Vibecode Timing
track this build5 steps, step by step0%YES · one-shottable
The core loop is small enough for a capable coding agent to produce a useful local version in one sitting. For Timing, track Mac application activity privately and assign blocks to projects. The hard boundary is deep macos automation, rules, sync, calendar integration, and reporting polish, plus ubiquitous capture, coaching, and team workflow.
the project pack4 files · fastest path to a working personal build
You are building a lean indie version of Timing. Create the following project files first, then implement the application by following them. Keep the files updated as decisions change. Do not collapse this into a single README or prompt. ===== README.md ===== # Timing indie build ## Goal Build the smallest trustworthy replacement for the core Timing workflow for one developer or a tiny team. ## Scope Track Mac application activity privately, assign time blocks to projects, review patterns locally, and export a transparent activity record. ## Quick start 1. Install the documented dependencies. 2. Copy `.env.example` to `.env`. 3. Run the development command chosen during implementation. 4. Complete the acceptance checks in `BUILD_PLAN.md`. ## Honest limits This build deliberately does not replace: - deep macOS automation, rules, sync, calendar integration, and reporting polish - cross-device history - team timesheets and payroll - behavioral datasets - blocking across every platform If those capabilities are essential, use Kimai instead of pretending the gap is solved. ===== AGENTS.md ===== # Agent instructions - Optimize for a working, understandable weekend build. - Prefer the fewest moving parts that satisfy the brief. - Do not invent cryptography, security guarantees, APIs, or compliance claims. - Keep secrets out of source control and logs. - Add focused tests for destructive, security-sensitive, and data-loss paths. - Run the project checks before declaring the build complete. - Record any deliberate shortcut in the README under "Tradeoffs". ===== BUILD_PLAN.md ===== # Build plan ## Original build brief Build a personal replacement for Timing in an empty repository. Use Tauri 2, React, TypeScript, SQLite, and optional OS accessibility APIs; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: track Mac application activity privately, assign time blocks to projects, review patterns locally, and export a transparent activity record. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Create one-click start and stop, manual entries, idle detection, tags, projects, and notes. Keep any application-name tracking opt-in and never record window contents or keystrokes. Add Pomodoro-style focus sessions, break reminders, and an optional allowlist blocker. Provide daily, weekly, project, and category reports with editable corrections. Export CSV and JSON and make the underlying event log inspectable. Add automatic local backups and a privacy screen explaining every collected field. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Deliberately leave out employee surveillance. Deliberately leave out payroll and billing automation. Deliberately leave out cross-device blocking and behavioral coaching services. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Required capabilities - desktop OS - notification permission - optional accessibility permission for app-name tracking - local SQLite ## Delivery order 1. Scaffold the smallest runnable application and document its commands. 2. Implement the primary data model and core workflow. 3. Add validation, safe failure states, and persistence. 4. Cover the critical path with automated tests. 5. Exercise a clean install from the README and fix every missing step. ## Done when - A new user can go from clone to first successful workflow using only the README. - The core workflow works without paid infrastructure unless the brief requires it. - Tests cover the highest-risk behavior. - Known limitations are explicit rather than hidden. ===== .env.example ===== # Copy to .env and document every variable when it is introduced. # Never put real credentials in this file. APP_ENV=development # Add only values required by the selected implementation.
You are building a lean indie version of Timing. Create the following project files first, then implement the application by following them. Keep the files updated as decisions change. Do not collapse this into a single README or prompt. ===== README.md ===== # Timing indie build ## Goal Build the smallest trustworthy replacement for the core Timing workflow for one developer or a tiny team. ## Scope Track Mac application activity privately, assign time blocks to projects, review patterns locally, and export a transparent activity record. ## Quick start 1. Install the documented dependencies. 2. Copy `.env.example` to `.env`. 3. Run the development command chosen during implementation. 4. Complete the acceptance checks in `BUILD_PLAN.md`. ## Honest limits This build deliberately does not replace: - deep macOS automation, rules, sync, calendar integration, and reporting polish - cross-device history - team timesheets and payroll - behavioral datasets - blocking across every platform If those capabilities are essential, use Kimai instead of pretending the gap is solved. ===== AGENTS.md ===== # Agent instructions - Optimize for a working, understandable weekend build. - Prefer the fewest moving parts that satisfy the brief. - Do not invent cryptography, security guarantees, APIs, or compliance claims. - Keep secrets out of source control and logs. - Add focused tests for destructive, security-sensitive, and data-loss paths. - Run the project checks before declaring the build complete. - Record any deliberate shortcut in the README under "Tradeoffs". ===== BUILD_PLAN.md ===== # Build plan ## Original build brief Build a personal replacement for Timing in an empty repository. Use Tauri 2, React, TypeScript, SQLite, and optional OS accessibility APIs; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: track Mac application activity privately, assign time blocks to projects, review patterns locally, and export a transparent activity record. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Create one-click start and stop, manual entries, idle detection, tags, projects, and notes. Keep any application-name tracking opt-in and never record window contents or keystrokes. Add Pomodoro-style focus sessions, break reminders, and an optional allowlist blocker. Provide daily, weekly, project, and category reports with editable corrections. Export CSV and JSON and make the underlying event log inspectable. Add automatic local backups and a privacy screen explaining every collected field. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Deliberately leave out employee surveillance. Deliberately leave out payroll and billing automation. Deliberately leave out cross-device blocking and behavioral coaching services. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Required capabilities - desktop OS - notification permission - optional accessibility permission for app-name tracking - local SQLite ## Delivery order 1. Scaffold the smallest runnable application and document its commands. 2. Implement the primary data model and core workflow. 3. Add validation, safe failure states, and persistence. 4. Cover the critical path with automated tests. 5. Exercise a clean install from the README and fix every missing step. ## Done when - A new user can go from clone to first successful workflow using only the README. - The core workflow works without paid infrastructure unless the brief requires it. - Tests cover the highest-risk behavior. - Known limitations are explicit rather than hidden. ===== .env.example ===== # Copy to .env and document every variable when it is introduced. # Never put real credentials in this file. APP_ENV=development # Add only values required by the selected implementation.
You are building a production product version of Timing. Create the following project files first, then implement the application by following them. Keep the files updated as decisions change. Do not collapse this into a single README or prompt. ===== PRODUCT.md ===== # Timing product brief ## Problem The core loop is small enough for a capable coding agent to produce a useful local version in one sitting. For Timing, track Mac application activity privately and assign blocks to projects. The hard boundary is deep macos automation, rules, sync, calendar integration, and reporting polish, plus ubiquitous capture, coaching, and team workflow. ## Product outcome Track Mac application activity privately, assign time blocks to projects, review patterns locally, and export a transparent activity record. ## Target user A serious builder who needs a maintainable product foundation rather than a one-off demo. ## Required capabilities - desktop OS - notification permission - optional accessibility permission for app-name tracking - local SQLite ## Explicit non-goals for v1 - deep macOS automation, rules, sync, calendar integration, and reporting polish - cross-device history - team timesheets and payroll - behavioral datasets - blocking across every platform ## Success criteria - The primary workflow is measurable end to end. - Setup is reproducible in a clean environment. - Failure, recovery, and support paths are documented. - Product claims match what the implementation actually guarantees. ===== ARCHITECTURE.md ===== # Architecture ## Starting brief Build a personal replacement for Timing in an empty repository. Use Tauri 2, React, TypeScript, SQLite, and optional OS accessibility APIs; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: track Mac application activity privately, assign time blocks to projects, review patterns locally, and export a transparent activity record. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Create one-click start and stop, manual entries, idle detection, tags, projects, and notes. Keep any application-name tracking opt-in and never record window contents or keystrokes. Add Pomodoro-style focus sessions, break reminders, and an optional allowlist blocker. Provide daily, weekly, project, and category reports with editable corrections. Export CSV and JSON and make the underlying event log inspectable. Add automatic local backups and a privacy screen explaining every collected field. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Deliberately leave out employee surveillance. Deliberately leave out payroll and billing automation. Deliberately leave out cross-device blocking and behavioral coaching services. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Boundaries Separate the product into replaceable modules for interface, application logic, persistence, external integrations, and operational concerns. Keep domain logic independent from delivery frameworks and vendors. ## Production baseline - Configuration: validated at startup with safe local defaults where possible. - Security: least privilege, input validation, secret redaction, rate limits on abuse-prone paths, and no invented security primitives. - Data: explicit schema and migrations, transactional writes where integrity matters, backup and restore instructions. - Integrations: adapters around third-party providers, idempotent webhook or job processing, bounded retries, and timeouts. - Observability: structured logs with request or operation IDs, an error-tracking hook, and health/readiness checks where a server exists. - Quality: unit tests for domain rules, integration tests at module boundaries, and one end-to-end critical-path test. ## Decision records For each major dependency, document why it was chosen, its failure mode, and how it can be replaced. Do not introduce infrastructure until a requirement justifies it. ===== AGENTS.md ===== # Agent instructions - Read `PRODUCT.md` and `ARCHITECTURE.md` before changing code. - Implement milestone by milestone; keep each change reviewable and leave the application runnable. - Treat authentication, payments, encryption, imports, webhooks, and destructive actions as high-risk boundaries when present. - Never invent cryptography or silently weaken a requirement to make a test pass. - Use provider interfaces for external services and deterministic fakes in tests. - Add migrations and rollback or recovery notes for persistent data changes. - Log useful operational context without credentials, tokens, passwords, or personal data. - Update documentation and run all checks before completing a milestone. ===== MILESTONES.md ===== # Delivery milestones ## M0 — Decisions and scaffold - Confirm the runtime, persistence model, threat boundaries, and deployment target. - Create a reproducible local environment and continuous checks. ## M1 — Core workflow - Implement the smallest end-to-end product path with validation and tests. - Keep integrations behind interfaces. ## M2 — Trust layer - Add secure failure behavior, recovery paths, audit-relevant events, and data safeguards. - Test abuse cases and destructive operations. ## M3 — Operability - Add structured logs, error reporting hooks, health signals, backup/restore documentation, and deployment configuration. ## M4 — Release gate - Run a clean-install test, critical-path end-to-end test, dependency review, and documented rollback exercise. - Compare the shipped behavior with `PRODUCT.md` and publish remaining limitations. ===== OPERATIONS.md ===== # Operations ## Before release - Validate configuration and secrets at startup. - Define backup, restore, and rollback procedures and test them. - Document logs, error tracking, health signals, and alert ownership. - Set dependency update and vulnerability review expectations. ## Incident checklist 1. Contain the issue without destroying evidence or user data. 2. Record the timeline and affected scope. 3. Rotate exposed secrets and revoke compromised sessions or credentials. 4. Restore from a verified source when needed. 5. Document the root cause, remediation, and regression test. ## Launch constraint Do not market omitted Timing capabilities as implemented. The v1 non-goals in `PRODUCT.md` remain user-visible limitations until they are deliberately delivered.
README.md
# Timing indie build ## Goal Build the smallest trustworthy replacement for the core Timing workflow for one developer or a tiny team. ## Scope Track Mac application activity privately, assign time blocks to projects, review patterns locally, and export a transparent activity record. ## Quick start 1. Install the documented dependencies. 2. Copy `.env.example` to `.env`. 3. Run the development command chosen during implementation. 4. Complete the acceptance checks in `BUILD_PLAN.md`. ## Honest limits This build deliberately does not replace: - deep macOS automation, rules, sync, calendar integration, and reporting polish - cross-device history - team timesheets and payroll - behavioral datasets - blocking across every platform If those capabilities are essential, use Kimai instead of pretending the gap is solved.
AGENTS.md
# Agent instructions - Optimize for a working, understandable weekend build. - Prefer the fewest moving parts that satisfy the brief. - Do not invent cryptography, security guarantees, APIs, or compliance claims. - Keep secrets out of source control and logs. - Add focused tests for destructive, security-sensitive, and data-loss paths. - Run the project checks before declaring the build complete. - Record any deliberate shortcut in the README under "Tradeoffs".
BUILD_PLAN.md
# Build plan ## Original build brief Build a personal replacement for Timing in an empty repository. Use Tauri 2, React, TypeScript, SQLite, and optional OS accessibility APIs; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: track Mac application activity privately, assign time blocks to projects, review patterns locally, and export a transparent activity record. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Create one-click start and stop, manual entries, idle detection, tags, projects, and notes. Keep any application-name tracking opt-in and never record window contents or keystrokes. Add Pomodoro-style focus sessions, break reminders, and an optional allowlist blocker. Provide daily, weekly, project, and category reports with editable corrections. Export CSV and JSON and make the underlying event log inspectable. Add automatic local backups and a privacy screen explaining every collected field. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Deliberately leave out employee surveillance. Deliberately leave out payroll and billing automation. Deliberately leave out cross-device blocking and behavioral coaching services. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Required capabilities - desktop OS - notification permission - optional accessibility permission for app-name tracking - local SQLite ## Delivery order 1. Scaffold the smallest runnable application and document its commands. 2. Implement the primary data model and core workflow. 3. Add validation, safe failure states, and persistence. 4. Cover the critical path with automated tests. 5. Exercise a clean install from the README and fix every missing step. ## Done when - A new user can go from clone to first successful workflow using only the README. - The core workflow works without paid infrastructure unless the brief requires it. - Tests cover the highest-risk behavior. - Known limitations are explicit rather than hidden.
.env.example
# Copy to .env and document every variable when it is introduced. # Never put real credentials in this file. APP_ENV=development # Add only values required by the selected implementation.
PRODUCT.md
# Timing product brief ## Problem The core loop is small enough for a capable coding agent to produce a useful local version in one sitting. For Timing, track Mac application activity privately and assign blocks to projects. The hard boundary is deep macos automation, rules, sync, calendar integration, and reporting polish, plus ubiquitous capture, coaching, and team workflow. ## Product outcome Track Mac application activity privately, assign time blocks to projects, review patterns locally, and export a transparent activity record. ## Target user A serious builder who needs a maintainable product foundation rather than a one-off demo. ## Required capabilities - desktop OS - notification permission - optional accessibility permission for app-name tracking - local SQLite ## Explicit non-goals for v1 - deep macOS automation, rules, sync, calendar integration, and reporting polish - cross-device history - team timesheets and payroll - behavioral datasets - blocking across every platform ## Success criteria - The primary workflow is measurable end to end. - Setup is reproducible in a clean environment. - Failure, recovery, and support paths are documented. - Product claims match what the implementation actually guarantees.
ARCHITECTURE.md
# Architecture ## Starting brief Build a personal replacement for Timing in an empty repository. Use Tauri 2, React, TypeScript, SQLite, and optional OS accessibility APIs; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: track Mac application activity privately, assign time blocks to projects, review patterns locally, and export a transparent activity record. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Create one-click start and stop, manual entries, idle detection, tags, projects, and notes. Keep any application-name tracking opt-in and never record window contents or keystrokes. Add Pomodoro-style focus sessions, break reminders, and an optional allowlist blocker. Provide daily, weekly, project, and category reports with editable corrections. Export CSV and JSON and make the underlying event log inspectable. Add automatic local backups and a privacy screen explaining every collected field. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Deliberately leave out employee surveillance. Deliberately leave out payroll and billing automation. Deliberately leave out cross-device blocking and behavioral coaching services. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Boundaries Separate the product into replaceable modules for interface, application logic, persistence, external integrations, and operational concerns. Keep domain logic independent from delivery frameworks and vendors. ## Production baseline - Configuration: validated at startup with safe local defaults where possible. - Security: least privilege, input validation, secret redaction, rate limits on abuse-prone paths, and no invented security primitives. - Data: explicit schema and migrations, transactional writes where integrity matters, backup and restore instructions. - Integrations: adapters around third-party providers, idempotent webhook or job processing, bounded retries, and timeouts. - Observability: structured logs with request or operation IDs, an error-tracking hook, and health/readiness checks where a server exists. - Quality: unit tests for domain rules, integration tests at module boundaries, and one end-to-end critical-path test. ## Decision records For each major dependency, document why it was chosen, its failure mode, and how it can be replaced. Do not introduce infrastructure until a requirement justifies it.
AGENTS.md
# Agent instructions - Read `PRODUCT.md` and `ARCHITECTURE.md` before changing code. - Implement milestone by milestone; keep each change reviewable and leave the application runnable. - Treat authentication, payments, encryption, imports, webhooks, and destructive actions as high-risk boundaries when present. - Never invent cryptography or silently weaken a requirement to make a test pass. - Use provider interfaces for external services and deterministic fakes in tests. - Add migrations and rollback or recovery notes for persistent data changes. - Log useful operational context without credentials, tokens, passwords, or personal data. - Update documentation and run all checks before completing a milestone.
MILESTONES.md
# Delivery milestones ## M0 — Decisions and scaffold - Confirm the runtime, persistence model, threat boundaries, and deployment target. - Create a reproducible local environment and continuous checks. ## M1 — Core workflow - Implement the smallest end-to-end product path with validation and tests. - Keep integrations behind interfaces. ## M2 — Trust layer - Add secure failure behavior, recovery paths, audit-relevant events, and data safeguards. - Test abuse cases and destructive operations. ## M3 — Operability - Add structured logs, error reporting hooks, health signals, backup/restore documentation, and deployment configuration. ## M4 — Release gate - Run a clean-install test, critical-path end-to-end test, dependency review, and documented rollback exercise. - Compare the shipped behavior with `PRODUCT.md` and publish remaining limitations.
OPERATIONS.md
# Operations ## Before release - Validate configuration and secrets at startup. - Define backup, restore, and rollback procedures and test them. - Document logs, error tracking, health signals, and alert ownership. - Set dependency update and vulnerability review expectations. ## Incident checklist 1. Contain the issue without destroying evidence or user data. 2. Record the timeline and affected scope. 3. Rotate exposed secrets and revoke compromised sessions or credentials. 4. Restore from a verified source when needed. 5. Document the root cause, remediation, and regression test. ## Launch constraint Do not market omitted Timing capabilities as implemented. The v1 non-goals in `PRODUCT.md` remain user-visible limitations until they are deliberately delivered.
$ choose a build depth, inspect the files, then open the complete pack in your agent · this prompt is generated from the build plan · improve it via PR
People still pay for Timing because the timer is simple, but people pay for frictionless capture and a history they trust enough to invoice or change habits from. The recurring cost buys idle detection, permissions, app metadata, privacy, notifications, sync, reports, integrations, and backups, not just the visible interface.
xdeep macOS automation, rules, sync, calendar integration, and reporting polish
xcross-device history
xteam timesheets and payroll
xbehavioral datasets
xblocking across every platform
share on X ↗"I just replaced Timing ($11/mo) with one prompt"
Don't feel like building it? These folks already made it free.
Clockify FreeFive users get timers and a private auto-tracker; reports stop at 31-day windows and CSV export is paid.free↗
ManicTime FreeOne computer gets automatic app, site and document history, tags and timesheet export; cloud sync is the billable part.free↗
Toggl Track FreeFast timers plus a private desktop activity trail you can promote into entries; formal approvals cost extra.free↗all 3 free alternatives to Timing →· no votes, no pay-to-list · just what's real
Timing pricing
| plan | monthly | annual (per mo) | what you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| professional | $11/user | $9/user | 1 Mac; automatic time tracking and reports. |
| expert | $14/user | $11/user | Up to 2 Macs; expanded reporting and invoicing integrations. |
| connect | $20/user | $16/user | Up to 3 Macs/user; team collaboration and shared projects. |
free tierno free tier
billingmonthly + annual (20%+ discount); 30-day trial without card
hidden costsDevice limits rise by tier: 1 Mac on Professional, 2 on Expert, and 3 per user on Connect.
verified 2026-08-14 · source ↗
Vibecode Timing
Yes. A competent AI coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor) can build a usable personal Timing replacement in one session with the prompt on this page. It runs on your own machine or server with no subscription.
How much does Timing cost?
Timing costs about $11/month (Professional, checked 2026-07-31), which is $132 per year. That's what you save by replacing it with one prompt.
What do I lose by replacing Timing?
Honestly: deep macOS automation, rules, sync, calendar integration, and reporting polish; cross-device history; team timesheets and payroll; behavioral datasets; blocking across every platform. If any of those are load-bearing for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to Timing?
Yes: Clockify Free (Five users get timers and a private auto-tracker; reports stop at 31-day windows and CSV export is paid.) ManicTime Free (One computer gets automatic app, site and document history, tags and timesheet export; cloud sync is the billable part.) Toggl Track Free (Fast timers plus a private desktop activity trail you can promote into entries; formal approvals cost extra.) All 3 curated free alternatives are at vibecodeit.com/timing/alternatives. The prompt is for when you want it exactly your way.