FreshBooks CLI

FreshBooks CLI for managing invoices, clients, and billing. Use when the user mentions freshbooks, invoicing, billing, clients, or accounting.

CLI tool for managing FreshBooks invoices, clients, and billing. Uses the official @freshbooks/api SDK.

Install

bash

npm install -g @haseebuchiha/freshbooks-cli

Requires .npmrc with @haseebuchiha:registry=https://npm.pkg.github.com for GitHub Package Registry.

Setup (once)

Authenticate with FreshBooks OAuth2. You must use the --manual flag (localhost redirect does not work with FreshBooks).

bash

freshbooks auth login \
  --client-id "<FRESHBOOKS_CLIENT_ID>" \
  --client-secret "<FRESHBOOKS_CLIENT_SECRET>" \
  --manual

This opens the browser. Authorize, then copy the code from the page and paste it into the CLI. Tokens are stored at ~/.config/freshbooks-cli/config.json (0600 permissions) and auto-refresh before expiry.

Verify: freshbooks auth status

Auth commands

• freshbooks auth login --client-id <id> --client-secret <secret> --manual -- authenticate via OAuth2 OOB flow
• freshbooks auth logout -- clear stored tokens and credentials
• freshbooks auth status -- show account ID, token expiry, and auth state
• freshbooks auth refresh -- manually refresh the access token

Clients commands

• freshbooks clients list [-p <page>] [--per-page <n>] [-s <search>] -- list clients, search by org name
• freshbooks clients get <id> -- get a single client by ID
• freshbooks clients create [--fname <name>] [--lname <name>] [--email <email>] [--organization <org>] -- create a client
• freshbooks clients create --data '<json>' -- create with full JSON payload
• freshbooks clients update <id> --data '<json>' -- update a client

Example: freshbooks clients create --fname "Taha" --organization "abcg.io"

Invoices commands

• freshbooks invoices list [-p <page>] [--per-page <n>] -- list invoices
• freshbooks invoices get <id> -- get a single invoice by ID
• freshbooks invoices create --client-id <id> [--lines '<json>'] -- create an invoice with line items
• freshbooks invoices create --client-id <id> --data '<json>' -- create with full JSON payload
• freshbooks invoices update <id> --data '<json>' -- update an invoice
• freshbooks invoices archive <id> -- archive an invoice (no permanent delete in FreshBooks)
• freshbooks invoices share-link <id> -- get a shareable link for an invoice

Line items format

Lines are a JSON array. Each line has name, qty, and unitCost (money object):

json

[
  {"name": "Web Services", "qty": 1, "unitCost": {"amount": "15000.00", "code": "USD"}},
  {"name": "App Services", "qty": 1, "unitCost": {"amount": "15000.00", "code": "USD"}}
]

Example (full invoice create):

bash

freshbooks invoices create --client-id 818183 \
  --lines '[{"name":"Web Services","qty":1,"unitCost":{"amount":"15000.00","code":"USD"}},{"name":"App Services","qty":1,"unitCost":{"amount":"15000.00","code":"USD"}}]'

Workflows

Onboard a new client and invoice them

1. freshbooks clients create --fname "Name" --organization "Company" -- note the returned id
2. freshbooks invoices create --client-id <id> --lines '[...]' -- create the invoice
3. freshbooks invoices share-link <invoice-id> -- get shareable link

Look up billing for a client

1. freshbooks clients list -s "company name" -- find the client ID
2. freshbooks invoices list -- list all invoices (filter by client in output)
3. freshbooks invoices get <id> -- get full invoice details

Notes

• All output is JSON to stdout. Pipe to jq for filtering: freshbooks clients list | jq '.clients[].organization'
• Money values are {"amount": "string", "code": "USD"}. The amount is always a string like "30000.00", never a number. Do not use parseFloat on money.
• archive sets vis_state=1. FreshBooks does not support permanent deletion.
• Tokens auto-refresh. If refresh fails, re-run freshbooks auth login --client-id <id> --client-secret <secret> --manual.
• Client credentials can also be read from env vars FRESHBOOKS_CLIENT_ID and FRESHBOOKS_CLIENT_SECRET (takes priority over stored config).
• Always use --manual for auth login. The localhost callback redirect URI does not work with FreshBooks.
• Confirm with the user before creating invoices or modifying billing data.