How Mood Tracking Works
Reflect AI automatically analyzes the emotional tone of your journal entries using VADER sentiment analysis. Every time you save an entry, the app evaluates your writing and assigns a mood score—no manual input required.Sentiment Analysis Technology
Reflect AI uses VADER (Valence Aware Dictionary and sEntiment Reasoner), a lexicon and rule-based sentiment analysis tool specifically designed for social media and informal text:- Analyzes your writing style, word choice, and context
- Understands intensity modifiers (“very happy” vs “happy”)
- Recognizes negations (“not bad” is positive)
- Detects emphasis through punctuation and capitalization
VADER runs locally on your device—your journal text is never sent to external APIs for sentiment analysis.
Understanding Your Mood Score
Each entry receives a compound sentiment score ranging from -1 to +1:😄 Very Positive
Score: +0.5 to +1.0Joyful, enthusiastic, excited tone
🙂 Positive
Score: +0.2 to +0.5Content, optimistic, pleasant mood
😐 Neutral
Score: -0.2 to +0.2Balanced, matter-of-fact tone
😔 Negative
Score: -0.5 to -0.2Reflective, challenging, difficult day
😢 Very Negative
Score: -1.0 to -0.5Processing tough emotions, struggling
Mood Display
In the Calendar View
Your mood is visualized throughout the app:- Calendar Grid: Each entry shows its mood emoji
- Hover Preview: See mood label when hovering over calendar days
- Color Coding: Entries are subtly highlighted based on emotional tone
In the Editor
After saving an entry:- The mood emoji and label appear in the editor header
- Only saved entries show mood (not while actively editing)
- Mood updates automatically when you edit and re-save
Empathetic Responses
When you save an entry, Reflect AI responds with context-appropriate encouragement: For positive moods:- “What a wonderful day! Your positivity shines through your words.”
- “It sounds like things are going well. Keep nurturing those good moments.”
- “Thank you for reflecting today. Every entry helps you understand yourself better.”
- “It seems like today had some challenges. Remember, it’s okay to have difficult days.”
- “I hear that today was tough. Writing about it is a brave step. Be gentle with yourself.”
Viewing Mood History
Calendar Overview
Your monthly calendar becomes a visual mood map:- Scan the month to see emotional patterns
- Identify your best days at a glance
- Notice when challenging periods occurred
Insights Dashboard
Navigate to Insights to see comprehensive mood analytics: Mood Trend Chart- Line graph showing your compound scores over time
- Visualize whether your mood is improving, stable, or declining
- Points are color-coded: green (positive), gray (neutral), red (negative)
- Doughnut chart showing the percentage breakdown of your moods
- Quickly see your emotional balance over the selected time period
- Understand your baseline emotional state
Mood Trends and Patterns
Trajectory Analysis
Reflect AI analyzes whether your mood is:- Improving ↗️: Recent entries are more positive than earlier ones
- Steady →: Your emotional tone is consistent
- Shifting ↘️: Recent entries show more challenges
- Your Insights dashboard summary
- Monthly reflection AI summaries
- Weekly insights reports
Day-of-Week Patterns
The app identifies which days you typically feel best:- Recognize external factors affecting your mood
- Plan self-care around predictable low-energy days
- Notice when work-life balance needs attention
Day-of-week pattern detection requires at least 2 entries per day to establish reliable trends.
Mood and Activity Correlation
One of Reflect AI’s most powerful features is activity-mood correlation:How It Works
The app scans your journal entries for activities and behaviors:- Exercise mentions (gym, running, yoga)
- Sleep quality (slept well, exhausted)
- Social time (met friends, hung out)
- Nature exposure (park, hiking, outdoors)
- Creative work (wrote, painted, designed)
What You’ll Learn
Positive Correlations
Positive Correlations
“You seem most energized on days involving morning walks.”“Writing about exercise tends to coincide with better moods.”Identify activities that consistently boost your wellbeing.
Negative Correlations
Negative Correlations
“Days with poor sleep tend to feel more challenging.”“Entries mentioning stress often have a more reflective tone.”Recognize patterns that may need attention or mitigation.
These correlations appear in your weekly and monthly insights summaries, helping you make data-driven decisions about your habits.
Theme and Mood Connection
Reflect AI also tracks which themes appear during positive vs. challenging times:- Themes are automatically extracted from your writing (work, family, health, creativity, etc.)
- The app identifies which themes coincide with your best moods
- You’ll receive insights like: “Writing about creativity often coincides with better moods”
Example Insights
Positive Mood Themes: Learning, nature, friends Challenging Mood Themes: Work, deadlines, anxiety Use this data to understand what energizes you vs. what drains you.Using Mood Data for Growth
Self-Awareness
Mood tracking helps you:- Validate your emotional experiences
- Identify triggers for difficult moods
- Celebrate progress during tough periods
- Recognize resilience patterns
Behavior Change
With correlation insights, you can:- Prioritize activities that improve your mood
- Build habits around what works for you
- Set boundaries around mood-draining activities
- Experiment and track what makes a difference
Perspective Over Time
Looking back at mood history provides:- Reassurance that challenging periods pass
- Evidence of growth and adaptation
- Recognition of your emotional range
- Context for current feelings
Privacy and Sensitivity
Limitations of Automated Analysis
VADER sentiment analysis is a tool, not a therapist:- It provides general emotional tone, not clinical assessment
- Complex emotions may not be fully captured
- Context and nuance can be missed
- Use mood data as one input for self-reflection, not absolute truth
Data Control
Your mood data is:- Stored locally in your
journal_data.jsonfile - Never shared or uploaded anywhere
- Fully exportable with your journal data
- Deletable at any time by clearing entries
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I manually set my mood?
Can I manually set my mood?
No—mood is automatically calculated from your writing. This removes the burden of tracking and ensures your mood reflects your actual written expression, not just a checkbox.
Why does my mood sometimes seem inaccurate?
Why does my mood sometimes seem inaccurate?
Sentiment analysis works best with natural, conversational writing. Very short entries, heavy use of sarcasm, or technical writing may yield less accurate results. Over time with more entries, patterns become more reliable.
Does mood tracking work in other languages?
Does mood tracking work in other languages?
VADER is optimized for English text. If you journal in other languages, mood scores may be less accurate.
Can I see mood without writing?
Can I see mood without writing?
No—mood is generated from your journal text. You need to write at least a few sentences for meaningful sentiment analysis.