What I've done in the past is: Column 1 is the creation timestamp Column 2 is the modification timestamp On read, you update if the creation timestamp exists

What I've done in the past is: Column 1 is the creation timestamp Column 2 is the modification timestamp On read, you update if the creation timestamp exists but the modification timestamp is later, otherwise you insert. Your app(s) can do a simple file append for writes. You even have the full version history at every point in time. I did a lot of looking but didn't find a command-line tool that automated this process. It works fine for small projects of e.g. 100,000 records. Wouldn't work well for things like a notes app, because you'd be storing every modification as a new entry.