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10. timewarrior-evaluation-time-tracking-solutions

Date: 2025-06-26

Status

Rejected

Context

I'm using the term we, because I'm making this decsion for a future collective, but really I am the sole partitipant, along w/ ChatGPT, in this evaluation, so in a sense the machine and I came to this decision.

We initially considered using Timewarrior for time tracking, as it is a lightweight, open-source, command-line tool that is easy to install on any Linux-based system. The appeal was its simplicity and scriptability, aligning with our values of using open, Unix-friendly tooling.

However, in practice, Timewarrior requires a start/stop workflow that has not aligned with how we actually work. The tool assumes real-time manual tracking, which quickly led to problems — including phantom 24-hour sessions, confusing logs, and excessive noise in version control when .data files were committed.

The best experience we’ve had with time blocking to date has been with Productive.io, which supports structured planning of major work areas. However, Productive is too feature-heavy for our current lightweight needs.

Decision

We will not adopt Timewarrior for ongoing use. We are rejecting it as our time tracking approach.

Instead, we will use a simple Markdown-based approach to track and summarize work. This will likely involve maintaining a time-log/ directory or embedding summaries into weekly GitLab issues or merge requests.

We may revisit structured tools later, but at this stage a plain-text, git-friendly solution is sufficient.

Time tracking to date has been stored in a private internal repository named outcome-engineering, which also contains partner-specific notes and work logs. This repository is private for confidentiality reasons, not due to any strategic or technical necessity.

I don't yet have enough collaboration or oversight from others to confidently assess whether this is a good long-term practice particularly when it comes to how and where to keep relationship management records and time-keeping logs.

Consequences

  • Simpler, low-friction time tracking aligned with our actual workflows.
  • Loss of detailed, timer-based granularity in favor of weekly summaries or time-blocked planning.
  • Easier to audit and version as part of project documentation.
  • Avoids the maintenance burden and user friction introduced by Timewarrior's workflow.