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Connect Kimai to ChatGPT via MCP: Timesheets and Timers

Kimai — the self-hosted open-source time tracker. Read and create timesheets, browse customers, projects, activities and users, and check the running clock. REST API v1 on your own Kimai instance, bearer API token.

HCBy HelpCode teamUpdated 3 min read Open-source on GitHub
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Kimai

Kimai

Kimai — the self-hosted open-source time tracker. Read and create timesheets, browse customers, projects, activities and users, and check the running clock. REST API v1 on your own Kimai instance, bearer API token.

tools

9

Region

DE

Category

Time Tracking

Authentication

Bearer Token

Required env vars

KIMAI_URLKIMAI_API_TOKEN
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  • Works with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini
    Any MCP-compatible client

Summary

Kimai — the self-hosted open-source time tracker. Read and create timesheets, browse customers, projects, activities and users, and check the running clock. REST API v1 on your own Kimai instance, bearer API token.

Guided setup

Connect Kimai to ChatGPT in 2 minutes

Start a free trial on AnythingMCP Cloud, connect Kimai in the guided setup, then add your MCP URL to ChatGPT. No code and no server to run.

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AnythingMCP's plugin in ChatGPT's directory answers questions from your company databases on AnythingMCP Cloud (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, Oracle, SAP HANA, SQLite, MongoDB, read-only): open the listing (opens in a new tab) and click Install plugin. Every other connector is added to ChatGPT as a custom MCP server with your AnythingMCP MCP URL.

Try asking

Example prompts for Kimai

Click any prompt to copy it. Paste into Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Gemini, Copilot or OpenClaw to run it against this connector.

Kimai · live via MCP
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Claude is AI and can make mistakes. Please double-check responses.

💡 No install? Use cloud.anythingmcp.com directly. Sign in, click Connectors → Kimai, paste your credentials, mint an MCP API key — done. No Docker, no git clone, no local server.

Kimai + ChatGPT

Kimai — the self-hosted open-source time tracker. Read and create timesheets, browse customers, projects, activities and users, and check the running clock. REST API v1 on your own Kimai instance, bearer API token.

Prerequisites

See the full setup instructions baked into the connector (visible in the in-app store when you select the connector). The required environment variables for this connector are:

KIMAI_URL, KIMAI_API_TOKEN

Step 1 — Get credentials

Getting a token (Kimai 2.x)

  1. Sign in to your Kimai instance, open your user profile and go to the API tab.
  2. Create an API token and copy it into KIMAI_API_TOKEN. Kimai 2.x uses a bearer token here; the older X-AUTH-USER/X-AUTH-TOKEN header pair from Kimai 1.x is deprecated and is not what this adapter sends.
  3. Set KIMAI_URL to the base URL of your instance without a trailing slash and without /api, e.g. https://time.example.com. The adapter appends /api.

…(continued in the in-app connector instructions)

Step 2 — Install the adapter

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/HelpCode-ai/anythingmcp/main/docker-compose.quickstart.yml -o docker-compose.yml
printf 'JWT_SECRET=%s\nENCRYPTION_KEY=%s\n' "$(openssl rand -hex 32)" "$(openssl rand -hex 32)" > .env
docker compose up -d

Step 3 — Add the connector in ChatGPT

Your server URL: in AnythingMCP, open MCP Servers → the server this connector is on, and copy its URL (https://cloud.anythingmcp.com/mcp/…). Use it wherever this guide shows YOUR_SERVER_ID.

ChatGPT adds MCP servers as plugins on its Plugins page, on the web and on paid plans. Developer mode is no longer needed. In a Business workspace only admins and owners can add one; in Enterprise and Edu an admin can grant the Create plugins with MCPs permission.

  1. Go to chatgpt.com/plugins, click Add, then Add custom MCP server.
  2. Enter a name, e.g. Name: Kimai.
  3. Under Connection, enter the Server URL https://cloud.anythingmcp.com/mcp/YOUR_SERVER_ID and keep Authentication on OAuth.
  4. Select I understand and want to continue, then Create as a plugin. When ChatGPT asks, sign in to AnythingMCP and allow access.
  5. Install the new plugin from your personal plugins, then type @ in a chat and pick it.

Available tools

ToolWhat it does
kimai_get_versionRead the Kimai version and copyright of the connected instance
kimai_list_timesheetsRead timesheet entries in a date range with their project, activity, duration, rate and billable flag
kimai_get_active_timesheetsRead the entries that are running right now for the authenticated user — Kimai's live clock, answering 'am I still tracking something'
kimai_list_customersList customers with their number, country, currency and visible flag
kimai_list_projectsList projects, optionally for one customer, with their budget, time budget and start and end dates
kimai_list_activitiesList activities — the task types time is booked against — either global or attached to one project
kimai_list_usersList Kimai users with their username, alias, e-mail and roles
kimai_create_timesheetBook a timesheet entry against a project and activity
kimai_stop_timesheetStop a running timesheet entry, setting its end to now

FAQ

Does the free ChatGPT plan work with custom MCP servers? OpenAI documents custom MCP servers for paid plans only; the Free plan is not on its list.

Next steps

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