Advanced Feature

Export

Turn your local time.md database into portable files for spreadsheets, scripts, archives, Markdown knowledge bases, or Obsidian vaults.

Portable by default

Choose the format, date range, sections, filters, and destination. Exports are files on your Mac.

Compare formats

What exports include

The Export screen packages time.md’s local analytics into a report. You can export a simple summary, a complete archive, or a custom subset of sections. Filters apply before export so the file can be scoped to the date range, app, category, or browser history slice you need.

Exports are copies. Creating an export does not delete or modify your source database. Deleting an export file does not delete time.md’s stored history.

Human-readable

Markdown and Obsidian exports are designed for review, notes, and long-term journaling.

Machine-readable

CSV, JSON, and YAML are useful for spreadsheets, automation, and downstream analysis.

Repeatable

Presets and scheduled exports let you reuse the same format and section choices over time.

Export formats

Format Best for Shape
CSV Spreadsheets and BI tools Tables with columns and rows.
JSON Scripts, APIs, and structured archives Nested sections with metadata and records.
YAML Readable config-like archives Structured data with indentation and keys.
Markdown Reports, docs, and GitHub-friendly notes Headings, tables, metadata, and optional table of contents.
Obsidian Personal knowledge bases Markdown plus frontmatter, tags, wiki links, and backlinks.

Markdown exports support GitHub-flavored, simple-text, or HTML table styles; ATX or Setext headings; optional emoji; and optional horizontal rules. Obsidian exports add YAML or TOML frontmatter, app-note folders, daily-note links, tags, Dataview-compatible fields, and related-link sections.

Modes: General, Extensive, Custom

General

A compact report with summary, top apps, categories, and trends. Use it for quick sharing or weekly review.

Extensive

A fuller archive that selects all available report sections exposed by the current build, including detailed and raw sections.

Custom

Choose sections manually, then save the result as a preset when you want to reuse the same shape.

Available sections

Section availability depends on the features you use and the data present in your local databases. The export model supports these groups:

Group Sections Notes
Core screen time Summary, apps, categories, trends, sessions, raw sessions Built from the main screentime.db usage history.
Visualization data Heatmap, productivity metrics, focus blocks, app transitions Useful for custom dashboards and deeper behavioral analysis.
Web history Web history, top domains, browser analytics Included when browser history data is available and selected.
Input tracking Input summary, cursor heatmap, typed words, key frequency, raw input events Only meaningful when optional input tracking has been enabled and retained locally.
Raw input sections are sensitive. They can include detailed keyboard or cursor activity depending on your input-tracking level. Review them before sharing any export.

Filters and presets

Filters are captured with each export so the file can describe the slice of data it contains.

  • Date range and relative ranges such as today, yesterday, last 7 days, last 30 days, this week, and this month.
  • App filters for one app or a selected set of apps.
  • Category filters for grouped screen-time categories.
  • Browser-history filters when exporting web sections.
  • Granularity controls such as day, hour, or week where supported by the section.

Built-in presets cover common exports, and user presets save your own mode, format, date range, and selected sections.

Destinations and filenames

You can choose an export folder, or let time.md write to the default location:

~/Downloads/time.md Exports/

When you choose a custom folder, time.md stores permission to use that folder so future manual or scheduled exports can write there. If the folder becomes unavailable, choose it again from the Export screen.

Manual exports

Create timestamped files in the selected destination.

Auto export

Writes a stable snapshot named screen-time-auto.<ext> using the selected export format.

Export history

The app records recent export operations so you can confirm what ran and where it wrote.

Scheduled and automatic exports

time.md includes two repeatable export paths:

  1. Scheduled exports

    Use export settings to run the same report on a daily, weekly, or monthly cadence, with a relative date range such as the previous day or previous week.

  2. Auto-save snapshot

    The background auto exporter writes screen-time-auto.<ext> to the configured destination, making a predictable file available to other local tools.

  3. Sensitive-data guardrail

    The auto exporter excludes raw input sections so a continuously updated snapshot does not silently include detailed keystroke or cursor rows.

Obsidian export examples

Obsidian mode is Markdown with vault-friendly metadata. Frontmatter can be YAML or TOML, and wiki links can point to daily notes and app notes under a folder such as Apps/.

---
title: "time.md Data Export"
date: 2026-02-25
type: screentime-export
total_hours: 7.00
total_minutes: 420
created: 2026-02-25T09:30:00
modified: 2026-02-25T09:30:00
top_apps:
  - "Safari"
  - "Xcode"
  - "Terminal"
tags:
  - timemd
  - screentime
---

# time.md Data Export

| Property | Value |
|----------|-------|
| Generated | [[2026-02-25]] |
| Date Range | [[2026-02-18]] → [[2026-02-25]] |

#timemd #screentime

## Top Apps

| app_name | total_seconds | session_count |
|----------|---------------|---------------|
| [[Apps/Safari|Safari]] | 7200.000 | 45 |
| [[Apps/Xcode|Xcode]] | 5400.000 | 23 |

## Related

- Daily Note: [[2026-02-25]]
- Top Apps:
  - [[Apps/Safari|Safari]]
  - [[Apps/Xcode|Xcode]]

Because exports are plain files, you can place them directly inside an Obsidian vault, commit them to a private Git repository, or process them with your own scripts.