Passive time tracking
that stays invisible
Scribe tracks your work without you lifting a finger. No timers to start. No categories to pick. No interruptions to your flow. Your timeline builds itself from real activity.
Passive tracking vs. active timers
Stop interrupting your deep work to tell a tool what you're doing. Let Scribe figure it out from your activity.
Active time tracking
- ✕Requires you to remember to start a timer
- ✕Breaks your flow every time you switch tasks
- ✕Forgot to log? Reconstruct hours from memory
- ✕Doesn't capture AI pair programming at all
- ✕Invoices based on rough estimates
Passive time tracking with Scribe
- Runs silently in your system tray
- Never interrupts your deep work sessions
- Captures every commit, file save, and AI chat
- AI conversation time counts as billable work
- Invoices backed by timestamped evidence
What Scribe captures passively
Three data sources build a complete picture of your workday. No manual tagging required.
Git History
Commits, branches, file diffs, additions and deletions. Scribe reads your git log and estimates time based on change complexity.
File Modifications
Watches your project directories for file changes. Timestamps from your filesystem fill in the gaps between commits.
AI Sessions
Claude Code conversations parsed from local JSONL logs. Your AI pair programming sessions are tracked and attributable to projects.
Passive doesn't mean invasive
Scribe reads git logs, file timestamps, and conversation files. It does not record your screen, log keystrokes, or take screenshots. Your data lives in a local SQLite database you own.
- No screen recording or keystroke logging
- No cloud uploads required
- SQLite database on your machine
- Open-source and auditable
Never
Never
Read-only
Your machine
Passive time tracking FAQ
What is passive time tracking?
Passive time tracking records your work activity automatically without requiring you to start or stop timers. It runs in the background and captures work signals like code commits, file modifications, and tool usage to build a timeline of your day.
How is passive time tracking different from regular time tracking?
Regular time tracking requires manual input — starting timers, categorizing tasks, and remembering to log hours. Passive time tracking eliminates all of that. Scribe captures work evidence automatically from git, files, and AI conversations. You never interact with a timer.
Does passive time tracking monitor my screen or keystrokes?
No. Scribe does not record your screen, log keystrokes, or take screenshots. It only reads git commit history, file modification timestamps, and Claude Code conversation logs stored on your local machine. All processing happens locally.
Can passive time tracking work for freelancers?
Passive time tracking is ideal for freelancers. You get accurate work evidence without the overhead of manual logging. Scribe generates invoices backed by real git commits and file changes, giving clients proof of work instead of estimated hours.
Is passive time tracking accurate enough for billing?
Yes. Because Scribe captures actual timestamps from git commits and file modifications, the resulting timeline is based on real events, not estimates. Complexity-based time estimation accounts for the scope of changes, producing more honest billing than manual timesheets.
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Start passive time tracking today
Download Scribe and let your work timeline build itself. Free for individuals. No credit card required.