Install activitywatch with Homebrew Cask

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

No executable aliases were found in the local package database.

Project history

Founder Erik Bjäreholt traces the project's motivation to quantified-self experiments begun around 2013. He started a prototype on 30 December 2014, then began a client-server rewrite in April 2016 that became the foundation of modern ActivityWatch. Johan Bjäreholt became a regular contributor during 2016.

The project continued as a privacy-focused, cross-platform automatic time tracker. Its architecture split responsibility among servers, a web interface, clients, and watchers for active windows, browser tabs, and away-from-keyboard detection.

Adoption history

ActivityWatch developed into a cross-platform ecosystem with desktop packages, browser extensions, Android support, multiple server implementations, a web interface, and third-party watchers. Its privacy-focused local storage distinguishes it from centralized commercial time trackers.

The project supports research use and publishes a canonical Zenodo citation, reflecting adoption beyond individual productivity tracking.

How it is used

A typical desktop installation starts a local server and watchers for active windows and idle time. Users inspect timelines, summaries, and categories through the local web interface; optional browser extensions record active-tab information.

Configuration is component-specific. Each component uses its own subdirectory under the documented platform configuration root, such as aw-server-rust, aw-watcher-afk, or aw-watcher-window. Activity data remains locally controlled by default.

Why package nerds care

ActivityWatch is a substantial open-source alternative to proprietary automatic time trackers. Package users get a bundle composed of a local server, web interface, tray manager, and specialized watcher processes rather than a single monolithic tracker.

Its event-and-bucket data model, HTTP API, independent components, and extensible watchers make it useful to quantified-self enthusiasts, automation builders, and researchers who want inspectable local data.

Timeline

• 2013: The founder began quantified-self experiments that motivated the project.
• 2014: Work on the first ActivityWatch prototype began on December 30.
• 2016: A client-server rewrite established the foundation of the modern project.
• 2016: Johan Bjäreholt became a regular contributor.
• 2021: ActivityWatch established a canonical Zenodo software record for research citation.

Related projects

• aw-server and aw-server-rust provide local event storage.
• aw-webui supplies the browser-based interface and analysis views.
• aw-watcher-window, aw-watcher-afk, and browser extensions collect activity events.
• The project identifies RescueTime, ManicTime, WakaTime, arbtt, and selfspy as related time-tracking tools.

Sources

• Input field source_facts.package-manager
• https://activitywatch.net/timeline/
• https://docs.activitywatch.net/en/latest/directories.html
• https://docs.activitywatch.net/en/latest/history.html
• https://docs.activitywatch.net/en/latest/introduction.html
• https://github.com/ActivityWatch/activitywatch