Hackatime setup

Hackatime logs the time you spend coding in your editor, and that's what becomes pixels. Set it up before you start a project, not after.

Installing it

1. Create a Hackatime account at hackatime.hackclub.com if you don't already have one.
2. Install your editor's plugin. VS Code has its own Hackatime Time Tracker extension in the marketplace, install that one, not the "Hackatime" extension (that one's unofficial and won't work). Every other editor - Cursor, Neovim, JetBrains and 70+ others - uses the same WakaTime-compatible plugin Hackatime has always run on; see Hackatime's editor guides for yours.
3. Run Hackatime's setup wizard. It generates your API key and endpoint and drops them straight into supported plugins, so you're not copying an API URL in by hand anymore.
4. Back in Pixl, hit Connect Hackatime on your Projects page. The plugin tracks your time either way, but Pixl never sees it until your Hackatime account is linked here.

Checking it works

Write code for five minutes, then open your Hackatime dashboard. Your time should show up under your project's folder name.

If nothing appears, first check that the folder is an actual git repository (git init or git clone it), Hackatime only tracks time inside one. Still nothing? Re-run the setup wizard, a stale key or endpoint from before you set it up is the next most common cause.

Folder naming

Hackatime identifies projects by your local folder name, so keep each build in its own directory. Two projects in one folder means their hours land on the same submission.