How to connect Timely to Claude Cowork

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Introduction

Cowork is Anthropic's AI agent for knowledge work. Think of it as Claude Code for everything else. It works autonomously with your computer, local files, and applications to accomplish complex tasks.

This guide walks you through the easiest and most secure way to connect your Timely account to Cowork via Composio Connect, enabling it to get your Timely account billing details, set up webhook for new time entries, retrieve account info for client project, and more such actions on your behalf without compromising your account security.

Also integrate Timely with

Connecting Timely to Claude Cowork

1. Open Customize

In Claude Desktop, click Customize in the left sidebar, then select Connectors and click the + icon at the top.

Claude Desktop connectors screen with Add custom connector selected

2. Add the Composio MCP server

Click Add custom connector and paste in the Composio MCP server URL:

bash
https://connect.composio.dev/mcp
Add custom connector dialog with Composio MCP server URL

3. Authorize in your browser

Click Connect. You'll be redirected to a browser window where you can authorize Composio to continue.

Composio authorization screen for Claude Cowork

4. Connect your Timely account

Back in Cowork, ask the agent to connect to Timely or give it any Timely-related task.

For example, ask Cowork to:

  • "Get your Timely account billing details"
  • "Set up webhook for new time entries"
  • "Retrieve account info for client project"

It will prompt you to authenticate and authorize access.

That's it. Composio's tools are now available in Cowork, and your Timely account is ready to use.

What is Claude Cowork?

Claude Cowork is Anthropic's agent for general knowledge work. It can use your computer, files, and connected applications to complete longer-running tasks across your work tools.

With Composio Connect, Cowork can securely access apps like Timely through MCP without you sharing account credentials directly with the agent.

What is the Timely MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The Timely MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Timely account. It provides structured and secure access to your time-tracking data, so your agent can perform actions like retrieving account information, managing webhooks, and integrating time logs with other workflows on your behalf.

  • Account information retrieval: Instantly fetch up-to-date details about your Timely account, including billing, activity, and user info, for streamlined reporting or troubleshooting.
  • Automated webhook setup: Direct your agent to create new webhooks for your account, enabling real-time integration with external apps and automated event notifications.
  • Seamless workflow automation: Connect Timely events to other services or agents by configuring webhooks, so you can automate time-tracking updates or project triggers.
  • Centralized time management: Allow your agent to coordinate between Timely and your other productivity tools by securely accessing and sharing account data as needed.

Supported Tools & Triggers

Tools
Create ClientTool to create a new client in the specified Timely account.
Create Day LockingTool to create a day locking entry that prevents editing of time entries for specific dates and users.
Create LabelTool to create a new label in the specified Timely account.
Create reportTool to generate reports for a Timely account with optional filters.
Create TeamTool to create a new team in the specified Timely account.
Create WebhookTool to create a new webhook for the specified account.
Delete a labelTool to delete a label by ID from a Timely account.
Delete a teamTool to delete a team by its ID.
Delete WebhookTool to delete an existing webhook by its ID.
Filter reportsTool to filter Timely reports based on date range, users, projects, labels, teams, and billing status.
Get activitiesTool to retrieve all activities (audit trail) for a Timely account.
Get ClientTool to retrieve details of a specific client by its ID.
Get current user's permissionsTool to retrieve the current user's permissions for a specified account.
Get current userTool to retrieve the currently authenticated user.
Retrieve a labelTool to retrieve a label by ID from a Timely account.
Get projectTool to retrieve a single project by its ID.
Retrieve a teamTool to retrieve details of a specific team by its ID.
Retrieve a userTool to retrieve a user by ID from a Timely account.
Get user capacitiesTool to retrieve capacity information for a specific user in a Timely account.
Get user permissionsTool to retrieve a user's permissions by their ID.
Get WebhookTool to retrieve a specific webhook by its ID.
List accountsRetrieve all accessible Timely accounts for the authenticated user.
List clientsTool to list all clients in a Timely account with optional filtering and sorting.
List eventsTool to list all events (time entries) in a Timely account with optional filtering by date range, users, and projects.
List forecastsTool to list all forecasts (tasks) in a Timely account with optional date filtering.
List labelsTool to list all labels in a Timely account.
List project eventsTool to list all events (time entries) for a specific project in Timely.
List projectsTool to list all projects in a Timely account with optional filtering and sorting.
List rolesTool to list all available roles in a Timely account.
List teamsTool to list all teams in the specified Timely account.
List user eventsTool to list all events (time entries) for a specific user in Timely.
List usersTool to list all users in a Timely account with optional filtering and pagination.
List WebhooksTool to list all webhooks in the specified account.
Process bulk eventsTool to create, update, or delete multiple events in a single bulk operation.
Retrieve an accountTool to retrieve details of a specific account by its ID.
Update a clientTool to update an existing client by ID in Timely.
Update day locking settingsTool to update day locking settings for specified users and dates.
Update a labelTool to update a label by ID in a Timely account.
Update a projectTool to update a project by ID in a Timely account.
Update a userTool to update a user by ID in a Timely account.
Update WebhookTool to update an existing webhook by ID.

How to build Timely MCP Agent with another framework

FAQ

What are the differences in Tool Router MCP and Timely MCP?

With a standalone Timely MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Timely tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Timely and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Can I use Tool Router MCP with Claude Cowork?

Yes, you can. Claude Cowork fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Timely tools.

Can I manage the permissions and scopes for Timely while using Tool Router?

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Timely scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

How safe is my data with Composio Tool Router?

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Timely data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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