Vehicle Expense Tracker

A multi-language vehicle expense tracking tool that supports Google Sheets and local Excel files.

Features

• i18n Support: Multiple languages via locale files (locales/*.json)
• Google Sheets Integration: Write directly to Google Sheets via API
• Local Excel Fallback: Saves to local .xlsx files if no Spreadsheet ID configured
• Metric/Imperial Units: Configurable unit system (km/L vs mi/gal)
• Photo Management: Auto-saves and renames photos with timestamps
• Aliases: Support vehicle aliases (e.g., "my car" → "Toyota Camry 2020")
• Defaults: Auto-fill quantity and unit based on category

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🚀 Initialization (First-Time Setup)

Step 1: Choose Your Locale

Available locales: - zh-TW - 繁體中文 (Taiwan) - en-US - English (US) - ja-JP - 日本語

Step 2: Create config.json

Copy the template below and save as skills/vehicle-tracker/config.json:

{
  "locale": "en-US",
  "unit_system": "metric",
  "vehicles": {},
  "aliases": {},
  "default_vehicle": null,
  "category_defaults": {}
}

Step 3: Copy Category Defaults from Locale

Based on your chosen locale and unit system, copy the appropriate category defaults.

For English (metric):

{
  "category_defaults": {
    "Gas": { "unit": "liter" },
    "Accessory": { "unit": "pc", "quantity": 1 },
    "Repair": { "unit": "job", "quantity": 1 },
    "Maintenance": { "unit": "service", "quantity": 1 },
    "Purchase": { "unit": "unit", "quantity": 1 }
  }
}

For English (imperial):

{
  "category_defaults": {
    "Gas": { "unit": "gallon" },
    "Accessory": { "unit": "pc", "quantity": 1 },
    "Repair": { "unit": "job", "quantity": 1 },
    "Maintenance": { "unit": "service", "quantity": 1 },
    "Purchase": { "unit": "unit", "quantity": 1 }
  }
}

For 繁體中文 (metric):

{
  "category_defaults": {
    "加油": { "unit": "公升" },
    "周邊": { "unit": "個", "quantity": 1 },
    "維修": { "unit": "件", "quantity": 1 },
    "保養": { "unit": "次", "quantity": 1 },
    "買車": { "unit": "輛", "quantity": 1 }
  }
}

For 日本語 (metric):

{
  "category_defaults": {
    "給油": { "unit": "リットル" },
    "アクセサリー": { "unit": "個", "quantity": 1 },
    "修理": { "unit": "件", "quantity": 1 },
    "メンテナンス": { "unit": "回", "quantity": 1 },
    "購入": { "unit": "台", "quantity": 1 }
  }
}

Step 4: Add Your Vehicle

Option A: Google Sheets (recommended for cloud sync)

1. Create a Google Spreadsheet
2. Share it with a Google Service Account (see google-workspace skill)
3. Add the Spreadsheet ID to config:

{
  "vehicles": {
    "My Car 2020": "1ABC123...xyz"
  },
  "default_vehicle": "My Car 2020"
}

Option B: Local Excel (no setup required)

Just add the vehicle name without an ID:

{
  "vehicles": {
    "My Car 2020": null
  },
  "default_vehicle": "My Car 2020"
}

Files will be saved to ~/vehicle_tracker/My_Car_2020.xlsx.

Step 5: Add Aliases (Optional)

{
  "aliases": {
    "car": "My Car 2020",
    "toyota": "My Car 2020"
  }
}

Step 6: Custom Paths (Optional)

Override default directories:

{
  "photo_base_dir": "/path/to/photos",
  "local_excel_dir": "/path/to/excel/files",
  "sheet_name": "Expenses"
}

Default paths: ~/vehicle_tracker

---

Complete config.json Example

{
  "locale": "en-US",
  "unit_system": "imperial",
  "vehicles": {
    "Toyota Camry 2020": "1ABC123...spreadsheet_id",
    "Honda Civic 2018": null
  },
  "aliases": {
    "camry": "Toyota Camry 2020",
    "civic": "Honda Civic 2018",
    "car": "Toyota Camry 2020"
  },
  "default_vehicle": "Toyota Camry 2020",
  "category_defaults": {
    "Gas": { "unit": "gallon" },
    "Accessory": { "unit": "pc", "quantity": 1 },
    "Repair": { "unit": "job", "quantity": 1 },
    "Maintenance": { "unit": "service", "quantity": 1 },
    "Purchase": { "unit": "unit", "quantity": 1 }
  },
  "photo_base_dir": "~/vehicle_tracker",
  "local_excel_dir": "~/vehicle_tracker"
}

---

Usage

Preview (Dry Run) - Always do this first!

python3 skills/vehicle-tracker/tracker.py 
  --vehicle "camry" 
  --mileage 15000 
  --category "Gas" 
  --cost 45.50 
  --quantity 12.5 
  --dry-run

Execute (After user confirms)

python3 skills/vehicle-tracker/tracker.py 
  --vehicle "camry" 
  --mileage 15000 
  --category "Gas" 
  --cost 45.50 
  --quantity 12.5

With Photos

python3 skills/vehicle-tracker/tracker.py 
  --vehicle "camry" 
  --mileage 15200 
  --category "Maintenance" 
  --cost 89.99 
  --description "Oil change" 
  --photos "/path/to/receipt.jpg" 
  --dry-run

---

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
--vehicle	Optional	Vehicle name or alias. Uses default if omitted.
--mileage	Required	Current odometer reading
--category	Required	Expense category
--cost	Required	Expense amount (currency symbols auto-removed)
--quantity	Optional	Quantity (uses default if available)
--unit	Optional	Unit (uses category mapping if available)
--date	Optional	Date YYYY-MM-DD (defaults to today)
--description	Optional	Additional notes
--photos	Optional	Photo file paths to save
--dry-run	Flag	Preview only, no write

---

Adding a New Locale

Create locales/{code}.json based on existing locale files. Required fields:

• language_name
• sheet_name
• columns_metric / columns_imperial
• photo_prefix
• messages
• units_metric / units_imperial
• default_units_metric / default_units_imperial

---

Supported Locales

Code	Language	Unit Systems
zh-TW	繁體中文	metric, imperial
en-US	English (US)	metric, imperial
ja-JP	日本語	metric, imperial