hdls Time
hdls Time is a headless, MCP-native time tracking backend. It manages time entries, timesheets, and approvals, operated entirely through named tools your AI assistant calls. It stands in for tools like Harvest, Toggl — same job, no UI to run.
💬 Just ask
"Start a timer for the Acme project, then show me today's time entries."
You don't call these tools yourself — just tell your assistant in plain English. Everything below is the reference for when you (or your assistant) want the exact details.
How Time is organized
The headline entity is the time_entry — start there, then attach the rest to it. Records connect by reference: a project links to a client; a task links to a project. The approval_event table is an append-only timeline — every change and note lands there and is never edited or deleted.
| Entity | Purpose | Relates to |
|---|---|---|
time_entry | A logged block of time (or live timer) against a project/task. | timesheet, project, task |
client | Customer that projects and billable time are attributed to. | — |
project | Billable engagement under a client; time entries roll up to a project. | client |
task | Work category within a project that time is logged against. | project |
timesheet | A person period sheet aggregating time entries through a submit/approve workflow. | — |
approval_event | Append-only audit of timesheet submission and approval decisions. | timesheet |
Common workflows
Each line is one real sequence of tool calls — your assistant chains them for you.
- Set up a time entry end to end:
start_timer→log_time - Move a time entry through its lifecycle:
start_timer→approve_timesheet - Find a record and read the full picture:
search_entries→summarize_hours
Tools
Call these at https://hdls.ai/api/mcp/timetracking. Required fields you must supply; optional fields refine the call. You never pass tenant_id — it is stamped server-side.
Update & advance
| Tool | What it does | Required | Optional |
|---|---|---|---|
start_timer | Start a timer. | id | — |
log_time | Log time. | id | — |
approve_timesheet | Approve the timesheet. | id | — |
Find & read
| Tool | What it does | Required | Optional |
|---|---|---|---|
search_entries | Search entries by free-text and/or column filters (tenant-scoped, paginated). | — | search, filters, limit, orderBy |
summarize_hours | Fetch an hour plus its most recent timeline activity in one call. | id | activityLimit |
Field lists come from the product's live schema and are embedded in each tool's own description — read the tool description for the exact, current fields.
Field reference
Every field you can set on each record. Custom fields you add live alongside these in data.
time_entry
| Field | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
timesheet_id | id | Links to a timesheet. | |
project_id | id | Links to a project. | |
task_id | id | Links to a task. | |
member | text | Yes | |
entry_date | date | ||
started_at | timestamp | ||
ended_at | timestamp | ||
hours | numeric(7,2) | ||
is_running | true / false | ||
billable | true / false | ||
notes | text | ||
data | json | Free-form JSON — custom fields live here. |
client
| Field | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
name | text | Yes | Display name. |
is_active | true / false | ||
data | json | Free-form JSON — custom fields live here. |
project
| Field | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
client_id | id | Links to a client. | |
name | text | Yes | Display name. |
code | text | ||
billable | true / false | ||
bill_rate | numeric(12,2) | ||
currency | text | ||
budget_hours | numeric(10,2) | ||
status | text | Lifecycle state. | |
data | json | Free-form JSON — custom fields live here. |
task
| Field | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
project_id | id | Yes | Links to a project. |
name | text | Yes | Display name. |
billable | true / false | ||
is_active | true / false | ||
data | json | Free-form JSON — custom fields live here. |
timesheet
| Field | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
member | text | Yes | |
period_start | date | Yes | |
period_end | date | Yes | |
status | text | Lifecycle state. | |
total_hours | numeric(10,2) | ||
submitted_at | timestamp | ||
approver | text | ||
decided_at | timestamp | ||
data | json | Free-form JSON — custom fields live here. |
Tailor it with custom fields
Add fields without a schema change. add_custom_field defines one, list_custom_fields shows what's defined, and promote_custom_field (admin) shares a personal field with the whole workspace. The value lives in each row's data (JSON) and is set and read through the normal record tools. See Products, tools & custom fields for the full model.
Roles & safety
- Tenant isolation is automatic. Your credential is pinned to one workspace; you never pass
tenant_id, and you can only ever see your own data (enforced by Postgres row-level security). - Role-gated. Permissions run
reader < member < admin < owner. Installing a product and promoting a custom field workspace-wide need admin/owner. - History is append-only. The
approval_eventtimeline is never edited or deleted — it's your audit trail.
Connect
On the concierge (https://hdls.ai/api/mcp), run install_product({ slug: "timetracking" }) (admin/owner) to enable it for your workspace, then add https://hdls.ai/api/mcp/timetracking as a connector in your assistant — see Connect your assistant.
A worked example
The literal call your assistant makes when you ask it to create the headline record:
Tool: start_timer
Arguments: {
"member": "example"
}