Nano WakaTime Plugin ⏱️

A lightweight, cross-platform Python wrapper that adds WakaTime tracking to the GNU Nano editor.

Unlike modern IDEs (VS Code, JetBrains), nano does not support native plugins. This tool solves that by using the Wrapper Pattern. It launches a background file watcher alongside the editor to detect "Save" events and sync them to the WakaTime API silently.

🏗️ Architecture

How it works under the hood:

sequenceDiagram
    participant User
    participant NanoW as nanow (Wrapper)
    participant Editor as GNU Nano
    participant Watcher as Watchdog (Thread)
    participant CLI as WakaTime CLI
    
    User->>NanoW: run "nano file.py"
    NanoW->>Watcher: Start background monitoring on file.py
    NanoW->>Editor: Launch Editor (Foreground)
    
    loop Editing Session
        User->>Editor: Edit & Save (Ctrl+O)
        Editor-->>Watcher: File System Event (MODIFY)
        Watcher->>CLI: Trigger heartbeat
        CLI-->>WakaTime API: HTTP POST (201 Created)
    end
    
    User->>Editor: Exit (Ctrl+X)
    Editor->>NanoW: Process Ends
    NanoW->>Watcher: Stop & Cleanup

✨ Features

• Zero Latency: The editor runs natively; the tracking happens in a non-blocking background thread.
• Atomic Save Detection: Uses watchdog to handle complex file system events (more robust than polling).
• Smart Argument Parsing: Distinguishes between Nano flags (e.g., -w, -c) and actual filenames.
• Cross-Platform: Works on Linux and macOS.

📦 Dependencies

• Python 3.6+
• WakaTime CLI (Standard Go binary)
• Python Watchdog Library

1. Install Python Watchdog

pip3 install -r requirements.txt

2. Install WakaTime CLI (if not already installed)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wakatime/vim-wakatime/master/install_cli.py | python3

🚀 Installation

1. Download the Wrapper

Clone this repository or download the script directly.

git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/nano-wakatime.git
cd nano-wakatime

2. Install

Move the script to your local binary folder and make it executable.

mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
cp nanow.py ~/.local/bin/nanow
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/nanow

3. Create the Alias

To make this seamless, alias nano to use this wrapper. Add this to your .bashrc or .zshrc:

alias nano="nanow"

Reload your shell:

source ~/.bashrc

⚙️ Configuration

Create your WakaTime config file if you haven't already.

1. Get your API Key from wakatime.com/api-key.
2. Create the config file:

# Note: Use \nano to bypass the alias for initial setup
\nano ~/.wakatime.cfg

3. Paste the following:

[settings]
api_key = your_secret_api_key_here

🕹️ Usage

Just use nano as you normally would!

# The wrapper automatically starts
nano my_script.py

# Works with flags too
nano -c -w my_script.py

Note: Time is tracked when you Save (Ctrl+O).