Freelancer Toolkit

Freelancer Toolkit — SKILL.md

> AI-powered time tracking, client management, and project profitability for freelancers. > Replaces Toggl Track + Harvest. One-time $9.99 via NormieClaw.

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Overview

Freelancer Toolkit turns your OpenClaw agent into a personal freelance business manager. Track time by talking ("I worked 3 hours on the Acme redesign today"), manage clients and projects, monitor profitability, generate timesheets, and hand off invoices to InvoiceGen Pro — all through conversation.

No timers to click. No forms to fill. No apps to open. Just tell your agent what you did.

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Data Storage

All data lives in JSON files under ~/.freelancer-toolkit/:

~/.freelancer-toolkit/
├── settings.json        # Global config (default rate, categories, preferences)
├── clients.json         # Client database
├── projects.json        # Project database
├── time-entries.json    # All time entries
├── timers.json          # Active timers (start/stop tracking)
└── exports/             # Generated timesheets and reports

File Schemas

settings.json

{
  "default_hourly_rate": 75,
  "currency": "USD",
  "currency_symbol": "$",
  "week_start": "monday",
  "billing_period": "monthly",
  "categories": ["design", "development", "consulting", "meetings", "admin", "writing", "research"],
  "non_billable_categories": ["admin", "internal"],
  "weekly_summary_day": "monday",
  "invoicegen_integration": true,
  "rounding": "nearest_quarter"
}

clients.json — Array of client objects:

{
  "id": "client_uuid",
  "name": "Jane Smith",
  "company": "Acme Corp",
  "email": "jane@acmecorp.com",
  "phone": "555-0123",
  "default_rate": 85,
  "payment_terms": "net_30",
  "notes": "Prefers invoices on the 1st. Always pays on time.",
  "status": "active",
  "created_at": "2026-01-15T10:00:00Z",
  "total_billed": 12400,
  "total_paid": 9600,
  "tags": ["design", "retainer"]
}

projects.json — Array of project objects:

{
  "id": "proj_uuid",
  "client_id": "client_uuid",
  "name": "Website Redesign",
  "description": "Full redesign of acmecorp.com",
  "status": "active",
  "billing_type": "fixed",
  "quoted_price": 5000,
  "hourly_rate": 85,
  "estimated_hours": 60,
  "hours_logged": 42.5,
  "effective_rate": 117.65,
  "budget_alert_threshold": 0.8,
  "milestones": [
    {"name": "Wireframes", "status": "completed", "due_date": "2026-02-01"},
    {"name": "Visual Design", "status": "in_progress", "due_date": "2026-03-01"},
    {"name": "Development", "status": "pending", "due_date": "2026-04-01"}
  ],
  "created_at": "2026-01-10T10:00:00Z",
  "completed_at": null,
  "tags": ["web", "design"]
}

time-entries.json — Array of time entry objects:

{
  "id": "entry_uuid",
  "client_id": "client_uuid",
  "project_id": "proj_uuid",
  "date": "2026-03-10",
  "hours": 3.0,
  "description": "Logo concept exploration, 3 directions",
  "category": "design",
  "billable": true,
  "invoiced": false,
  "invoice_id": null,
  "created_at": "2026-03-10T17:30:00Z"
}

timers.json — Active timer state:

{
  "active": true,
  "client_id": "client_uuid",
  "project_id": "proj_uuid",
  "description": "Working on homepage layout",
  "category": "design",
  "started_at": "2026-03-10T14:00:00Z",
  "paused_at": null,
  "accumulated_minutes": 0
}

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Initialization

On first use or when data files don't exist:

1. Create ~/.freelancer-toolkit/ directory 2. Copy default settings.json from the skill's config/ directory 3. Initialize empty arrays in clients.json, projects.json, time-entries.json 4. Initialize timers.json with {"active": false} 5. Create exports/ directory

mkdir -p ~/.freelancer-toolkit/exports

If settings.json already exists, never overwrite — the user may have customized it.

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Core Capabilities

1. Conversational Time Logging

This is the flagship feature. Parse natural language into structured time entries.

Input patterns to recognize:

| User says | Parsed result | |-----------|--------------| | "I worked 3 hours on the Acme redesign today" | client: Acme, project: redesign, hours: 3, date: today | | "Just finished 2.5 hours of consulting with BrightPath" | client: BrightPath, hours: 2.5, category: consulting, date: today | | "Yesterday I spent 45 minutes on admin for Johnson & Co" | client: Johnson & Co, hours: 0.75, category: admin, date: yesterday | | "4 hrs Acme, homepage wireframes" | client: Acme, hours: 4, description: homepage wireframes | | "Logged 1 hour meeting with Sarah at Nova Labs" | client: Nova Labs, hours: 1, category: meetings | | "6 hours last Friday on the BrightPath app" | client: BrightPath, hours: 6, date: last Friday |

Parsing rules:

1. Client matching: Fuzzy match against clients.json. "Acme" matches "Acme Corp". If ambiguous, ask. 2. Project matching: Match against active projects for the identified client. If only one active project, auto-select. If multiple, ask. 3. Hours: Parse decimals (2.5), fractions (2 and a half), minutes (45 minutes → 0.75). 4. Date: Default to today. Parse "yesterday", "last Monday", "March 5th", specific dates. 5. Category: Infer from description keywords. "meeting" → meetings, "wireframe" → design. 6. Billable: Default true unless category is in non_billable_categories. 7. Rounding: Apply setting from settings.json.

Always confirm before saving:

✅ Logged: 3.00 hrs — Acme Corp → Website Redesign
   "Homepage wireframe revisions"
   Date: March 10, 2026 | Billable | Rate: $85/hr ($255.00)

Unknown client/project: Offer to create on the fly. Ask for rate at minimum.

2. Start/Stop Timers

For users who prefer real-time tracking:

Starting a timer:

"Start tracking Acme" → Start timer for Acme Corp, prompt for project if multiple active

"Start timer for BrightPath mobile app" → Start timer for specific project

"Track time on Johnson consulting" → Start timer

While running: Store state in timers.json. If user starts a new timer, stop and log the current one first.

Stopping: "Stop tracking" / "Stop timer" → Calculate elapsed, round per settings, confirm and log. Prompt for description.

Pausing: "Pause timer" saves accumulated time. "Resume" continues.

3. Client Database

Adding a client:

"Add a new client: Sarah Chen at Nova Labs, $95/hr, net 15"

Parse and create the client record

Ask for any missing required fields (name is minimum)

Viewing clients:

"Show me my clients" → List all active clients with key stats

"Tell me about Acme" → Full client detail view

Client detail view: Show contact info, rate, terms, active/completed project counts, total billed/paid/outstanding, and notes.

Editing: "Update Acme's rate to $95/hr", "Archive the Johnson account", etc.

Client memory: Proactively surface relevant context — last activity date, payment patterns ("BrightPath usually pays late"), average project size.

4. Project Management

Creating a project:

"New project for Acme: Logo Refresh, quoted $2,000, estimated 25 hours"

"Start a new project — BrightPath wants a landing page, hourly billing"

Project fields:

billing_type: "fixed" (quoted price) or "hourly" (open-ended)

status: "active", "paused", "completed"

Fixed projects track quoted_price and estimated_hours

All projects track hours_logged and calculate effective_rate

Viewing projects:

"Show my active projects" → Summary list

"How's the Acme redesign going?" → Detailed project view

Project detail view: Show status, billing type, hours vs estimate with percentage, effective rate, milestones with status, and recent time entries.

Updating: Support milestone completion, status changes (pause/complete), and scope adjustments. When marking complete, calculate final profitability and update client totals.

5. Profitability Analysis

Per-project profitability (fixed-price projects):

Calculate effective_rate = quoted_price / hours_logged.

Budget alerts — proactive, triggered when logging time:

At budget_alert_threshold (default 80%): ⚠️ warning with remaining hours, effective rate, and pace estimate

Over 100%: 🚨 alert with effective rate vs target rate and total "unpaid" dollar amount

Always show these inline when logging time — don't wait for the user to ask

Cross-project analysis:

"How am I doing on profitability?" → Summary across all active projects

"Which clients are most profitable?" → Ranked by effective rate

"Compare my design vs consulting rates" → Category analysis

Summary format: List each active project with effective rate, status indicator (✅/⚠️/🚨), and weighted average across all projects vs target rate.

6. Timesheet Generation

Generate timesheets on demand:

"Show me last week's timesheet"

"Generate March timesheet for Acme"

"Weekly timesheet"

"What did I work on this month?"

Markdown format: Table with Date, Client, Project, Hours, Description, Billable columns. Totals at bottom split by billable/non-billable with dollar amounts.

CSV export: Run scripts/export-timesheet.sh --start YYYY-MM-DD --end YYYY-MM-DD [--client "Name"]. Output to ~/.freelancer-toolkit/exports/. Columns: date,client,project,hours,description,category,billable,rate,amount.

7. InvoiceGen Pro Integration

Trigger invoice generation:

"Invoice Acme for March"

"Generate invoice for BrightPath, February work"

"Create invoices for all clients this month"

Process:

1. Pull all uninvoiced time entries for the specified client and period 2. Group by project 3. Calculate totals (hours × rate per project) 4. Build invoice data payload:

{
  "client": {
    "name": "Acme Corp",
    "contact": "Jane Smith",
    "email": "jane@acmecorp.com"
  },
  "payment_terms": "net_30",
  "line_items": [
    {
      "description": "Website Redesign — Visual design concepts and revisions",
      "hours": 12.5,
      "rate": 85,
      "amount": 1062.50
    },
    {
      "description": "Website Redesign — Development and testing",
      "hours": 8.0,
      "rate": 85,
      "amount": 680.00
    }
  ],
  "subtotal": 1742.50,
  "total": 1742.50,
  "period": "March 2026"
}

5. Present summary with line items, subtotal, and payment terms for user approval 6. On confirmation, pass payload to InvoiceGen Pro skill (if installed) 7. Mark time entries as invoiced: true and store invoice_id 8. Update client's total_billed

If InvoiceGen Pro is not installed: Export as JSON to ~/.freelancer-toolkit/exports/invoice-{client}-{period}.json and suggest installing it.

8. Weekly Summary

Delivered every Monday (or configured day). Contains:

1. Total hours — billable vs non-billable with dollar amounts 2. By client — hours and revenue per client 3. Project status — budget alerts for fixed-price projects 4. Unbilled time — clients with significant uninvoiced hours, with suggested actions 5. Trend — comparison to previous week

Manual trigger: "Give me my weekly summary" or "How did last week look?"

9. Dashboard Integration

The dashboard kit exposes these widgets via dashboard-kit/manifest.json:

1. ft_hours_by_client — Donut chart of hours logged per client (current month) 2. ft_weekly_trend — Bar chart of weekly hours over the past 8 weeks 3. ft_profitability_table — Table of active projects with effective rates, budget status 4. ft_unbilled_alert — Alert cards showing clients with significant unbilled hours 5. ft_revenue_pipeline — Stacked bar showing billed, paid, and outstanding amounts per client

Data sources: Read from ~/.freelancer-toolkit/*.json files.

See dashboard-kit/DASHBOARD-SPEC.md for full widget specifications.

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Command Reference

These are conversational triggers, not slash commands. The agent recognizes intent.

Time Tracking

| User intent | Example | |-------------|---------| | Log time | "I worked 3 hours on Acme today" | | Log with details | "2.5 hrs BrightPath, API integration and testing" | | Log past date | "Yesterday I did 4 hours on Nova Labs brand guide" | | Start timer | "Start tracking Acme redesign" | | Stop timer | "Stop tracking" | | Pause timer | "Pause timer" | | Resume timer | "Resume" | | Check timer | "How long have I been tracking?" | | Edit entry | "Change today's Acme entry to 3.5 hours" | | Delete entry | "Delete the Nova Labs entry from yesterday" |

Clients

| User intent | Example | |-------------|---------| | Add client | "New client: Sarah Chen, Nova Labs, $95/hr, net 15" | | List clients | "Show my clients" | | Client details | "Tell me about Acme" | | Update client | "Update Acme's rate to $100/hr" | | Archive client | "Archive Johnson & Co" |

Projects

| User intent | Example | |-------------|---------| | Create project | "New project for Acme: Logo Refresh, $2,000 fixed, ~25 hours" | | List projects | "Show active projects" | | Project status | "How's the Acme redesign going?" | | Update milestone | "Mark Acme wireframes as done" | | Complete project | "The BrightPath app is finished" | | Pause project | "Pause the Nova Labs project" |

Reports & Invoicing

| User intent | Example | |-------------|---------| | Weekly timesheet | "Show me last week's timesheet" | | Monthly timesheet | "March timesheet" | | Client timesheet | "Timesheet for Acme, February" | | Export CSV | "Export March timesheet as CSV" | | Generate invoice | "Invoice Acme for March" | | Profitability | "How am I doing on profitability?" | | Weekly summary | "Give me my weekly summary" | | Client report | "Billing summary for BrightPath" |

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Error Handling

Ambiguous client: "I found 2 clients matching 'Nova' — Nova Labs or Nova Design Co. Which one?"

No matching client: "I don't have a client called 'Zenith'. Want me to create them?"

No active timer: "No timer is running right now. Want to start one?"

Timer already running: "You're currently tracking BrightPath Mobile App (1h 23m). Stop that first, or I'll stop it and start the new one."

No time entries for period: "No time logged for Acme in February. Check the date range?"

Over budget: Always flag proactively. Never silently log time on an over-budget project.

Missing data files: Re-initialize from defaults. Never crash on missing files.

Corrupted JSON: Back up the corrupted file to *.backup, re-initialize, and alert the user.

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Integration Points

InvoiceGen Pro (NormieClaw)

Freelancer Toolkit generates structured invoice data

InvoiceGen Pro handles formatting, PDF generation, and delivery

Data passed via JSON export or direct skill-to-skill handoff

If InvoiceGen Pro is not installed, Freelancer Toolkit exports raw data

Legal Docs Pro (NormieClaw)

Proposals and contracts are handled by Legal Docs Pro

Freelancer Toolkit focuses on post-contract execution: time, billing, profitability

Client data can be shared between tools via the common data directory

Export Formats

CSV: Via export-timesheet.sh script

JSON: Native format for all data files

Markdown: Timesheets and reports rendered in-chat

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Configuration

Edit ~/.freelancer-toolkit/settings.json to customize:

default_hourly_rate: Applied to new clients unless overridden (default: 75)

currency / currency_symbol: Currency for display (default: "USD" / "$")

week_start: "monday" or "sunday" (default: "monday")

billing_period: "weekly", "biweekly", or "monthly" (default: "monthly")

categories: List of time entry categories

non_billable_categories: Categories that default to non-billable

weekly_summary_day: Day of week for auto-summary (default: "monday")

invoicegen_integration: Enable InvoiceGen Pro handoff (default: true)

rounding: "none", "nearest_quarter", "nearest_tenth", "round_up_quarter" (default: "nearest_quarter")

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Best Practices for Agents

1. Always confirm time entries before saving. Show parsed data and let the user correct. 2. Proactively flag budget issues. Don't wait for the user to ask — if a project is approaching its budget, mention it when logging time. 3. Remember client context. When discussing a client, reference their payment history, preferences, and recent activity. 4. Suggest invoicing. If a client has 20+ uninvoiced hours, mention it. 5. Keep summaries scannable. Use emoji indicators (✅ ⚠️ 🚨) for quick visual parsing. 6. Default to billable. Unless the category is explicitly non-billable, assume time is billable. 7. Handle edge cases gracefully. Midnight crossovers, timezone considerations, partial hours — round and confirm. 8. Back up before destructive operations. Deleting entries or archiving clients should create backups.

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File Locations

| File | Path | |------|------| | Settings | ~/.freelancer-toolkit/settings.json | | Clients | ~/.freelancer-toolkit/clients.json | | Projects | ~/.freelancer-toolkit/projects.json | | Time entries | ~/.freelancer-toolkit/time-entries.json | | Active timer | ~/.freelancer-toolkit/timers.json | | Exports | ~/.freelancer-toolkit/exports/ | | Setup script | /scripts/setup.sh | | Export script | /scripts/export-timesheet.sh | | Report script | /scripts/client-report.sh |

Edit ~/.freelancer-toolkit/settings.json to customize:

default_hourly_rate: Applied to new clients unless overridden (default: 75)

currency / currency_symbol: Currency for display (default: "USD" / "$")

week_start: "monday" or "sunday" (default: "monday")

billing_period: "weekly", "biweekly", or "monthly" (default: "monthly")

categories: List of time entry categories

non_billable_categories: Categories that default to non-billable

weekly_summary_day: Day of week for auto-summary (default: "monday")

invoicegen_integration: Enable InvoiceGen Pro handoff (default: true)

rounding: "none", "nearest_quarter", "nearest_tenth", "round_up_quarter" (default: "nearest_quarter")

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