ArchTrack — Employee Time Tracking for Small Businesses

Live demo: archtrack.live

Know where your team's time goes. Without the enterprise price tag.

ArchTrack is an open-source employee tracking SaaS. See who's working, what they're working on, and where time gets wasted — all in real-time from any device.

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What You Get

• Real-time dashboard — see who's online, what app they're using, productivity scores
• AI assistant — ask "Who was most productive today?" in plain English
• Automatic tracking — silent desktop app, no timesheets, no manual entry
• Smart role detection — auto-detects if someone is a developer, designer, manager, etc. and adjusts scoring (admins can override)
• Business hours — set per-employee working hours; activity outside hours is shown separately, not counted against productivity
• Multi-currency — pick from 15+ currencies for each employee's hourly rate (USD, EUR, GBP, INR, AED, and more)
• Company branding — upload your own logo to replace the ArchTrack wordmark in the sidebar
• Multi-tenant — multiple businesses on one server, completely isolated data
• Mobile friendly — check your dashboard from your phone

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Getting Started (2 minutes)

1. Sign Up

Go to archtrack.live/signup. Enter your company name, your name, email, and a password. You're in.

2. Add Employees

Go to Employees > + Add Employee. Add each team member with their name, email, and department.

3. Install the Desktop Tracker

For each employee, click the Setup Token button next to their name. This generates a one-time setup code.

Option A: Download the pre-built app (recommended for employees)

Download the latest DMG (Mac) or EXE installer (Windows) from GitHub Releases.

macOS:

1. Open the .dmg, drag ArchTrack to Applications
2. Right-click → Open → Open Anyway (required once for unsigned apps)
3. macOS will prompt for Screen Recording and Accessibility — grant both
4. ArchTrack runs silently in the background (no Dock icon, no menu bar)

Windows:

1. Run the .exe installer, follow the wizard
2. ArchTrack starts automatically — no permission prompts needed
3. SmartScreen may show "Windows protected your PC" on first run — click More info → Run anyway

Enroll the tracker with the setup token from the dashboard:

# Get the device token (replace SETUP_TOKEN with the code from the dashboard)
curl -X POST https://archtrack.live/api/auth/enroll \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"setupToken":"PASTE_SETUP_TOKEN_HERE"}'

Save the returned accessToken to the config file:

# macOS
mkdir -p ~/Library/Application\ Support/@archtrack/desktop
echo '{"deviceToken":"PASTE_ACCESS_TOKEN_HERE","serverUrl":"https://archtrack.live"}' > ~/Library/Application\ Support/@archtrack/desktop/config.json

ArchTrack auto-starts on login. To verify it's running, check the dashboard — you should see the employee appear within 60 seconds.

See Desktop Tracker Permissions below for details on what each OS needs.

Option B: Build from source (for developers)

If you want to build the tracker yourself or make changes:

git clone https://github.com/maximizeGPT/Archtrack.git
cd Archtrack/desktop
npm install

Run in dev mode:

npx electron .

Build a distributable app:

npm run dist:mac    # builds DMG + ZIP for macOS (arm64 + x64)
npm run dist:win    # builds Windows installer (x64)
npm run dist:all    # both platforms

Build output goes to desktop/release/.

Note for monorepo builds: the repo uses npm workspaces which can conflict with electron-builder's production install step. If the build fails, copy the desktop/ folder to a standalone directory, run npm install there, then npm run dist:mac.

After building, re-sign the macOS app so Accessibility/Screen Recording permissions persist across restarts:

# Sign all nested frameworks, then the main app
find release/mac-arm64/ArchTrack.app/Contents/Frameworks -name "*.framework" -exec codesign --force --sign - {} \;
find release/mac-arm64/ArchTrack.app/Contents/Frameworks -name "*.app" -exec codesign --force --sign - {} \;
codesign --force --sign - --identifier live.archtrack.tracker release/mac-arm64/ArchTrack.app

Auto-start on login

macOS: ArchTrack.app registers as a Login Item automatically. You can also add it manually: System Settings → General → Login Items → add ArchTrack.

Windows: The NSIS installer creates a Start Menu shortcut. To add auto-start, the installer places a Scheduled Task or you can add ArchTrack to Startup:

cd Archtrack\desktop
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File install-autostart-windows.ps1

Symptoms that you're running an old tracker build: missing screenshots (the screenshot capture loop was added in the 2026-04-06 batch), no stealth mode, or browser tabs misclassified as social media.

4. Watch It Work

Go back to your dashboard at archtrack.live. Within a minute, you'll see employee activity — what apps they're using, productivity scores, time breakdowns. Check it from your phone too.

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Self-Hosting (Optional)

Want to run your own instance instead of using archtrack.live? Deploy to any Ubuntu server:

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/maximizeGPT/Archtrack/main/deploy.sh | bash

Works on DigitalOcean ($6/month droplet), AWS, or any VPS. Add a custom domain + HTTPS with:

certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com

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Desktop Tracker Permissions

The tracker reads the active window's title and owning process. Different operating systems gate this differently, so on the very first run each employee will need to grant a small set of permissions.

macOS (10.15 Catalina and newer)

macOS requires two permissions on first launch, both granted from System Settings → Privacy & Security:

1. Screen & System Audio Recording — lets the tracker capture periodic screenshots. On first launch, macOS prompts automatically. Click Open System Settings and toggle on ArchTrack.
   • Settings path: Privacy & Security → Screen & System Audio Recording → toggle on ArchTrack.
2. Accessibility — lets the tracker read the active window title via the active-win library. Without this, activity shows as "Unknown".
   • Settings path: Privacy & Security → Accessibility → toggle on ArchTrack.

Both prompts appear once on first launch. The packaged app is signed with a stable bundle ID (live.archtrack.tracker), so permissions survive restarts and app updates.

⚠️ If you build from source, re-sign the app after building (see "Build from source" above). Without re-signing, macOS may re-prompt for permissions on every restart because the code signature identifier defaults to "Electron".

Windows (10 and newer)

Windows does not require an explicit permission for reading window titles — the tracker uses standard user-level APIs (GetForegroundWindow). However, you may see friction on first run:

1. SmartScreen warning — because the tracker binary isn't signed yet, the first launch may show "Windows protected your PC". Click More info → Run anyway. This only happens once per machine.
2. Microsoft Defender / corporate AV — some EDR products (CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, etc.) quarantine unsigned Electron apps by default. If the tracker exits immediately, add an exclusion for the ArchTrack folder or work with IT to whitelist the binary.
3. Group Policy — in locked-down enterprise environments, policy may block side-loaded Electron apps. You may need IT to push the tracker as an approved MSI.

No Accessibility or Screen Recording toggles are needed on Windows.

Linux

The desktop tracker is not officially supported on Linux yet. Support for Wayland/X11 window-title reading is tracked in DEFERRED.md. For now, we recommend running the tracker on a Mac or Windows box that mirrors the Linux user's activity (e.g. developer workstations).

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Features

Dashboard

• Team productivity score (0-100%)
• Focus time vs idle/wasted time
• Per-employee activity breakdown
• Suspicious activity alerts (YouTube while Slack shows "active", etc.)
• Time breakdown by category (Core Work, Communication, Research, etc.)

AI Assistant (Genesis)

Ask questions in plain English:

• "Who was most productive today?"
• "How much time did Ahmed spend on emails?"
• "Who's at risk of burnout?"
• "Show me non-work activity this week"

Smart Role Detection

The system watches what apps an employee uses and auto-detects their job type:

• Developer — VSCode, Terminal, Claude get scored as "Core Work"
• Designer — Figma, Photoshop, Sketch
• Architect — AutoCAD, Revit, SketchUp
• Manager — Jira, Zoom, Slack
• Sales — Salesforce, LinkedIn, CRM tools
• Data Analyst — Jupyter, Tableau, Excel

Admins can override it from Employees → Edit Employee → Job Type.

Business Hours (per employee)

Each employee can have configured working hours (e.g. "Mon–Fri 09:00–17:30, Asia/Kolkata"). Activity captured outside those hours is still stored — so admins can audit it — but it is not counted in the employee's Total, Productive, or Productivity Score. Instead it appears in a separate "Outside Business Hours" card on the Report. Leave it unset (the default) to track 24/7 — great for solopreneurs.

Company Branding

Click the ArchTrack logo in the sidebar to open Organization Settings:

• Upload a custom company logo (PNG, JPEG, WebP, SVG, max 1 MB). It replaces the ArchTrack wordmark in the sidebar for everyone in the org. Leave it empty for the clean default.
• Set the organization's timezone (used for the "today" boundary on the Dashboard and as the default for new employees).
• Pick the default currency for new employees.

Multi-Currency Hourly Rates

When adding or editing an employee, pick a currency from the dropdown next to their hourly rate. Supported: USD, EUR, GBP, INR, CAD, AUD, JPY, AED, SAR, SGD, BRL, MXN, ZAR, CHF, CNY. Reports and the Employees list format the rate with the appropriate symbol.

Daily Email Summary

Toggle on Daily Email Summary in Organization Settings, set a recipient and an hour, and ArchTrack will email a per-employee productivity summary once a day. The email contains:

• Team productivity score, total tracked time, productive time
• Per-employee score, total / productive / idle, top 5 apps with category
• Suspicious activity badges, "outside business hours" callouts when set

The summary is also viewable in the Daily Summary page in the dashboard (useful for previewing what will go out, or sending a test on demand).

To wire SMTP, set these env vars on the server (PM2 / pm2 ecosystem.config.cjs or your preferred process manager):

SMTP_HOST=smtp.your-provider.com
SMTP_PORT=587
SMTP_USER=your-smtp-user
SMTP_PASS=your-smtp-pass
SMTP_FROM="ArchTrack <noreply@yourdomain.com>"

If SMTP isn't configured, the cron still runs, the summary is still generated, and the in-app preview still works. Only the actual mail send is gated.

Periodic Screenshots

Toggle on Periodic Screenshots in Organization Settings, pick a capture interval (1–60 min) and a retention window (1–365 days), and the desktop tracker will quietly capture the primary display, JPEG-compress it, and upload it to your dashboard. Browse them per-employee, per-day in the Screenshots page (grid view + click for full-size lightbox + per-shot delete). Old screenshots are auto-removed after the retention window.

Screenshots are off by default. Storage path on the server: admin/data/uploads/screenshots/<orgId>/<employeeId>/<YYYY-MM-DD>/<id>.jpg.

Stealth Mode (Desktop Tracker)

The tracker can run completely invisibly: no menu-bar / tray icon, no dock icon on macOS, silent boot. Enable by launching with the ARCHTRACK_STEALTH=1 env var:

ARCHTRACK_STEALTH=1 npx electron .

Combined with a launch agent (macOS launchd plist) or a Windows scheduled task, the tracker becomes invisible to the employee while still uploading activity + screenshots to the admin dashboard. Performance overhead is negligible — the tracker checks the active window every 10 seconds and syncs every 60 seconds.

Multi-Tenant

• Each business is completely isolated
• One server handles unlimited companies
• JWT auth for dashboard and desktop tracker
• Setup tokens for easy employee onboarding

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Architecture

[Employee Mac/PC]          [Your Server]              [Your Phone/Laptop]
  Desktop Tracker  --->  Node.js + SQLite  <---   Dashboard (any browser)
  (Electron app)         (port 3001)               (React SPA)
                         nginx (port 80)

• Admin dashboard: React SPA served by Express
• API: Express + SQLite (upgradeable to Postgres)
• Desktop tracker: Electron app — samples the active window every 10 seconds, batches them, and syncs to the server every 60 seconds.
• Productivity math: Dashboard and Reports share one formula — score = productive ÷ (productive + unproductive) × 100. "Other" / neutral and idle/break time are tracked separately and never dilute the score. The math always reconciles: every shown bucket sums to the total.
• Timezones: the dashboard's "today" window is computed in the admin's local timezone (sent with each request). Each organization also stores a default timezone, and each employee can override theirs.
• Auth: JWT tokens (24h dashboard, 90d device)
• Process manager: PM2 (auto-restart on crash)
• Reverse proxy: nginx (port 80 -> 3001, WebSocket support)

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Updating

SSH into your server (or use DigitalOcean Console) and run:

cd /opt/archtrack && git pull && cd admin && npm install --no-package-lock && npx tsc -p tsconfig.server.json && npx vite build && pm2 restart archtrack

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API Reference

All endpoints require Authorization: Bearer <token> header (except auth endpoints).

Auth

Endpoint	Method	Auth	Description
/api/auth/signup	POST	Public	Create account + org
/api/auth/login	POST	Public	Login, get JWT
/api/auth/forgot-password	POST	Public	Generate reset link
/api/auth/reset-password	POST	Public	Reset password with token
/api/auth/setup-token	POST	Dashboard	Generate employee setup token
/api/auth/enroll	POST	Public	Redeem setup token for device JWT
/api/auth/me	GET	Any	Get current user info

Employees & Activities

Endpoint	Method	Description
/api/employees	GET/POST	List or create employees (supports currency, timezone, businessHoursStart, businessHoursEnd, businessHoursDays)
/api/employees/:id	PUT/DELETE	Update or deactivate an employee
/api/activities	GET	Get tracked activities
/api/activity	POST	Desktop tracker syncs here
/api/dashboard/stats?tz=<IANA>	GET	Dashboard overview data for the admin's local day
/api/reports/productivity?employeeId=&startDate=&endDate=&tz=	GET	Productivity report (same tz-aware bounds + business-hours filter)
/api/roles/:id	GET/PUT	Smart role detection status / override (roleType: developer, designer, architect, manager, sales, data_analyst, writer, auto)

Organization settings (new)

Endpoint	Method	Description
/api/organization	GET	Returns name, slug, timezone, logoUrl, defaultCurrency
/api/organization	PUT	Update name / timezone / defaultCurrency
/api/organization/logo	POST	Upload logo. Body: { mimeType, dataBase64 }. Max 1 MB. PNG/JPEG/WebP/SVG.
/api/organization/logo	DELETE	Remove the current logo

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System Requirements

Server: Ubuntu 20.04+, 1GB RAM, 1 CPU ($6/month on DigitalOcean)

Desktop tracker: Node.js 18+ on Mac or Windows. See Desktop Tracker Permissions for the per-OS first-run setup. Linux is not yet supported.

Dashboard: Any modern browser (phone or computer)

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License

MIT License — free to use, modify, and sell.

Built for small business owners who deserve big tools.