Log time with a /spend comment

For members, managers and admins

A /spend comment lets you record time straight from a GitHub issue, using the same comment box you are already in. This page shows the accepted syntax and what happens when you edit or delete the comment later. It is for every role, and it needs a GitHub App installed on the organisation: the ChronoTab GitHub App.

The comment syntax

A /spend comment starts with the command and a duration, then any options in any order, then an optional description:

/spend <duration> [on YYYY-MM-DD] [#activity] [--nb] [description…]

Part	Meaning	If you leave it out
duration	Required. The same formats as the rest of ChronoTab, for example `2h30m` or `45m`.	The comment is not recorded.
on YYYY-MM-DD	The date the work was done.	Today, in your timezone. Future dates are refused.
#activity	How the time was spent: one of your organisation’s activity type keys, for example `#qa`. See Activity tags.	Your organisation’s default activity type.
–nb	Marks the time non-billable.	The time is billable.
description	A short note. Once a word that is not an option appears, the rest of the line is the description.	No description.

Examples

/spend 2h30m fixed the auth bug — 2.5 hours, today, your default activity type, billable.
/spend 45m on 2026-08-15 #qa regression pass — 45 minutes on a chosen date, logged to the type whose key is qa (QA unless your admins changed it).
/spend 1h --nb internal review — one hour, non-billable.
/spend 2h 30m fixed auth — the same as 2h30m; a space is allowed.

You can put more than one /spend line in a single comment, and each line becomes its own entry. Lines inside a code block (``` or ~~~) are ignored, so it is safe to quote the syntax in a discussion.

Activity tags

The word after # is an activity type key. Each organisation has its own list of types, and an org admin sets each type’s key in Settings. Every organisation starts with these keys: dev (Development), qa (QA), design (Design), pm (Project management), devops (DevOps), research (Research), meeting (Meetings) and rework (Rework). Your admins may have added, renamed or archived some. See Activity types.

Capital letters don’t matter. #QA, #Qa and #qa all match the qa key.
An unknown or archived tag is still logged. If the tag matches none of your organisation’s active types (a misspelling such as #develpment, a key that was changed, or a type that was archived), the entry is logged as your organisation’s default type. Its description starts with a note naming the tag you typed, for example [activity #develpment not recognized, logged as Development], so you can find the entry and fix it later.
Editing an old comment. If an admin changes a key after you posted, your entry keeps its type. Editing the comment without changing the tag leaves the type alone. If you change the tag to one that matches an active type, the entry moves to that type.

What happens if you edit or delete the comment

A /spend comment controls the entries it created, and the last action wins:

Editing the comment updates the entries it created to match the new values.
Deleting the comment removes the entries it created.
Only you can change them. Entries created by your comment can only be changed by editing or deleting that comment, and only by you, the author.
A submitted timesheet is never changed from GitHub. Once time is on a submitted or approved timesheet, editing or deleting the comment leaves that entry alone.
If you change several lines at once, change values in place or add and remove lines at the end — not both in one edit. An edit that inserts or removes a line in the middle leaves the affected lines unchanged, and you should fix those in the dashboard instead.

Rules the comment must satisfy

A duration of more than 24 hours is rejected; a duration over 12 hours is accepted but flagged as unusual.
If #activity doesn’t match an active type, the entry is still logged as the default type. See Activity tags.
The description is limited to 500 characters.

Next steps

My week — check that the comment was recorded.
Log time from the dashboard — for entries you need to fill in by hand.
Reference: durations and dates — every accepted format.

Need help? Email support@chronotab.com.