TimerOS documentation
27 articles covering the whole product: getting started and installing the Windows desktop app, short tutorials, the core concepts behind tracked time, running your workspace, and reference material.
Getting started
- Overview
TimerOS is a time-management platform for teams and freelancers. Here is what each app does: the Windows desktop app, the web app, the admin dashboard and the client portal.
- Install on Windows
The desktop app, with its timer bar and dashboard window, is the only place TimerOS tracks your work time. Install it on Windows in four steps.
- Set up your workspace
Register, pick a plan, then add departments, roles and members, and define the shifts that decide when work counts as overtime.
- How a day is tracked
Your first tracked day starts once onboarding is done and the timer bar is running. See how each second gets a state and how to fix a wrong label.
Tutorials
- Track your first hours
Sign in to the Windows desktop app, work as usual, and see the hours appear on your dashboard. It takes about two minutes.
- Check & fix classification
Open Settings, see why your current activity was labelled productive or idle, and correct the on-device model when it gets a label wrong.
- Add a client & a project
Create your first client, then a billable project for them with a name, budget structure, milestones and team. Any plan works, and it takes about two minutes.
- Send your first invoice
Create an invoice for a client, mark it as sent so it appears in their portal, and record the payment when it arrives. It takes about three minutes.
- Give a client portal access
Add a contact to a client, set what they can see and do in the portal, and send the branded invitation they use to set a password and sign in.
- Invite your team
Send an email invite from the website dashboard, choose a dashboard role and team, and check your seat count. Inviting teammates requires the Startup plan or above.
- Shifts & time off
Create a shift template, assign it on your team calendar, then follow a time-off request from submission to approval and the deduction from the leave balance.
- Read your week in reports
See how a week of tracked time splits across activity states, where to find hours per project and revenue per client, and how to export the week as CSV or PDF.
Core concepts
- Activity classification
TimerOS labels activity productive or idle on your computer: a rule engine first, then a small on-device model when the rules can’t decide. No cloud AI, no LLM, no screenshots.
- Time states
Every second the desktop timer runs goes into one of six states: productive, idle, break, overtime, off-work or offline. What each means and how a day is stored.
- Shifts & leave
Shifts set when each person is expected to work and how time is labelled: productive inside a shift, overtime outside it. Leave is planned around them too.
- Projects & tasks
How projects organise work in TimerOS: milestones, tasks and subtasks, budgets, tracked time, and what clients see in the client portal.
- Goals & awards
Startup and above include company and team goals and an awards leaderboard earned from completed goals. Freelancer users get a personal Achievements page.
Administration
- Organisation & roles
Organise your workspace into departments and teams, give people roles, and control what each person can see and do. Higher plans give you more control.
- Payroll
Payroll turns assigned shifts and approved leave into salaries, deductions and payslips, per pay period and per team. An Enterprise feature, in early access.
- Billing & profit
Bill clients, log expenses, follow profit in real time and let clients pay invoices online. You’ll also see how to manage your own subscription on the website dashboard.
- Client portal
A web app with your branding where your clients sign in to follow projects, pay invoices, report incidents, approve change requests and accept your notices.
Reference
- Reports & exports
TimerOS breaks your tracked time down by state, so you can compare periods and export it as CSV or PDF. What you see depends on your role and plan.
- Security & privacy
Separate data for each workspace, role-based permissions, TOTP two-factor sign-in, and on-device activity classification that never sends raw window titles anywhere.
- AI assistant
Connect Claude to your TimerOS account with one hosted MCP address. It acts as you, sees only what you see, and every change it makes is logged.
- Approvals via Claude
Ask Claude what waits on you and decide your AI employees’ requests without opening TimerOS. One step for some kinds, two for others, with clear limits.
- API reference
A public API, personal access tokens and webhooks aren’t available and aren’t on the TimerOS roadmap right now. There are two integrations: the AI assistant connector and a GitHub connection for AI employees.
- Help & support
Open a support ticket from the dashboard, email support@timeros.ai, or check the changelog, roadmap and status page. Our SLA sets the response targets.
Stuck on something not covered here? Email support@timeros.ai.