Automatic Time Tracking with time cockpit sidekick

With automatic time tracking, a program records in the background what you work on at your computer: which applications and files you use, when you are active and when you take a break. You don’t have to start a timer or reconstruct the day from memory. In time cockpit, sidekick does this; from the recorded signals, you create your time entries in the calendar.

No. sidekick is an aid for your own time tracking. The signals stay on your computer and are not uploaded, not even to the time cockpit server. Only you see them, in your own calendar. sidekick records names and titles, never content: no keystrokes, no file contents, no screenshots and no audio.

Only on your computer. The time tracking calendar in the browser reads the signals directly from there after you have paired it with sidekick once. Apart from checking for new versions, sidekick sends nothing to the internet. By default, signals are deleted after 90 days, or immediately if you wish.

No. Neither managers nor administrators have access to your signals, and time cockpit has no function to view other people’s signals or to analyze them across several people. Only what you create as a time entry yourself becomes visible.

Yes. sidekick runs on PCs with Windows 10 and 11 and on Macs with macOS. On Windows, each person installs sidekick themselves, without administrator rights; after that it starts automatically with Windows and updates itself. You see the signals in the time cockpit time tracking calendar in the browser.

Nothing extra. sidekick is included in every time cockpit plan.

sidekick is already in everyday use, but we are still developing it. The interface and features may change, and some things are still missing. On Windows, new versions arrive automatically. We welcome feedback and requests at support@timecockpit.com.

sidekick records when your computer is running, when you are actively working and when you take a break. In the calendar, you see the start of your workday, breaks and the end of your workday at a glance. You book the working time itself in time cockpit, with the help of these signals; how working time, overtime and absences come together there is shown on the page employee time tracking.

No. The signals appear in the graphical calendar next to your time entries. From them, you create time entries on client, project and task with a few clicks. You decide yourself what is booked as working time.

sidekick is not a surveillance tool but a voluntary aid for your own time tracking. The signals stay on each person’s computer, each person decides whether and when to use sidekick, and there is no function to view other people’s signals or to analyze them across several people. This makes the discussion with the works council and data protection easier, but does not replace it.

We recommend involving the works council early on to create transparency and clarify open questions about its use.

sidekick shows in the calendar which applications, files and repositories you used and when. This way you assign your time to the right project even when you switch between tasks often during the day. Short tasks that would otherwise be forgotten stay visible and can be billed, which improves the contribution margin of your projects.

sidekick does not replace a time clock, but it shows when your computer was running, when you were actively working and when you took breaks. Especially when working from home, this is a good basis for adding the start of your workday, breaks and the end of your workday in the time cockpit calendar afterwards.