Harvest Automation

Automate your Harvest time tracking operations directly from Claude Code. Log time entries, manage projects and clients, create tasks, and pull reporting data -- all without leaving your terminal.

Toolkit docs: claude-skills.ai/toolkits/harvest

Setup

1. Add the Rube MCP server to your Claude Code config with URL:

   https://rube.app/mcp

2. When prompted, authenticate your Harvest account through the connection link provided
3. Start automating your time tracking workflows with natural language

Core Workflows

1. Log and Manage Time Entries

Create, list, update, and retrieve time entries for accurate billing and reporting.

Tools:

HARVEST_CREATE_TIME_ENTRY

HARVEST_LIST_TIME_ENTRIES

HARVEST_GET_TIME_ENTRY

HARVEST_UPDATE_TIME_ENTRY

Log 3.5 hours of development work on project 12345, task 67890 for today

Key parameters for

HARVEST_CREATE_TIME_ENTRY

• project_id

  (required) -- the project to log against

• task_id

  (required) -- the task must be assigned to the project

• spent_date

  (required) -- date in YYYY-MM-DD format

• hours

  -- total hours (for duration-based accounts)

• started_time

  /

  ended_time

  -- for timestamp-based accounts

• notes

  -- description of work performed

Key parameters for

HARVEST_LIST_TIME_ENTRIES

• from_date

  /

  to

  -- date range filters (YYYY-MM-DD)

• project_id

  ,

  client_id

  ,

  task_id

  ,

  user_id

  -- entity filters

• is_billed

  /

  is_running

  -- status filters

• page

  /

  per_page

  (max 2000) -- pagination

2. Manage Projects

Create new projects and list existing ones with client and billing configuration.

Tools:

HARVEST_CREATE_PROJECT

HARVEST_LIST_PROJECTS

HARVEST_GET_PROJECT

Create a billable project called "Website Redesign" for client 456 with Tasks billing and project budget

Key parameters for

HARVEST_CREATE_PROJECT

• name

  ,

  client_id

  ,

  is_billable

  ,

  bill_by

  ,

  budget_by

  (all required)

• bill_by

  options:

  "Project"

  ,

  "Tasks"

  ,

  "People"

  ,

  "none"

• budget_by

  options:

  "project"

  ,

  "project_cost"

  ,

  "task"

  ,

  "task_fees"

  ,

  "person"

  ,

  "none"

• Optional:

  budget

  ,

  hourly_rate

  ,

  starts_on

  ,

  ends_on

  ,

  is_fixed_fee

3. Manage Clients

Create and list clients that projects are organized under.

Tools:

HARVEST_CREATE_CLIENT

HARVEST_LIST_CLIENTS

List all active clients in our Harvest account

• HARVEST_CREATE_CLIENT

  requires

  name

  ; accepts

  address

  ,

  currency

  ,

  is_active

• HARVEST_LIST_CLIENTS

  supports

  is_active

  filter and pagination (

  per_page

  max 2000)

4. Manage Tasks

Create and list reusable task types for time tracking.

Tools:

HARVEST_CREATE_TASK

HARVEST_LIST_TASKS

Create a new billable task called "Code Review" with a default rate of $150/hr

• HARVEST_CREATE_TASK

  requires

  name

  ; accepts

  billable_by_default

  ,

  default_hourly_rate

  ,

  is_active

  ,

  is_default

• HARVEST_LIST_TASKS

  supports

  is_active

  ,

  is_default

  filters and pagination (

  per_page

  max 100)
• Task names must be unique across all tasks (active and archived)

5. Time Entry Reporting

Pull time entries with date ranges and filters for billing summaries and utilization reports.

Tools:

HARVEST_LIST_TIME_ENTRIES

HARVEST_GET_TIME_ENTRY

Show me all unbilled time entries for project 789 from January 2026

• Use

  from_date

  and

  to

  for date windowing
• Filter with

  is_billed: false

  for unbilled entries
• Combine

  project_id

  ,

  user_id

  ,

  client_id

  for cross-dimensional reporting
• Paginate with

  page

  and

  per_page

  to gather complete datasets

6. Update and Correct Time Entries

Modify existing time entries to fix hours, reassign projects, or update notes.

Tools:

HARVEST_UPDATE_TIME_ENTRY

Update time entry 123456 to change the hours to 4.0 and add the note "Completed API integration"

• Requires

  time_entry_id

• Supports partial updates -- only include fields you want to change
• Can update

  hours

  ,

  notes

  ,

  project_id

  ,

  task_id

  ,

  spent_date

  ,

  started_time

  ,

  ended_time

Known Pitfalls

• Task assignment matters: When creating time entries, the

  task_id

  must correspond to a task that is actually assigned to the specified

  project_id

  . Use project task assignments endpoint to verify, not just

  HARVEST_LIST_TASKS

  (which returns global tasks).
• Duration vs. timestamp tracking: Harvest accounts are configured for either duration-based or timestamp-based tracking.

  hours

  is ignored on timestamp accounts;

  started_time

  /

  ended_time

  are ignored on duration accounts.
• Pagination limits vary:

  HARVEST_LIST_TIME_ENTRIES

  and

  HARVEST_LIST_CLIENTS

  support up to 2000 per page, but

  HARVEST_LIST_PROJECTS

  and

  HARVEST_LIST_TASKS

  cap at 100 per page.
• Date format consistency: All date parameters must use

  YYYY-MM-DD

  format. ISO 8601 with timezone is used for

  updated_since

  filters.
• Required fields for projects:

  HARVEST_CREATE_PROJECT

  requires five fields:

  name

  ,

  client_id

  ,

  is_billable

  ,

  bill_by

  , and

  budget_by

  . Missing any will cause a validation error.

Quick Reference

HARVEST_LIST_TIME_ENTRIES

HARVEST_CREATE_TIME_ENTRY

project_id

task_id

spent_date

HARVEST_GET_TIME_ENTRY

HARVEST_UPDATE_TIME_ENTRY

time_entry_id

HARVEST_LIST_PROJECTS

HARVEST_CREATE_PROJECT

HARVEST_GET_PROJECT

HARVEST_LIST_CLIENTS

HARVEST_CREATE_CLIENT

name

HARVEST_LIST_TASKS

HARVEST_CREATE_TASK

name

Part of the Claude Skills Hub