What you can do with Timely

Built for

Agency Operations, Project Managers, Consultants, Finance Teams tracking billable hours

Example workflows

Resolve account context

Every Timely call is account-scoped — list accounts before projects or events.

Try this

Which Timely accounts can I access? Return each account id and name so we can pick the workspace for today's time entries.

Review this week's time

Turns a status question into a paste-ready standup brief.

Try this

Show Timely events logged this week for our main account — project name, hours, and notes. Flag anything still missing a project.

Log billable hours

Shows the create path: account, project, day, duration, note.

Try this

Log one hour today on the Acme redesign project in Timely with a note that says 'Wireframe review with client'.

Plan upcoming work

Connects capacity planning to live forecast rows without opening Timely.

Try this

List open Timely forecasts for the website relaunch project and summarize estimated minutes and date range for each.

Context to know first

What can AI agents do with Timely?

Agents can list accounts and team members, read or update clients, projects, labels, time entries (events), and planned tasks (forecasts). They can create or adjust those rows and remove projects, labels, events, or forecasts when you ask.

How does Timely authentication work on MCPBundles?

Sign in to MCPBundles, connect Timely once, and approve access in your browser. MCPBundles keeps the connection active without you pasting tokens or repeating sign-in.

Why do Timely tools ask for an account id?

Timely organizes all data under an Account workspace. List accounts when the id is unknown, or save a default account id on the connection so routine prompts can omit it.

Related editorial

Timely Time Tracking Workflows with AI

How AI agents can list accounts, log hours against projects, manage clients and labels, and plan forecasts from your Timely workspace.

Read article

AI Skill
SKILL.md

Domain knowledge for Timely — workflow patterns, data models, and gotchas for your AI agent.

Timely

Timely organizes work by Account. Every account-scoped call needs an account id. OAuth connects once; tokens refresh server-side.

Hierarchy

  • Account — workspace root; list accounts when the id is unknown.
  • Client — billing customer for projects (create/update only; no API delete).
  • Project — time container with color, client_id, and users[] membership.
  • Event — logged time entry (day + hours/minutes or interval timestamps).
  • Label — tag applied to entries; supports parent_id nesting.
  • Forecast — planned task under a project (estimated_minutes).
  • User — team directory; current user id is useful when creating projects.

Operational order

  1. List accounts → pick account_id (or use the saved default on the connection).
  2. Read clients before creating projects (project create requires client_id).
  3. Create project → log events or forecasts against project_id.
  4. Prefer get_* with id for one row; omit id to list with pagination.

Gotchas

  • Pagination splits by resource: clients, labels, projects, users, forecasts use offset/limit; events list uses page/per_page plus since/upto filters.
  • Project create shape: POST requires name, six-char hex color (no #), client_id, rate_type, and users[] (may be empty on sandbox accounts).
  • Event upsert body: Timely wraps payloads (event, project, client, label, forecast).
  • Clients cannot be deleted via API — deactivate in Timely UI instead.

Tools in this Server (17)

Timely Delete Event

Delete a Timely time entry by id.

Timely Delete Forecast

Delete a Timely forecast by id.

Timely Delete Label

Delete a Timely label by id.

Timely Delete Project

Delete a Timely project by id. Destructive and idempotent — deleting an already-removed id may return 404.

Timely Get Accounts

List Timely accounts accessible with the current OAuth authorization. Call this first when account_id is unknown — every other Timely tool is scoped t...

Timely Get Clients

Read Timely clients (billing customers). Omit id to list clients with offset/limit pagination; pass id to fetch one client.

Timely Get Current User

Fetch the Timely user profile for the OAuth-connected identity inside an account. Use the returned id when creating projects that require a users arra...

Timely Get Events

Read Timely time entries (events). Omit id to list with optional since/upto date window, user_id, project_id, and page/per_page pagination. Pass id to...

Timely Get Forecasts

Read Timely forecasts (planned tasks). Omit id to list forecasts; pass id to fetch one forecast row.

Timely Get Labels

Read Timely labels (tags for time entries). Omit id to list labels; pass id to fetch one label including child labels.

Timely Get Projects

Read Timely projects. Omit id to list projects (optional filter, offset, limit). Pass id to fetch one project with budget and membership details.

Timely Get Users

Read Timely users in an account. Omit id to list team members (offset/limit pagination). Pass id to fetch one user record.

Timely Upsert Client

Create or update a Timely client. Omit id to POST a new client (name required). Pass id to PUT an update. Clients are create/update only in the Timely...

Timely Upsert Event

Create or update a Timely time entry. Omit id to POST (day, hours, minutes, and project_id required on create). Pass id to PUT a partial update. Optio...

Timely Upsert Forecast

Create or update a Timely forecast (planned task). Omit id to POST (project_id required). Pass id to PUT an update. estimated_minutes sets planned dur...

Timely Upsert Label

Create or update a Timely label. Omit id to POST (name required). Pass id to PUT an update. Optional parent_id nests the label under another label.

Timely Upsert Project

Create or update a Timely project. Omit id to POST (name, color, client_id, and users array required on create — users may be an empty array). Pass id...

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Timely MCP server?

Timely is automatic time tracking software for agencies and teams. Use it to log hours against projects, organize clients and labels, plan forecasts, and review team activity from connected AI agents. It provides 17 tools that AI agents can use through the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

How do I connect Timely to my AI agent?

Add the MCPBundles server URL to your MCP client configuration (Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, etc.). The URL format is: https://mcp.mcpbundles.com/bundle/timely. Authentication is handled automatically.

How many tools does Timely provide?

Timely provides 17 tools that can be called by AI agents, along with a SKILL.md that gives your AI agent domain knowledge about when and how to use them.

What authentication does Timely require?

Timely uses One-click sign in. Timely requires credentials. Connect via MCPBundles and authentication is handled automatically.

What can AI agents do with Timely?

Agents can list accounts and team members, read or update clients, projects, labels, time entries (events), and planned tasks (forecasts). They can create or adjust those rows and remove projects, labels, events, or forecasts when you ask.

How does Timely authentication work on MCPBundles?

Sign in to MCPBundles, connect Timely once, and approve access in your browser. MCPBundles keeps the connection active without you pasting tokens or repeating sign-in.

Why do Timely tools ask for an account id?

Timely organizes all data under an Account workspace. List accounts when the id is unknown, or save a default account id on the connection so routine prompts can omit it.

Can agents delete Timely clients?

No. Timely supports creating and updating clients only. Deactivate or archive clients in the Timely web app when billing relationships end.

Setup Instructions

Connect Timely to any MCP client in minutes

MCP URL
https://mcp.mcpbundles.com/bundle/timely

One-click install:

The link prefills the Add custom connector dialog — you still review the values and click Add, then Connect to complete OAuth.

Or add manually

  1. Open claude.ai → Settings → Connectors.
  2. Click the + button and choose Add custom connector.
  3. Set Name to Timely and paste the MCP URL into Remote MCP server URL.
  4. Click Add. Timely will appear under Not connected — select it and click Connect to complete OAuth.
Name: Timely
Remote MCP server URL: https://mcp.mcpbundles.com/bundle/timely
Authentication: OAuth

Custom connectors at claude.ai require a paid Claude plan (Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise).

Ready to use Timely?

Sign in to connect your credentials and start running tools from the chat.

Timely MCP Server & Skill — 17 Tools