diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
deleted file mode 100644
index a0406d6..0000000
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-[submodule "shell/test/bats"]
-	path = shell/test/bats
-	url = https://github.com/bats-core/bats-core.git
-[submodule "shell/test/test_helper/bats-support"]
-	path = shell/test/test_helper/bats-support
-	url = https://github.com/bats-core/bats-support.git
-[submodule "shell/test/test_helper/bats-assert"]
-	path = shell/test/test_helper/bats-assert
-	url = https://github.com/bats-core/bats-assert.git
diff --git a/shell/cat.sh b/shell/cat.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index e6edee4..0000000
--- a/shell/cat.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,25 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# cat for Markdown in my ultralight writing database
-# wherein concatenated filed need a "\n---\n\n" between them.
-
-#############################################################################
-# cat with file headers | replace with section string | remove first instance
-
-# NOTE: only need to add one newline, because the header inserted by tail
-# implicitly adds two : \n==> foo <==\n
-tail -n +1 "$@" | sed 's/^==> .* <==$/---\n/g' | tail -n +3
-
-
-##############################
-# failed approaches
-
-# find . -type f -name "$@" -exec cat {} \; -printf "\n---\n\n"
-
-# this leaves one trailing, could cat the whole thing and then cut the tail off
-# MDCATALL=`for i in "$@";
-# do
-#     cat $i
-#     echo '\n---\n\n'
-# done`
-# echo $MDCATALL | head -n +2
diff --git a/shell/last.sh b/shell/last.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 93836a3..0000000
--- a/shell/last.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# Get the last file name of any numbered series of text files and open it with emacs.
-
-# file format:
-# in regex terms:
-#   [0-9]+\.[.*\.]*md|txt
-# in plain terms:
-#   [leading numbers with consistent width].[optional string descriptor and . separator][md|txt]
-
-UMALLFILES=`ls | grep -E '^[[:digit:]].*\.(md|txt)'`
-UMLASTSTATUS=$?
-UMLASTFILE=''
-
-if [ "$UMLASTSTATUS" -ne 0 ]; then
-    UMLASTFILE="$UMDEFAULTINIT"
-else
-    # NOTE: if var isn't quoted echo will change newlines to spaces
-    UMLASTFILE=`echo "$UMALLFILES" | tail -n 1`
-fi
-
-if [ "$UMDISABLEEMACS" = true ] || [ "$UMTEST" = true ] ; then
-    echo $UMLASTFILE
-    exit 0
-fi
-
-echo "emacsclient -n $UMLASTFILE"
-emacsclient -n $UMLASTFILE
diff --git a/shell/next.awk b/shell/next.awk
deleted file mode 100644
index e2f93a1..0000000
--- a/shell/next.awk
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,38 +0,0 @@
-# awk script to increment the digits, preserve the zero prefix, add string descriptor if supplied, and add back extension
-
-BEGIN {
-# Builtin variable, "field seperator", blank by default. The neatness of this is
-# the main reason I use awk to parse the filename.
-FS = "."
-}
-
-{
-
-# another reason why awk is great for this:
-newnum = $1 + 1
-
-# could I do this with a simpler regex to select all leading zeros?
-nzeros = length($1) - length(int(newnum))
-leadingzeros = ""
-if (nzeros > 0)
-  for (i = 1; i <= nzeros; i++)
-    leadingzeros = sprintf("%s%s", leadingzeros, "0")
-
-if (nzeros > 0)
-  newnum = sprintf("%s%s", leadingzeros, newnum)
-
-# start by prefixing the number, now with leading zeros
-finalstr = newnum
-
-# allow an arg input to fill out descriptor string.
-if (arg != "")
-    finalstr = sprintf("%s.%s", finalstr, arg)
-
-# append last field by default
-finalstr = sprintf("%s.%s", finalstr, $NF)
-
-}
-
-END {
-print finalstr
-}
diff --git a/shell/next.sh b/shell/next.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index d2015a4..0000000
--- a/shell/next.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,53 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# Generate the next filename in any numbered series of text files and open with emacs.
-
-# Usage:
-#     $ next [descriptor] [tag]
-
-# Handles optional string descriptor and tag. Like this:
-#    $ ls
-#    011.blah.md
-#
-#    $ next foo
-#    012.foo.md
-#
-#    $ next foo bar
-#    013.foo.md
-#
-# Which populates the file like this:
-#
-# # 13.foo.md
-# : 2024.01.14
-# + bar
-#
-# See https://git.bth.moi/bth/um#next
-
-# NOTE: we only want the filename, not to run emacs yet.
-LASTFILE=`UMDISABLEEMACS=true $UMBASEPATH/last.sh`
-
-# NOTE: the optional $1 arg passed to awk with -v:
-NEXTFILE=`echo $LASTFILE | awk -f $UMBASEPATH/next.awk -v arg=$1`
-
-# tag is optional second arg to this script
-if [ $2 ]; then
-    UMELISP=$(printf '(um-next "%s" "%s")' "$NEXTFILE" "$2")
-else
-    UMELISP=$(printf '(um-next "%s")' "$NEXTFILE")
-fi
-
-# for testing and piping
-# NOTE: bash booleans are such a pain, because they don't exist. https://stackoverflow.com/a/2953673
-if [ "$UMNEXTPRINT" = true ]; then
-    # NOTE: printf instead of echo, because echo inserts a newline, and we pipe
-    # this back into elisp for um-next-shell:
-    printf $NEXTFILE
-elif [ "$UMTEST" = true ]; then
-    echo $UMELISP
-else
-    # NOTE: emacs won't accept piped input as a file name, so we use --eval to run
-    # um-next as elisp. Which also lets us add the header and tag.
-    emacsclient --eval "$UMELISP"
-fi
-
-exit 0
diff --git a/shell/rename.awk b/shell/rename.awk
deleted file mode 100644
index b90ed2f..0000000
--- a/shell/rename.awk
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,27 +0,0 @@
-# generates a string of "oldname newname" from 2 records, for use with mv. Main
-# problem solved here generating the newname string using the number prefix and
-# filetype affix.
-
-BEGIN {
-  FS="."
-  oldname = ""
-  num = ""
-  ext = ""
-  newname = ""
-}
-
-NR == 1 {
-  oldname = $0
-  num = $1
-  # important that this is the last field, not numbered, to allow for a file
-  # without a string descriptor.
-  ext = $NF
-}
-
-NR == 2 {
-  newname = sprintf("%s.%s.%s", num, $0, ext)
-}
-
-END {
-  print oldname, newname
-}
diff --git a/shell/rename.sh b/shell/rename.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 071d55d..0000000
--- a/shell/rename.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,34 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# rename : renames the string descriptor used in numbered series.
-
-# Usage:
-
-# > um rename 100.md foo
-# or
-# > um rename 100.foo.md bar
-# or
-# > um last | um rename baz
-
-# is equivalent to:
-# > mv 100.md 100.foo.md
-# > mv 100.foo.md 100.bar.md
-# > mv 100.bar.md 100.baz.md
-
-# accept piped input
-# https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/537581
-if [[ ! -t 0 ]]; then
-    FROM=$(cat -)
-    TO=$1
-else
-    FROM=$1
-    TO=$2
-fi
-
-# split the args by a newline so that awk reads them as separate "records"
-mvcmd=`echo "$FROM
-$TO" | awk -f $UMBASEPATH/rename.awk`
-
-echo mv $mvcmd
-
-mv $mvcmd
diff --git a/shell/tag.sh b/shell/tag.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index e9aa4be..0000000
--- a/shell/tag.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# just list the files so we can pipe it.
-grep -lE "\+ $@" *md
diff --git a/shell/test/bats b/shell/test/bats
deleted file mode 160000
index 3d3f63d..0000000
--- a/shell/test/bats
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit 3d3f63d9772b98c88586ec0a66bd358a85d9b4a6
diff --git a/shell/test/mockjournal/001.md b/shell/test/mockjournal/001.md
deleted file mode 100755
index 5bc8787..0000000
--- a/shell/test/mockjournal/001.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-# 001
-: 2024.01.14
-+ foo
diff --git a/shell/test/mockjournal/002.blah.md b/shell/test/mockjournal/002.blah.md
deleted file mode 100755
index 0cb2f2b..0000000
--- a/shell/test/mockjournal/002.blah.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-# 002.blah
-: 2024.01.14
-+ foo
diff --git a/shell/test/mockjournal/004.foo.md b/shell/test/mockjournal/004.foo.md
deleted file mode 100755
index e69de29..0000000
diff --git a/shell/test/mockjournal/005.md b/shell/test/mockjournal/005.md
deleted file mode 100755
index e69de29..0000000
diff --git a/shell/test/mockjournal/009.boo.md b/shell/test/mockjournal/009.boo.md
deleted file mode 100755
index e69de29..0000000
diff --git a/shell/test/mockjournal/098.baa.md b/shell/test/mockjournal/098.baa.md
deleted file mode 100755
index e69de29..0000000
diff --git a/shell/test/mockjournal/099.poo.md b/shell/test/mockjournal/099.poo.md
deleted file mode 100755
index e69de29..0000000
diff --git a/shell/test/mockjournal/foo/bar.cc b/shell/test/mockjournal/foo/bar.cc
deleted file mode 100644
index e69de29..0000000
diff --git a/shell/test/test_helper/bats-assert b/shell/test/test_helper/bats-assert
deleted file mode 160000
index e2d855b..0000000
--- a/shell/test/test_helper/bats-assert
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit e2d855bc78619ee15b0c702b5c30fb074101159f
diff --git a/shell/test/test_helper/bats-support b/shell/test/test_helper/bats-support
deleted file mode 160000
index 9bf10e8..0000000
--- a/shell/test/test_helper/bats-support
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit 9bf10e876dd6b624fe44423f0b35e064225f7556
diff --git a/shell/test/um.bats b/shell/test/um.bats
deleted file mode 100644
index 3c6542c..0000000
--- a/shell/test/um.bats
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,124 +0,0 @@
-setup() {
-    load 'test_helper/bats-support/load'
-    load 'test_helper/bats-assert/load'
-
-    # get the containing directory of this file
-    # use $BATS_TEST_FILENAME instead of ${BASH_SOURCE[0]} or $0,
-    # as those will point to the bats executable's location or the preprocessed file respectively
-    DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "$BATS_TEST_FILENAME" )" >/dev/null 2>&1 && pwd )"
-    # make executables visible to PATH
-    # FIXME: why isn't this working?
-    # PATH="$DIR/../:$PATH"
-    # commands depend on being in the journal/ path.
-    export ORIGPWD=`pwd`
-    cd $DIR/mockjournal
-    # so that we can run next.sh without dealing with emacsclient.
-    export UMTEST=true
-}
-
-teardown() {
-    export UMTEST=false
-    cd $ORIGPWD
-    git restore $DIR/mockjournal
-}
-
-@test "um usage" {
-    run um
-    assert_output 'usage: um (next|last|cat|rename|tag)'
-}
-
-um_next_awk() {
-    echo "$1" | awk -f $DIR/../next.awk -v arg="$2"
-}
-
-@test "next.awk" {
-    run um_next_awk 01.md
-    assert_output '02.md'
-
-    run um_next_awk 01.md foo
-    assert_output '02.foo.md'
-}
-
-@test "um next empty" {
-    run um next
-    assert_output --partial '100.md'
-}
-
-@test "um next empty elisp" {
-    run um next
-    assert_output '(um-next "100.md")'
-}
-
-@test "um next descriptor" {
-    run um next foo
-    assert_output --partial '100.foo.md'
-}
-
-@test "um next descriptor tag" {
-    run um next foo bar
-    assert_output '(um-next "100.foo.md" "bar")'
-}
-
-# elisp handles this now:
-@test "um next descriptor +" {
-    run um next foo +
-    assert_output '(um-next "100.foo.md" "+")'
-}
-
-@test "um last" {
-    run um last
-    assert_output '099.poo.md'
-}
-
-@test "um last empty" {
-    cd foo
-    run um last
-    assert_output '000.md'
-}
-
-@test "um cat" {
-    run um cat 001.md 002.blah.md
-    assert_output '# 001
-: 2024.01.14
-+ foo
-
----
-
-# 002.blah
-: 2024.01.14
-+ foo'
-}
-
-@test "um rename" {
-    run um rename 001.md blah
-    run ls 001*
-    assert_output '001.blah.md'
-    mv 001.blah.md 001.md
-}
-
-# this doesn't work because bats doesn't handle stdin the way a tty does.
-# @test "um rename piped" {
-#     run um last | um rename gloo
-#     run ls 099*
-#     assert_output '099.gloo.md'
-#     mv 099.gloo.md 099.poo.md
-# }
-
-um_rename_awk() {
-    echo "$1
-$2" | awk -f $DIR/../rename.awk
-}
-
-@test "rename.awk" {
-    run um_rename_awk 01.md foo
-    assert_output '01.md 01.foo.md'
-
-    run um_rename_awk 01.foo.md bar
-    assert_output '01.foo.md 01.bar.md'
-}
-
-@test "um tag" {
-    run um tag foo
-    assert_output '001.md
-002.blah.md'
-}
diff --git a/shell/um b/shell/um
deleted file mode 100755
index 7038c71..0000000
--- a/shell/um
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,32 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# export so that we can use it in subscripts.
-export UMBASEPATH=`realpath $0 | xargs dirname`
-# TODO: load a config file?
-export UMDEFAULTINIT='000.md'
-
-# TODO: decide if getopts would be better. positional args supposed to be bad.
-# https://stackoverflow.com/a/28466267
-
-# catch first arguments with $1
-case "$1" in
-    next)
-        $UMBASEPATH/next.sh $2 $3
-        ;;
-    last)
-        $UMBASEPATH/last.sh
-        ;;
-    cat)
-        # all args but first
-        $UMBASEPATH/cat.sh "${@:2}"
-        ;;
-    rename)
-        $UMBASEPATH/rename.sh $2 $3
-        ;;
-    tag)
-        $UMBASEPATH/tag.sh $2
-        ;;
-    *)
-        echo "usage: um (next|last|cat|rename|tag)"; exit 1
-        ;;
-esac