Menu-Bar Time Tracker

A focused Obsidian desktop plugin that puts a clock in your macOS menu bar for one-click project time tracking. Left-click to start, left-click again to stop, then confirm the project and jot a description — a markdown session note lands in your vault, and an Obsidian Base rolls up total time per project.

Built to keep the data yours: plain markdown in your vault, not a SaaS database.

How it works

• Left-click the menu-bar clock → starts a timer (the icon shows live elapsed time, e.g. 0:42).
• Left-click again → stops it and opens a modal: pick an existing project or type a new one, add a description, Save.
• Right-click → menu with Start/Stop, Cancel timer (while running), and Settings.
• Each session is written as one note with frontmatter (project, start, end, duration in minutes, date).
• A shipped Time per project.base groups sessions by project and sums duration.
• A running timer survives an Obsidian restart — it resumes from where it left off.
• A "Toggle timer" command mirrors the left-click, as a fallback if the menu-bar icon is hidden behind the notch.
• Stopping surfaces the Obsidian window so the tag-the-session modal is visible even when Obsidian was in the background.
• The menu-bar icon color is configurable (White / Black / Auto) since some Electron builds don't honor the macOS auto-tint template.

macOS-only for the live menu-bar readout (Tray.setTitle is macOS-only); the timer and note-writing still work elsewhere.

Install (local / development)

npm install
npm run build      # produces main.js

Then copy main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css into your vault at:

<vault>/.obsidian/plugins/menubar-time-tracker/

Enable it under Settings → Community plugins (Restricted Mode off). Set your session folder under the plugin's settings (default Time Log/Sessions).

The Time per project Base is deployed automatically next to your session folder after the first session is saved. If you change the session folder later, update the Base's file.inFolder(...) filter (the plugin reminds you).

Develop

npm run dev        # esbuild watch
npm test           # vitest (pure logic: format, session)
npm run typecheck  # tsc --noEmit

Pure, Obsidian-free logic lives in src/format.ts and src/session.ts and is unit-tested. The Obsidian/Electron-coupled code (tray, modal, vault) is thin and verified manually in Obsidian (see below).

Manual verification checklist

Because there's no headless Obsidian harness, verify these in your running Obsidian after installing:

1. Tray click wiring (the one unproven assumption): left-click toggles start/stop; right-click opens the menu. (Confirms the macOS on('click') / on('right-click') + popUpContextMenu path works in your Obsidian/Electron build.)
2. Live readout: the menu-bar icon counts up each second without horizontal jitter; idle vs running icons differ.
3. Stop modal: elapsed shows; the project field suggests prior projects and accepts a new name; Save is inert until a project is set; Esc/Cancel/click-away writes nothing.
4. Note written: a session note appears in the session folder with correct frontmatter; a same-minute second session gets a 2 suffix.
5. Restart resume: start a timer, quit and reopen Obsidian — the timer resumes from the original start and is visible immediately.
6. Base rollup: open Time per project.base — sessions group by project with summed minutes/hours.
7. Coexists with Headless Mode: both menu-bar icons work; neither destroys the other.

License

MIT