Action Timestamp — VS Code MVP v0.0.5

A lightweight Markdown workflow logger for validating timestamp-based action tracking before deciding whether a richer editor integration is needed.

Core interaction

In Markdown files:

• Enter → create a new timestamped action.
• Shift+Enter → normal newline.
• Ctrl+Alt+Enter (Cmd+Alt+Enter on macOS) → insert an explicit End marker.
• Type @ on a timestamped action line → completion is limited to your configured categories.

Example:

[09:00:00] @research Read API docs
[09:18:20] @coding Implement parser
[09:42:15] @coding Debug edge case
[10:03:50] End

Categories

Run:

Action Timestamp: Configure Categories

or edit the actionTimestamp.categories setting.

Only configured categories are offered by @ completion.

Undefined-category warning

If a timestamped action contains a category that is not in the configured list, VS Code shows a warning underline under that @category token.

Example:

[09:00:00] @reserach Read docs
           ~~~~~~~~~

Use VS Code's Quick Fix action on the warning to replace it with one of the configured categories.

End marker and automatic export

[HH:mm:ss] End explicitly closes the previous action. Explicitly closed intervals are trusted even if they exceed the long-gap threshold.

Whenever a new valid End marker is added, whether typed manually or inserted by the End command, the extension automatically:

1. Recomputes the complete analysis from the current Markdown document.
2. Copies the AI-analysis JSON to the clipboard.
3. Writes/overwrites a JSON file in the same directory as the Markdown source.

Naming example:

worklog.md
worklog.action-timestamp.json

The JSON file is intentionally stable and overwritten on every End, so external AI/tools can always read the latest analysis without searching for the newest export.

If the document is untitled or its filesystem is not writable, clipboard export still runs but no sidecar JSON file is created.

Time calculation

Each action owns the interval until the next timestamped action or End.

Implicit action → action intervals longer than actionTimestamp.idleThresholdMinutes (default 30 minutes) are retained in the timeline as uncertain-long-gap but excluded from category totals and percentages.

Action → End is an explicit close and is counted regardless of length.

Commands

• Action Timestamp: New Timestamped Action
• Action Timestamp: Normal Newline
• Action Timestamp: End Current Action
• Action Timestamp: Configure Categories
• Action Timestamp: Show Time Statistics
• Action Timestamp: Copy AI Analysis Data
• Action Timestamp: Diagnose Current Editor

Run locally

1. Open this folder in VS Code.
2. Press F5.
3. In the Extension Development Host, open a .md file.
4. Configure categories if desired.
5. Record actions and add End when the session/action sequence is complete.

The status bar shows tracked time and reports undefined categories with a warning count.