Activity Tracker

Getting Started

Templates use a simple variable substitution syntax with double curly braces to create dynamic reports.

Basic Syntax

• {{variable}} - Simple variable substitution
• {{#each array}} ... {{/each}} - Loop through arrays
• {{#if condition}} ... {{/if}} - Conditional content

Pipe Syntax & Function Chaining

Transform data using the pipe (|) syntax to chain multiple functions together:

Basic Pipe Syntax

• {{ variable | function }} - Apply a single transformation
• {{ variable | function1 | function2 }} - Chain multiple transformations
• {{ variable | function('parameter') }} - Pass parameters to functions

Available Transformation Functions

• date('format') - Format timestamps as dates
  • {{ timestamp | date('yyyy-mm-dd') }} → "2025-08-02"
  • {{ timestamp | date('mm/dd/yyyy') }} → "08/02/2025"
  • {{ timestamp | date('dd mmm yyyy') }} → "02 Aug 2025"
• time - Extract time from timestamps
  • {{ timestamp | time }} → "14:30:25"
• removeCheckboxes - Clean checkbox syntax from text
  • Converts checkbox syntax to clean bullets for reports
  • {{ "- [ ] Task" | removeCheckboxes }} → "- Task"
  • {{ "- [x] Done" | removeCheckboxes }} → "- Done"
• cleanHashtags - Convert hashtags to readable text
  • Removes # symbol and converts underscores/dashes to spaces
  • {{ "#project-work" | cleanHashtags }} → "project work"
• markdown - Render markdown formatting
  • Converts markdown syntax to HTML (for HTML templates)
  • {{ "**bold** text" | markdown }} → "<strong>bold</strong> text"
• escapeCsv - Escape CSV special characters
  • Wraps text in quotes if it contains commas, quotes, or newlines
  • {{ "Hello, World" | escapeCsv }} → "\"Hello, World\""
• stripLinebreaks - Remove line breaks from text
  • {{ "Line 1\nLine 2" | stripLinebreaks }} → "Line 1 Line 2"
• autoBullet - Automatically add bullets to each line of text
  • Adds "- " prefix to lines that don't already have bullets
  • {{ "Task 1\nTask 2" | autoBullet }} → "- Task 1\n- Task 2"
  • Preserves existing bullets and empty lines

CSV Template Example with Chaining

Here's how the CSV template uses chaining to create clean, properly escaped output:

{{#each entry = entries}}{{ entry.timestamp | date('yyyy-mm-dd') }},{{ entry.timestamp | time }},{{ entry.activity | cleanHashtags | escapeCsv | stripLinebreaks }},{{ entry.description | removeCheckboxes | cleanHashtags | escapeCsv | stripLinebreaks }}
{{/each}}

How this works:

• entry.timestamp | date('yyyy-mm-dd') - Converts timestamp to YYYY-MM-DD format
• entry.timestamp | time - Extracts time portion
• entry.activity | cleanHashtags | escapeCsv | stripLinebreaks - Cleans hashtags, then escapes for CSV, then removes line breaks
• entry.description | removeCheckboxes | cleanHashtags | escapeCsv | stripLinebreaks - Removes checkboxes first, then cleans hashtags, then escapes and strips breaks

Order Matters in Chaining!

Functions are applied left to right, so order is important:

• ✅ {{ description | removeCheckboxes | cleanHashtags | markdown }} - Clean checkboxes first, then hashtags, then render markdown
• ✅ {{ text | stripLinebreaks | escapeCsv }} - Remove breaks first, then escape
• ❌ {{ text | escapeCsv | stripLinebreaks }} - Escaping first may interfere with break removal
• ❌ {{ description | cleanHashtags | removeCheckboxes }} - May miss hashtags inside checkbox syntax

Available Data

The following data is available in your templates:

• {{reportTitle}} - The report title
• {{startDate}} - Report start date (formatted)
• {{endDate}} - Report end date (formatted)
• {{totalEntries}} - Total number of activity entries
• {{entries}} - Array of all activity entries

Entry Properties

Each entry in the {{#each entries}} loop has:

• {{activity}} - The activity name
• {{description}} - Activity description
• {{timestamp}} - Raw ISO timestamp
• {{formattedTime}} - Nicely formatted time (e.g., "2:30 PM")
• {{formattedDate}} - Nicely formatted date (e.g., "Jan 15, 2025")
• {{isTodo}} - Boolean: true if this is a todo item
• {{tags}} - Array of hashtags for this entry

Common Transformations

Transform timestamps and format data:

• Date formats: Use {{formattedDate}} and {{formattedTime}} for human-readable formats
• Conditional content: {{#if description}}{{description}}{{/if}} - only show if description exists
• Loop through tags: {{#each tags}}#{{this}} {{/each}} - display all hashtags
• Todo filtering: {{#if isTodo}}TODO: {{/if}} - mark todo items

Markdown Formatting

Use Markdown syntax for readable formatting:

• # {{reportTitle}} - Large heading
• ## {{activity}} - Medium heading
• **{{activity}}** - Bold text
• *{{description}}* - Italic text
• - {{activity}} - Bullet point
• `{{formattedTime}}` - Code formatting

Example Template

# {{reportTitle}}
From {{startDate}} to {{endDate}}

Total activities: {{totalEntries}}

{{#each entries}}
## {{formattedTime}} - {{activity}}
{{#if description}}
*{{description}}*
{{/if}}
{{#if tags}}
Tags: {{#each tags}}#{{this}} {{/each}}
{{/if}}
{{#if isTodo}}
**TODO ITEM**
{{/if}}

{{/each}}

Clean Report Generation

For professional reports, use these filter chains to clean up content:

• HTML Reports with Descriptions:
  {{ entry.description | removeCheckboxes | cleanHashtags | markdown }}
  Removes checkboxes, cleans hashtags, then renders as HTML
• CSV Reports:
  {{ entry.description | removeCheckboxes | cleanHashtags | escapeCsv | stripLinebreaks }}
  Full cleaning chain for spreadsheet compatibility
• Markdown Reports:
  {{ entry.description | removeCheckboxes | cleanHashtags }}
  Clean text suitable for markdown documents
• Auto-bulleted Descriptions:
  {{ entry.description | removeCheckboxes | cleanHashtags | autoBullet }}
  Automatically adds bullets to each line, great for readable lists

Pro Tips

• HTML templates: Use for rich formatting with CSS styles and complex layouts
• Markdown templates: Perfect for simple, readable documentation
• CSV templates: Ideal for data analysis in spreadsheets
• Preview feature: Always test your templates before saving
• Custom formats: Combine multiple variables for unique layouts
• Filter chaining: Always start with content cleaning filters (removeCheckboxes, cleanHashtags) before formatting filters