_NUMBER n/NAME is also acceptable.

  • Additional parameters for commands that do not require them (such as help, exit and clear) will be ignored.

    • Example: help 123 is interpreted as help.

  • If you are using a PDF version of this document, be careful when copying and pasting commands that span multiple lines, as there may be formatting issues which affect the copied text.

Viewing help : help

Open a help window that summarizes all commands and links to this guide.

Format:

help

help message

Adding a Contact: addc

Add a contact to TripScribe.

Format:

addc r/ROLE n/NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER e/EMAIL a/ADDRESS [t/TAG]…​

Things to note:

  • ROLE must be either client or vendor
  • A contact can have any number of tags (including zero)
  • Phone numbers should follow the format (+<Country Code>) <Phone Number>
    • Example: (+65) 98765432.
  • TripScribe treats two contacts as duplicates if they share the same name and phone number. Duplicate contacts cannot be added.

Examples:

  • addc r/client n/John Doe p/(+65) 98765432 e/johnd@example.com a/John street, block 123, #01-01
  • addc r/vendor n/Betsy Crowe t/friend e/betsycrowe@example.com a/Newgate Prison p/(+44) 1234567 t/hotel

Result of adding a contact

Adding an Itinerary: addi

Add an itinerary to TripScribe.

Format:

addi n/ITINERARY_NAME dest/DESTINATION from/START_DATE to/END_DATE [c/CLIENT_INDEX]…​ [v/VENDOR_INDEX]…​

Things to note:

  • ITINERARY_NAME and DESTINATION cannot be blank.
  • TripScribe treats two itineraries as duplicates if they share the same name (case-insensitive). Duplicate itineraries cannot be added.
    • Example: Itineraries with the names ISLAND TIME: Bali and Island Time: Bali are considered duplicates.
  • START_DATE and END_DATE must be in the format yyyy-mm-dd.
    • Example: 20th March 2026 should be written as 2026-03-20.
  • END_DATE must be equal to or after START_DATE.
    • Example: from/2026-03-20 to/2026-03-19 is not allowed.
  • CLIENT_INDEX and VENDOR_INDEX are the indexes of the contacts in the current TripScribe window.
  • An itinerary can have any number of clients and vendors (including zero).
  • If a contact is a client, you cannot add them as a vendor, and vice versa.
    • Example: c/2 will fail if the contact at index 2 is a vendor. v/3 will fail if the contact at index 3 is a client
  • If you want to add multiple clients or vendors into the itinerary, ensure that you indicate the correct prefix for each index.
    • Example: c/2 c/3 c/4 v/1 v/5 v/6 will add the second, third and fourth contacts in the contact list and the first, fifth and sixth contacts in the vendor list (if they are of the correct role).

Examples:

  • addi n/Island Time: Bali dest/Bali from/2026-12-01 to/2026-12-05
  • addi n/5D4N France Getaway dest/France from/2026-10-12 to/2026-10-17 c/2 v/4
  • addi n/3D2N Trip of China dest/China from/2026-05-02 to/2026-05-07 c/2 c/3 c/5 v/1 v/4
add itinerary command typed in TripScribe
Input		 Add itinerary executed in TripScribe
Expected Output

Listing Contacts and Itineraries : list

See a list of contacts or itineraries based on the specified flag.

Format:

list /FLAG

Things to note:

  • FLAG specifies the entry type you are listing. It must be one of: contact, client, vendor, itinerary, all.

    Flag What you see
    contact All contacts, both clients and vendors
    client Only clients
    vendor Only vendors
    itinerary All itineraries

  • | all | All contacts and itineraries |

  • When you view contacts (/contact, /client, /vendor), TripScribe hides the itinerary panel.

  • When you view itineraries (/itinerary), TripScribe hides the contact panel.

Examples:

  • list /contact
  • list /client
  • list /vendor
  • list /itinerary
  • list /all

Editing Contacts and Itineraries : edit

Edit an existing contact or itinerary in TripScribe.

Formats:

edit /contact INDEX [r/ROLE] [n/NAME] [p/PHONE] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [t/TAG]…​

edit /itinerary INDEX [n/NAME] [dest/DESTINATION] [from/START_DATE] [to/END_DATE] ​

Warning: When editing contacts, editing tags replaces all existing tags of the contact, it does not add on to them.

Things to note:

  • Edits the contact or itinerary at the specified INDEX.
  • INDEX is the index number shown in the displayed person or itinerary list. It must be a positive, non-zero number 1, 2, 3, …​
  • You must include at least one field to change.
  • You can remove all the person’s tags by typing t/ without specifying any tags after it.
  • When editing itineraries, you must ensure that the end date is after the start date.

Examples:

  • edit /contact 1 p/(+65) 91234567 e/johndoe@example.com
  • Edits the phone number and email address of the 1st person to be (+65) 91234567 and johndoe@example.com respectively.
  • edit /contact 2 n/Betsy Crower t/
  • Edits the name of the 2nd person to be Betsy Crower and clears all existing tags.
  • edit /itinerary 1 n/Bali 4D3N
    • Edits the name of the first itinerary to be Bali 4D3N

Showing contacts by itinerary: show

Show details of an itinerary and the contacts associated with it in TripScribe.

Format:

show INDEX

Things to note:

  • Shows contacts and itinerary details of itinerary at specified INDEX.
  • INDEX is the index number shown in the itinerary list. It must be a positive, non-zero number 1, 2, 3, …​

Examples:

  • show 2
    • Shows details of the 2nd itinerary, and the contacts associated with it.

Finding Contacts by Keywords: find

Finds contacts whose fields match the given keywords. TripScribe supports both general search and multi-field search.

Formats:

General Search Format:

find KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]… ​

Multi-Field Search Format:

find [n/NAME_KEYWORDS] [p/PHONE_KEYWORDS] [e/EMAIL_KEYWORDS] [a/ADDRESS_KEYWORDS] [t/TAG_KEYWORDS]… ​

Warning: Do not mix general search and multi-field search in the same command.
Example: find Hans p/9876 is invalid.

Things to note:

  • The search is case-insensitive.
    • Example: hans will match Hans
  • The order of the keywords does not matter.
    • Example: Hans Bo will match Bo Hans
  • Partial matches are allowed.
    • Example: Han will match Hans
  • In general search, a contact is returned if any keyword appears in any searchable field.
  • In multi-field search:
    • keywords within the same field are matched using OR
    • keywords across different fields are matched using AND

Examples:

General Search:

  • find John returns contacts whose name, phone, email, address, or tags contain John.
  • find alex david returns contacts containing alex or david in any searchable field.

Multi-Field Search:

  • find e/example.com returns contacts with example.com in their saved email.
  • find n/alex david returns contacts whose names contain alex or david.
  • find n/alex p/996 returns contacts whose names contain alex and whose phone numbers contain 996.
  • find n/alex david p/992 281 returns contacts whose names contain alex or david and phone numbers contain 992 or 281.

Deleting a Contact or Itinerary : delete

Delete a specified contact or itinerary from TripScribe.

Format:

delete /FLAG INDEX

Things to note:

  • This will delete the contact or itinerary at the specified INDEX.
  • FLAG specifies the entry type you are deleting. It must be one of: contact , itinerary.
  • INDEX is the index number shown in the displayed person or itinerary list. It must be a positive, non-zero number 1, 2, 3, …​
  • When deleting a contact, the contact will be also be removed from any itineraries it is part of.

Examples:

  • list /contact followed by delete /contact 2 deletes the second contact in TripScribe.
delete contact command typed in TripScribe
Input		 delete contact command executed in TripScribe
Expected Output
  • list /itinerary followed by delete /itinerary 1 deletes the first itinerary in TripScribe.
delete itinerary command typed in TripScribe
Input		 delete itinerary executed in TripScribe
Expected Output

Clearing All Entries : clear

Clear all contacts and itineraries from TripScribe.

Format:

clear

Exiting TripScribe : exit

Exit TripScribe.

Format:

exit

Command Summary

Action Format Example
help help -
addc addc r/ROLE n/NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER e/EMAIL a/ADDRESS [t/TAG]…​ addc r/client n/James Ho p/(+65) 22224444 e/jamesho@example.com a/123, Clementi Rd, 1234665 t/friend t/colleague
addi addi n/ITINERARY_NAME dest/DESTINATION from/START_DATE to/END_DATE [c/CLIENT_INDEX]…​ [v/VENDOR_INDEX]…​ addi n/5D4N France Getaway dest/France from/2026-10-12 to/2026-10-17 c/2 v/4
list list /FLAG list /contact
edit edit /contact [n/NAME] [p/PHONE_NUMBER] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [t/TAG]…​
edit /itinerary INDEX [n/NAME] [dest/DESTINATION] [from/START_DATE] [to/END_DATE]		 edit 2 n/James Lee e/jameslee@example.com
show show INDEX show 2
find find KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]
find [PREFIX/KEYWORD]		 find James Jake
find n/Jane a/Apple Street
delete delete /FLAG INDEX delete /contact 3
clear clear -
exit exit -

Data Management

Saving Data

TripScribe saves your data in the hard disk automatically after any command that changes the data. You do not need to save manually.

Editing the Data File

TripScribe stores your data automatically as a JSON file found in [JAR file location]/data/tripscribe.json. If you are an advanced user, you can update data directly by editing this file.

Caution: If you save the file in an invalid format, TripScribe will discard all invalid data and start only with valid data at the next run. Hence, you are recommended to create a backup of the file before editing it.
Furthermore, certain edits can cause TripScribe to remove entries (e.g., if a value entered is outside the acceptable range). Therefore, edit the data file only if you know what you are doing.

FAQ

Q: How do I transfer my data to another computer?
A: Install TripScribe on the other computer and replace the empty data file it creates with your file that contains the data of your previous TripScribe application folder.

Known Issues

  1. When using multiple screens, if you move the application to a secondary screen, and later switch to using only the primary screen, the GUI will open off-screen.
    • To fix this, delete the preferences.json file created by TripScribe before running the application again.

  2. If you minimize the Help Window and then run the help command (or use the Help menu, or the keyboard shortcut F1) again, the original Help Window will remain minimized, and no new Help Window will appear.
    • To fix this, close the minimized Help Window and type the command again.