Getting Started

Getting started

Install

Installed builds for Windows and macOS are attached to each GitHub release. They update themselves in the background and restart into a new version when you are not using the app (macOS builds from CI are not code-signed, so they run but do not update themselves).

To run from source you need Node 20+ and git on your PATH:

npm install
npm run dev        # run with hot reload
npm run build      # production build into out/
npm run package    # installers into release/ (package:mac, package:win, package:linux)

Pushing uses whatever credentials git already has (SSH agent, credential helper). Devlog never prompts for git credentials.

Create or open a devlog

A devlog is a git repository Devlog writes into. On first launch choose:

• Create a new devlog: pick a folder; Devlog runs git init, writes devlog.json and makes the first commit. You can set a remote now or later (Settings → Repository).
• Open an existing devlog: a clone of one you made on another machine.

Devlog opens on the canvas you last had open.

Write

1. Make a canvas (a client, a project, a topic) from the sidebar.
2. Type in the note box at the bottom and press Enter to post. Shift+Enter starts a new line. Markdown shortcuts work as you type (**bold**, - for a list, ```ts for a code block, ⌘B, ⌘I, ⌘K).
3. Paste or drop an image: it is saved next to the day's file and linked relatively, so the log renders on GitHub too.
4. Double-click a block (or Alt+Enter when posting) to open it as a page and write inside it.

Everything is written to disk immediately and committed shortly after (30 seconds by default); with a remote, Devlog pulls and pushes every five minutes, on Sync now (⌘⇧S), on start and on quit.

Turn on extensions

Open Extensions from the quick switcher (⌘P) or Settings. The built-ins are added with version builtin:

Extension	What it adds
devlog-time (Time tracking)	Task canvases, the clock, Timesheet and Summary pages, hour targets
devlog-focus (Window tracking)	Which window was in front, for the timeline and review (asks to be trusted)
devlog-jira (Jira worklogs)	A timesheet destination that writes Jira worklogs
devlog-cms (CMS timesheets)	A timesheet destination for the CMS web timesheet

Each extension asks before it runs, on each machine, and you choose what it may read and write. See Extensions Overview.

Next

• Concepts: canvases, blocks, tasks and todos.
• The repository's README walks through every feature in detail.