Setup guide

CodaMail Notebook on Android

Keep your CodaMail notes in step with the Joplin app on your phone or tablet.

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Step 1: create an auth pair

Already using Joplin with another service? If your notes are on Dropbox, Joplin Cloud, another WebDAV server, or a folder on your own disk, do not work through these steps in order. You bring an existing collection over by repointing the app, not by setting up from scratch, and creating notebooks in webmail first leaves you juggling two master passwords for the same notes. Read Moving an Existing Joplin Setup to CodaMail first, then come back here for the settings screen on this platform.

Bringing more than one device over? Repoint them all in the same sitting, each one synced to your old service just beforehand, and do not delete or move anything until the last one has arrived. A device that comes across later uploads everything it still holds, which can quietly undo work you did here in the meantime. See If you sync more than one device.

Your notes live in your CodaMail account. The app signs in with a sync auth pair, which is a randomly generated username and password created just for this. It is not your account password, and it can be revoked on its own.

  1. In webmail, go to Settings → DAV Server.
  2. Choose Create New Token and give it a name you will recognise, such as the device you are setting up.
  3. Under CodaMail Notebook Permissions, enable the access you want:
    • Allow access to CodaMail Notebook data (read) is required.
    • Allow creating and updating lets the app save changes back.
    • Allow deleting lets it remove notes and notebooks.
    For normal two-way syncing, enable all three.
  4. Save it, then copy both the username and the password.

The password is shown once, when the auth pair is created. It cannot be recovered afterwards. If you lose it, delete the auth pair and create a new one.

Step 2: install the app

CodaMail Notebook uses the same open format as Joplin, which is free and open source. Install it from Google Play, or download the APK directly from Joplin if you would rather not use the Play Store.

Step 3: point it at your account

  1. Open the sidebar, then Configuration → Synchronisation.
  2. Set Synchronisation target to WebDAV.
  3. Fill in the three fields below.
  4. Tap Check synchronisation configuration. It should report success.
  5. Start a sync.

Let the first sync finish on wi-fi, especially if you have a lot of attachments.

  • WebDAV URL: https://codamail.com/dav/cmnotebook/
  • WebDAV username: the generated username, which looks like ABCD1234@codamail.com
  • WebDAV password: the matching password from the same auth pair

The exact URL is also shown as CodaMail Notebook sync URL on the auth pair screen, so you can copy it from there.

Unlike some other WebDAV services, you do not need to create a folder first. The location already exists on your account. Enter the URL exactly as shown, including the trailing slash.

Step 4: encryption

Whether you are asked for a master password here, and which one, depends on where your notes came from.

If you encrypted your notes in webmail, the app downloads them and shows them as encrypted until you supply that password. Open its encryption settings and enter the same master password you set in webmail, and it will decrypt everything.

If you brought an existing collection with you, the app already knows its own master password. What it may ask for is the password belonging to notes that were already in your CodaMail account. Enter that in the same place, alongside the one it has, and note that it cannot upload your own notes until you do.

Once both are entered you can reduce them to a single master password, either in webmail or from the app. See Moving an Existing Joplin Setup to CodaMail.

That password never reaches our servers, from either side. We cannot reset it and we cannot read your notes without it. If you lose it, the notes cannot be recovered by anyone, including us.

If something does not work

  • “WebDAV directory not found” almost always means the URL is wrong. Check it matches the sync URL on the auth pair screen exactly, trailing slash included.
  • Authentication errors mean the username and password are not a matching pair, or the auth pair has no Notebook permissions. Both values come from the same auth pair, and at least the read permission must be enabled.
  • Notes appear but stay unreadable means the set is encrypted and the master password has not been entered in the app yet. See Step 4.
  • Battery optimisation can stop background syncing on some Android builds. If notes only update when the app is open, exclude Joplin from battery optimisation in your system settings.

More

The full CodaMail Notebook reference covers everything the web app can do, including notebooks, tags, to-dos, attachments, version history and encryption in detail.

Once you are working from the app, you may not want the webmail icons any more. Each is optional: in webmail, Settings → Preferences → User Interface has Show the Notebook icon in the sidebar and Show the Notes icon in the sidebar, and you can turn off either or both. Hiding an icon only hides the icon. Your notes stay where they are, syncing carries on untouched, and the switch is in the same place when you want it back.