kimai-time-tracking
v1.0.0Complete Kimai time-tracking API integration. Manage timesheets, customers, projects, activities, teams, invoices and exports via REST API. Supports time tracking workflows, reporting, and administrative operations. Keywords - kimai, zeiterfassung, timesheet, tracking, project, customer, activity, i...
Installation
Kimai Time Tracking Skill
Complete API integration for Kimai time-tracking software. Enables full control over timesheets, projects, customers, activities, teams, invoices, and system configuration.
When to use
Activate this skill when the user requests: - Start/stop/restart time tracking (timers) - List, filter, or export timesheets - Manage customers, projects, or activities - Create invoices or export data - Administrative tasks (users, teams, rates) - Query system status (version, plugins, config)
Activation triggers: - Keywords: "kimai", "zeiterfassung", "timesheet", "timer", "stunden", "erfasse Zeit", "starte Tracking", "Projekt anlegen", "Rechnung erstellen" - "Start tracking for project X" - "Show my timesheets from last week" - "Create new customer in Kimai" - "Export timesheets to CSV" - "List all active timers" - "Stop current time tracking"
Do NOT activate for: - General time questions ("What time is it?") - Other time-tracking tools (Toggl, Clockify, etc.) - Calendar/scheduling without Kimai context
Environment Setup
Required Environment Variables:
- KIMAI_BASE_URL - Full URL to Kimai instance (e.g., https://kimai.example.com)
- KIMAI_API_TOKEN - Bearer token for authentication
Optional:
- KIMAI_WORKSPACE - Path for exports/temp files (defaults to ~/.openclaw/workspace/kimai)
API Permissions required depend on operation:
- view_own_timesheet, create_own_timesheet, edit_own_timesheet, delete_own_timesheet
- view_other_timesheet (for viewing other users' entries)
- view_customer, edit_customer, delete_customer
- view_project, edit_project, delete_project
- view_activity, edit_activity, delete_activity
- view_team, edit_team, create_team, delete_team
- view_invoice (for invoice operations)
- view_user (for user management)
Compatibility: Requires Kimai 2.x with REST API enabled. Internet access required. Linux/macOS supported.
Workflow
1. Quick Time Tracking
# List recent activities (to find project/activity IDs)
./scripts/kimai_cli.py timesheets recent
# Start tracking
./scripts/kimai_cli.py timesheets start --project 1 --activity 5 --description "Implementing API"
# Check active timers
./scripts/kimai_cli.py timesheets active
# Stop tracking
./scripts/kimai_cli.py timesheets stop --id 123
2. Data Management Workflow
# Create customer → Project → Activity hierarchy
./scripts/kimai_cli.py customers create --name "Acme Corp" --country DE --currency EUR --timezone Europe/Berlin
./scripts/kimai_cli.py projects create --name "Website Redesign" --customer 1
./scripts/kimai_cli.py activities create --name "Development" --project 1
# List with filters
./scripts/kimai_cli.py timesheets list --customer 1 --begin "2024-01-01T00:00:00" --exported 0
3. Export/Invoice Workflow
# Mark timesheets as exported (locks them)
./scripts/kimai_cli.py timesheets export --id 123
# List invoices
./scripts/kimai_cli.py invoices list --status pending --begin 2024-01-01T00:00:00
CLI Tool Reference
Use scripts/kimai_cli.py for all operations. Structure follows API endpoints:
Timesheets (timesheets)
list- List entries (supports pagination, filters: user, customer, project, activity, tags, date range, exported status)get <id>- Fetch single entrycreate- Create manual entry or start timer (omit --end for active tracking)update <id>- Patch existing entrydelete <id>- Requires confirmation (destructive)stop <id>- Stop active timerrestart <id>- Restart finished entry (creates new)duplicate <id>- Copy entry (resets export status)active- List currently running timersrecent- Recent unique working sets (last activity per project/activity combination)export <id>- Toggle export/lock status
Customers (customers)
list- List customers (filter: visible, term)get <id>- Fetch customer detailscreate- Create new customerupdate <id>- Update customerdelete <id>- Requires confirmation (cascades to projects/activities/timesheets)meta <id>- Update custom fieldsrates <id>- Manage customer-specific rates
Projects (projects)
list- List projects (filter: customer, visible, date range)get <id>- Fetch projectcreate- Create project (requires customer ID)update <id>- Update projectdelete <id>- Requires confirmation (cascades to activities/timesheets)rates <id>- Manage project rates
Activities (activities)
list- List activities (filter: project, visible, global only)get <id>- Fetch activitycreate- Create activity (can be global or project-specific)update <id>- Update activitydelete <id>- Requires confirmation (cascades to timesheets)rates <id>- Manage activity rates
Teams (teams)
list,get,create,update,deletemember-add <team-id> <user-id>- Add team membermember-remove <team-id> <user-id>- Remove membergrant-customer <team-id> <customer-id>- Grant customer accessgrant-project <team-id> <project-id>- Grant project accessgrant-activity <team-id> <activity-id>- Grant activity access
Users (users)
list- List users (requires view_user permission)me- Current user infoget <id>- User detailscreate- Create user (admin)update <id>- Update user
Invoices (invoices)
list- List invoices (filter: date range, customer, status)get <id>- Invoice details
System (system)
ping- Test connectivityversion- Kimai version infoplugins- Installed pluginsconfig- Timesheet configurationcolors- Color codes
Safety & Boundaries
⚠️ DESTRUCTIVE OPERATIONS
- delete operations on customers, projects, activities, timesheets, teams, or tags require explicit user confirmation.
- Deleting customers cascades to all linked projects, activities, and timesheets [1].
- Deleting projects cascades to activities and timesheets [1].
- The CLI will show a preview of affected data and require "yes" confirmation.
API Security:
- API token is passed via Authorization: Bearer header [1].
- Token is never logged or stored in CLI output.
- Use --dry-run flag for testing (simulates API calls without executing).
Rate Limiting & Pagination:
- API returns paginated results (default 50 items) [1].
- CLI auto-handles pagination for list commands (fetches all pages or respects --limit).
- Use --page and --size for manual pagination control.
Data Privacy: - Timesheet data may contain sensitive information. - Export files are saved to workspace with restricted permissions (600). - Redact personal data (emails, names) when sharing debug output.
Workspace Safety:
- All file exports (CSV, JSON) default to KIMAI_WORKSPACE or ~/.openclaw/workspace/kimai.
- Never write to system directories outside workspace without explicit confirmation.
Input/Output Specifications
Inputs: - Entity IDs (integers) - ISO 8601 datetime strings (YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss) - JSON data for create/update operations (via --json file or CLI args) - Filter parameters (customer, project, activity IDs, date ranges, visibility)
Outputs:
- JSON (default, pipe-friendly)
- Table format (--format table for human readability)
- CSV (--format csv for exports)
- Exit codes: 0 (success), 1 (API error), 2 (validation error), 3 (cancelled by user)
Success Criteria: - HTTP 200/201 for successful operations - Valid JSON response structure matching API schemas [1] - For exports: File created in workspace with expected record count
Examples
Start tracking with description
./scripts/kimai_cli.py timesheets create
--project 5
--activity 12
--description "Client meeting - requirements analysis"
--tags "meeting,urgent"
List and export non-exported hours
# Find billable hours not yet exported
./scripts/kimai_cli.py timesheets list
--exported 0
--billable 1
--begin "2024-01-01T00:00:00"
--end "2024-01-31T23:59:59"
--format csv > january_hours.csv
Update custom fields (meta)
./scripts/kimai_cli.py customers meta 42
--name "order_number"
--value "PO-2024-001"
Create team and assign resources
./scripts/kimai_cli.py teams create --name "Development Team" --members '[{"user": 1, "teamlead": true}]'
./scripts/kimai_cli.py teams grant-project 1 5
Error Handling
Common HTTP codes:
- 200 - Success
- 201 - Created
- 204 - No content (successful delete)
- 400 - Bad request (validation error, missing fields)
- 401 - Unauthorized (invalid/expired token)
- 403 - Forbidden (insufficient permissions)
- 404 - Not found (invalid ID)
- 409 - Conflict (overlapping timesheet if not allowed by config)
CLI behavior: - Validates required fields before API call (e.g., project+activity for timesheets [1]) - Pretty-prints validation errors from API - Suggests fixes (e.g., "Did you mean to use 'PATCH' instead of DELETE? Try setting visible=false to hide instead of delete")
Validation
Validate this skill using the Openclaw skills validator:
skills-ref validate ./kimai-time-tracking
Test API connectivity:
export KIMAI_BASE_URL="https://your-kimai.example.com"
export KIMAI_API_TOKEN="your-api-token"
./kimai-time-tracking/scripts/kimai_cli.py system ping
References
- Kimai REST API Docs: https://www.kimai.org/documentation/rest-api.html
- Pagination Guide: https://www.kimai.org/documentation/api-pagination.html
- API Spec:
references/api-reference.json(complete OpenAPI schema)