Mob Timer CLI

A mob programming timer for the terminal. It keeps track of whose turn it is, rotates drivers and takes a break after each round.

Install

Needs Node.js 24 or later.

npx mobtimer --team "Ann,Bo,Cy" --interval 10m

Or install it globally:

npm install --global mobtimer
mobtimer --team "Ann,Bo,Cy" --interval 10m

Team and interval are saved to ~/.config/mobtimer/config.json (or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mobtimer/config.json), so after the first run mobtimer is enough. Without saved settings it starts with six members and 10 minute turns, with breaks.

Options

| Option | Description | | ------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | | -t, --team <names> | Comma-separated team members, e.g. "Ann,Bo,Cy" (saved) | | -i, --interval <time> | Turn length, e.g. 10m, 90s, 7:30 or 600 (saved) | | --no-breaks | Don't take a break after each round | | -s, --shuffle | Shuffle the team order (saved) | | --no-notify | No bell or desktop notification when a turn ends | | --show | Print saved team and interval, then exit | | -h, --help | Show help | | -v, --version | Show version |

Keys

| Key | Action | | --------- | ------------------------------------- | | enter | Start, or make selected member driver | | space | Start, pause or resume | | n | Next driver | | ↑ / ↓ | Select member | | 1–9 | Make member driver (back if away) | | a | Mark selected member away or back | | r | Rename selected member | | b | Skip break, or toggle breaks | | s | Shuffle team | | > / < | Add or remove member | | + / - | Interval one minute longer or shorter | | q | Quit |

When a turn ends the terminal bell rings and a desktop notification is shown.

Development

The CLI lives in the mobtimer repo next to the desktop app, and shares its timer and rotation logic (lib/). From the repo root:

npm install
npm run cli -- --help   # run from TypeScript source
npm link -w cli         # add a `mobtimer` command that runs the source
npm test

Node doesn't strip TypeScript types for packages in node_modules, so the published package is a single bundled JS file:

npm run build -w cli          # bundles cli/ and lib/ into cli/dist/mobtimer.js
npm pack -w cli --dry-run     # check what gets published
npm publish -w cli            # builds first via prepublishOnly