I Built a VS Code Extension to Track My Coding Time — And Kept Your Data 100% Local
Tags: vscode, productivity, opensource, webdev
I never really knew how many hours I was actually coding each day.
I'd sit down at 10am, blink, and suddenly it's 6pm. Or I'd feel like I worked all day but actually only coded for 2 hours between meetings, distractions, and YouTube rabbit holes.
I looked for a solution. Most tools required an account. Some sent your data to their servers. Others needed manual start/stop — which I always forgot.
So I built Dev Code Tracker — a free VS Code extension that just works.
How it works
Open your project → timer starts. Walk away → idle detection pauses it. Close VS Code → session saved. That's it.
No clicking. No setup. No babysitting.
Open project → ⏱ Dev Code Tracker - 0s Working...
→ ⏱ Dev Code Tracker - 1h 23m 45s
Walk away → ⏱ Dev Code Tracker - 1h 23m Idle
Come back → new session starts automatically
The part I'm most proud of — privacy
Every session is saved in a sessions.json file inside your own project folder. Nothing goes anywhere. No cloud. No account. No telemetry.
There's a fully offline dashboard built right into VS Code — beautiful, interactive, works without internet.
If you want to sync to your own PHP server, that's optional. But local always works, always.
What it tracks
- ⏱ Live status bar timer per project
- 🔥 Coding streaks + daily goals
- 💤 Smart idle detection (configurable timeout)
- 🗂 Multi-root workspace support
- ☁ Optional sync to your own server
It also works perfectly with Cursor AI and Claude Code.
Try it
It's free on the VS Code Marketplace:
👉 Dev Code Tracker on VS Code Marketplace
I'd love to hear your feedback — what features would you want next? Drop a comment below 👇