FreshBooks CLI

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name: freshbooks-cli description: FreshBooks CLI for managing invoices, clients, and billing. Use when the user mentions freshbooks, invoicing, billing, clients, or accounting. metadata: {"openclaw":{"emoji":"💰","requires":{"bins":["freshbooks"]},"install":[{"id":"npm","kind":"node","package":"@haseebuchiha/freshbooks-cli","bins":["freshbooks"],"label":"Install freshbooks-cli (npm)"}]}}

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freshbooks-cli

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

Install

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).

freshbooks auth login \
  --client-id "" \
  --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 --client-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 ] [--per-page ] [-s ] -- list clients, search by org name

freshbooks clients get -- get a single client by ID

freshbooks clients create [--fname ] [--lname ] [--email ] [--organization ] -- create a client

freshbooks clients create --data '' -- create with full JSON payload

freshbooks clients update --data '' -- update a client

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

Invoices commands

freshbooks invoices list [-p ] [--per-page ] -- list invoices

freshbooks invoices get -- get a single invoice by ID

freshbooks invoices create --client-id [--lines ''] -- create an invoice with line items

freshbooks invoices create --client-id --data '' -- create with full JSON payload

freshbooks invoices update --data '' -- update an invoice

freshbooks invoices archive -- archive an invoice (no permanent delete in FreshBooks)

freshbooks invoices share-link -- get a shareable link for an invoice

Line items format

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

[
  {"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):

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 --lines '[...]' -- create the invoice 3. freshbooks invoices share-link -- 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 -- 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 --client-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.

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 --client-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.