Computer Usage Summary

Summarize what a user did on macOS, Windows, or Linux using local ActivityWatch records, with privacy-preserving live-state and Screen Time fallbacks when records are unavailable. Use for daily activity summaries, app usage time, foreground sessions, AFK time, timelines, and paste-ready spreadsheet

Overview

Use local ActivityWatch data first. This skill supports macOS, Windows, and Linux wherever the local ActivityWatch API and Python 3.9+ are available. The intended privacy-balanced setup records only foreground apps, sanitized window titles, and AFK state. Do not install browser extensions, enable aw-sync, configure cloud storage, or expose the local API.

Accurate historical app time and AFK time exist only from the time ActivityWatch starts recording. Do not infer them from process uptime, macOS system logs, browser history, or undocumented databases.

Setup And Verification

Use this section only when ActivityWatch is missing, stopped, or needs repair.

1. Inspect the local ActivityWatch application, its startup setting, local processes, and the current user's ActivityWatch data directory. Do not replace a working installation.
2. Let the user choose an official installation source. Before launching it or enabling automatic startup, verify the publisher and operating-system security status. On macOS, use codesign --verify --deep --strict and spctl --assess --type execute. Stop if validation fails unless the user explicitly decides otherwise.
3. Enable only the window and AFK watchers. Let macOS request Accessibility permission through its normal interface; never bypass or change privacy permissions programmatically.
4. On Windows, install the bundled requirements.txt once so Python can resolve IANA time zones such as Asia/Singapore consistently.
5. Confirm the local http://127.0.0.1:5600 server has currentwindow and afkstatus buckets containing events. The default AFK threshold is 180 seconds.

No-ActivityWatch Fallback

When the app, local API, buckets, or requested-range events are unavailable:

• Mark active time, AFK time, sessions, and launch counts as unavailable, not zero.
• A current frontmost-app or running-app snapshot is only evidence of the present, not the requested range.
• Use Screen Time only when the user makes its visible totals available; label it Screen Time reported and do not read private databases.
• Inspect browser history only for an explicit website-level request. Inspect recent documents or terminal history only after explicit, source-specific permission. Treat all such results as metadata clues, not durations.

Workflow

1. Establish the local date range and time zone.
2. Run scripts/activitywatch_summary.py --date today, use --period week or --period month around an anchor date, or use inclusive --start YYYY-MM-DD --end YYYY-MM-DD dates. Add --timezone Area/City for reproducible local timestamps. Keep --api-url on the loopback interface.
3. Use active_seconds and afk_seconds only when ActivityWatch confirms them. Describe foreground_sessions as observed foreground intervals, not process launches.
4. Use sanitized app names and window titles to reconstruct the timeline. A title is confirmed only when it directly supports the described activity.
5. When the user needs project/client or billable reporting, offer an optional local JSON --rules file. Match only sanitized titles. Explain that the first matching rule wins and never create or upload rules without consent.
6. For spreadsheet output, run one table per command:
   • --format markdown --table apps for chat.
   • --format tsv --table apps to copy directly into spreadsheet software.
   • --format tsv --table timeline for chronological rows.
   • --format csv --table apps --csv-bom --output report.csv for an Excel-friendly file, only when the user asks to save one.
   • --report client-timesheet for project/client billable rows.
   • --report weekly-review for a compact review table.
   • --report app-trend for local daily trend rows.
7. When ActivityWatch is unavailable, return its structured reason. Markdown, TSV, and CSV outputs provide status, reason, and source columns.

Privacy Rules

• Treat window titles as sensitive. Remove URLs, truncate long titles, and never include complete browser URLs.
• Keep default sanitized titles for a useful timeline; use --hide-titles if the user wants a title-free export.
• Use the smallest useful amount of title context; application and summary tables do not need titles.
• Escape spreadsheet cells that could be interpreted as formulas.
• Keep reports local to the current conversation. Do not export, upload, or share activity data without explicit user approval.