Install wakatime-cli with Homebrew, Nix, scoop, winget

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository

Commands and aliases

• wakatime-cli

Project history

WakaTime itself began in May 2013 when Alan Hamlett built an automatic programming time tracker after forgetting manual consulting timers. The first Vim plugin was followed by a website and a Sublime Text plugin, and Hamlett launched WakaTime on Hacker News on July 15, 2013 with about 700 initial signups.

The service grew around open source editor plugins. WakaTime's own history page records the first plugin in June 2013, the second in July 2013, a move to the wakatime.com domain in March 2014, public leaderboards in September 2014, GitHub integration in January 2015, team dashboards in February 2015, and GitLab integration in March 2016.

The CLI lineage moved from a legacy Python client to the current Go implementation. The legacy-python-cli README now marks that repository deprecated and tells users to use the Go `wakatime-cli`; the `wakatime-cli-pip` wrapper says it downloads the Go CLI and replaces the legacy Python package. The Go repository was created on March 4, 2020 and continues as the CLI used by WakaTime text-editor plugins.

A September 2021 WakaTime issue explicitly requested replacing the Homebrew `wakatime-cli` with the Go version, reflecting the packaging transition away from the older Python implementation. By June 30, 2026, GitHub release metadata showed the Go CLI at v2.21.4.

Adoption history

WakaTime's adoption is best measured through the service and plugin network rather than the CLI alone. The official history page reports more than 100,000 users by October 2017, more than 200,000 by December 2019, more than 400,000 by September 2022, and more than 500,000 developers with 90-plus IDE plugins by January 2024.

WakaTime's 2022 stats post said more than 400,000 developers tracked a combined 43 million hours of programming with WakaTime plugins during 2022. The about page currently lists 98 supported editors, which explains why a common CLI client matters: it gives plugin authors and maintainers one heartbeat implementation rather than separate API clients in every editor plugin.

How it is used

Editor plugins invoke `wakatime-cli` to collect and submit heartbeats containing project, file, branch, language, and related coding context. The current README says WakaTime plugins and the CLI share the INI config file at `$WAKATIME_HOME/.wakatime.cfg`, and the CLI writes JSONL logs under `$WAKATIME_HOME/.wakatime/wakatime.log`.

Direct CLI use is mainly for plugin authors, troubleshooting, or manual integration with the WakaTime API. The legacy Python README made the same point: most users should install an editor plugin, while plugin builders can use the CLI and the API documentation.

Why package nerds care

WakaTime CLI is package-nerd significant because it is the hidden common binary behind a large plugin ecosystem. The migration from a Python package to a Go binary also matters operationally: it simplified distribution for editors and package managers by replacing Python runtime and bundled dependency concerns with a compiled cross-platform executable.

Timeline

• May 2013: WakaTime was conceived and initially built as an automatic programming time tracker.
• July 15, 2013: WakaTime launched publicly on Hacker News with Vim and Sublime Text plugins and about 700 initial signups.
• October 2017: WakaTime reported passing 100,000 users.
• March 4, 2020: the current Go `wakatime-cli` repository was created on GitHub.
• September 2021: a WakaTime issue requested replacing the Homebrew CLI with the Go version.
• January 2024: WakaTime reported more than 500,000 developers and 90-plus IDE plugins.

Related projects

• The CLI is directly related to WakaTime's editor plugins, especially high-volume plugins such as VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, Vim, Sublime Text, and terminal integrations. It is also related to Wakapi and other WakaTime-compatible tools that grew around the same heartbeat API concept.

Sources

• https://api.github.com/repos/wakatime/wakatime-cli
• https://api.github.com/repos/wakatime/wakatime-cli/releases
• https://github.com/wakatime/wakatime-blog/blob/master/posts/1-why-i-built-wakatime.md
• https://github.com/wakatime/wakatime-cli/issues/546
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wakatime/legacy-python-cli/master/README.rst
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wakatime/wakatime-cli-pip/master/README.md
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wakatime/wakatime-cli/develop/README.md
• https://wakatime.com/about
• https://wakatime.com/blog/57-wakatime-2022-programming-stats