We built the tool
we always wanted.
A silent agent that watches how you actually work — not just what you ship.
What Tracewise is
Tracewise is an automatic time tracker for Mac. Its menu-bar agent watches file-system events in folders you choose, measures your focus patterns, and generates invoices and weekly reports from that data. It never reads file contents, captures keystrokes, or takes screenshots.
It runs silently in the background. You open it when you want to see your day. The rest of the time it just watches and records — so you don't have to.
Why we built it
Most time-tracking tools require you to remember to press a button. We forget. We deep-work for two hours, surface, and realise we tracked nothing. Then we guess — and the invoice is wrong, the week report is a lie, and the focus score is meaningless.
We wanted something that just knew. That watched file saves, context switches, and idle gaps, and built a picture of our day without any input. Tracewise is that tool. Read the documentation for a detailed explanation of how it works.
It started as a script. Then a menu-bar app. Now it is a full product — and we use it every day.
Our values
We see file names and timestamps. We never see file contents, keystrokes, or screenshots. Your code is yours.
All data is stored locally in a SQLite database on your Mac. The cloud sync is optional — sign out and nothing leaves your machine.
Every decision is made for freelancers and independent professionals doing focused work — from the folders you track to the invoices you send.
Free plan is free forever. No dark patterns, no surprise charges, no vendor lock-in. Your data is yours — ask and we'll export it anytime.
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