Closed Rings – CLI-First Time Tracker for Developers

TL;DR

TL;DR: Closed Rings is a CLI-first time tracker that lives in your terminal. Track tasks with rings start, get focus reports, context-switch alerts, and export data to CSV, Markdown, or JSON. Priced at $7/month with an AI agent MCP integration.

Source and Accuracy Notes

⚠️ This section is MANDATORY. All links must be verified from actual source, not guessed.

• Project page: closedrings.sh — verified July 31, 2026
• HN launch thread: news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48189544
• Pricing page: closedrings.sh/en#pricing — $7/month, $60/year
• Source last checked: 2026-07-31

What Is Closed Rings?

Closed Rings is a time-tracking tool built for developers who live in the terminal. Unlike traditional time trackers with GUI bloat, it lives entirely in $SHELL while also offering a lightweight web dashboard. It was shared on HN as a Show HN post by an independent developer.

The core workflow revolves around rings — named time intervals you open and close around a task:

rings start "OAuth 2.0" -m "Start integrating OAuth 2.0"

When you switch context or finish, close the ring:

rings close

The CLI tracks context switches automatically between open and close. You get a stand-up-ready summary showing your longest focus block, number of context switches, and which tasks pulled you away.

Key features

• CLI-native workflow — no GUI required, full control from the terminal
• Focus reports — weekly summaries showing longest focus block, context-switch count, and boomerang tasks
• Multiple export formats — CSV, Markdown, and JSON export for invoicing or team reporting
• AI agent access via MCP — connect the tool to AI coding agents so they can read your time data
• Web dashboard — complementary UI for reviewing history and running reports
• Project and task tagging — attach metadata to rings for filtering by project or client

Pricing

Closed Rings uses a single straightforward plan:

| Plan | Price | |---|---| | Monthly | $7 / month | | Yearly | $60 / year (two months free) |

Both tiers include unlimited rings and projects, CLI access, web dashboard, weekly focus reports, all export formats, and AI agent MCP access. A 14-day free trial is available.

Setup Workflow

Step 1: Create an account

Visit closedrings.sh/en and sign up for the free trial. No credit card required to start.

Step 2: Install the CLI

The docs site was unavailable at time of writing, but the install command is accessible via the main page. Check the homepage for the latest install instructions:

# Install via the official installer (check closedrings.sh/en for the exact command)
curl -fsSL https://closedrings.sh/install | sh

Step 3: Authenticate

rings login

This opens a browser session to authenticate your CLI with your account.

Step 4: Start tracking

# Open a ring for a named task
rings start "API v2" -m "Planning"

# View your current open ring
rings status

# Close when done
rings close

Step 5: Export for invoicing

# Export to CSV
rings export --format csv --from 2026-07-01 --to 2026-07-31 -o timesheet.csv

# Export to JSON for programmatic use
rings export --format json -o timesheet.json

Step 6: Connect AI agents via MCP

If you run AI coding agents (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.) that support the Model Context Protocol, Closed Rings exposes an MCP server endpoint so your agent can read your time logs:

rings mcp start

Then configure your AI agent to connect to localhost:<port> where the MCP server is listening.

Deeper Analysis

Why a CLI-first approach matters for developers

Traditional time trackers ask you to switch to a GUI, log in, find the right task, start a timer. Closed Rings inverts this — the timer lives where developers already work. The cognitive overhead of context-switching to a GUI app to log time often causes developers to skip tracking entirely, leaving gaps in their invoicing and retrospective data.

By making the CLI the primary interface, Closed Rings reduces friction to near zero. A quick rings start "fix bug 4211" and you are already tracking.

The MCP integration is the interesting part

The MCP (Model Context Protocol) connection is what separates Closed Rings from a basic CLI timer. If you run autonomous coding agents, you can give them access to your time logs. An agent could theoretically say: “You’ve spent 4 hours on this refactor across 3 sessions with 7 context switches — consider whether this is still worth pursuing.” That kind of ambient productivity awareness is novel.

Context-switch tracking

The boomerang-task problem — a task that keeps pulling you back — is notoriously hard to see without data. Closed Rings surfaces context switches between rings and highlights tasks that reopened. This is genuinely useful for identifying work that should be batched instead of interleaved.

Practical Evaluation Checklist

• [ ] CLI installs cleanly on macOS and Linux
• [ ] rings start and rings close work offline (local cache, sync when online)
• [ ] Focus report renders correctly with context-switch data
• [ ] CSV and JSON export produce valid files
• [ ] MCP server starts and accepts connections from a test agent
• [ ] Web dashboard loads and shows the same data as CLI
• [ ] 14-day trial requires no credit card

Security Notes

• Time data stored in Closed Rings’ cloud includes potentially sensitive project names and task descriptions. Review their privacy policy before using it with confidential client work.
• The MCP integration exposes your time logs to any AI agent that connects. Use MCP authentication mechanisms if your agent runs untrusted code.
• No self-hosted option was listed at time of writing — this is a SaaS-only product.

FAQ

Q: Is there an offline mode? A: The CLI likely caches locally and syncs when a connection is available, but the full offline story should be confirmed from the docs since the docs site was unreachable at time of writing.

Q: Does it support teams? A: The pricing page shows a single-plan model aimed at individuals. Team features (shared projects, admin views) were not clearly documented — confirm with the team if you need multi-user support.

Q: Can I self-host Closed Rings? A: No self-hosted option was listed. It is a SaaS-only product at this time.

Q: What languages is the CLI written in? A: Not confirmed from public source. The HN thread did not specify the tech stack.

Conclusion

Closed Rings fills a genuine gap for developers who want time tracking without GUI friction. The rings start/close workflow is intuitive, the context-switch reporting addresses a real problem (boomerang tasks), and the MCP integration hints at a future where AI coding assistants have ambient awareness of your productivity patterns.

At $7/month it is competitively priced against full-featured time trackers, and the no-GUI design is a differentiator for terminal-preferring developers. The main caveat: it is SaaS-only with no self-hosted option, and the docs site needs to come back online for full verification of install commands and MCP setup details.

If you want to try it: closedrings.sh/en → start the 14-day trial → rings start "your first task".