Workflows

The fastest way to learn what the assistant can do is to copy a prompt and modify it. Each section below is a real workflow with the prompt, what comes back, and the next step.

Open the drawer with ⌘J before any of these.

Answer a "how much" question

Use this when you want a number, not a list.

How much did I bill Watchdog last month?

What you'll see: a one-line answer (e.g. "Watchdog last month: 100.6 hours, EUR 7,041.97 across 268 entries") with the SUMMARIZE_TIME tool call shown above it. The numbers come from the same aggregation the dashboard runs.

Variations:

• What's my unbilled total this quarter?
• How many hours did I do for Mercato in 2026-Q1?
• Compare last month to the month before for Acme.

For multi-currency totals, the assistant reports each currency on its own line. Hourdini never blends currencies into one number.

Log time you forgot

Use this when you'd otherwise have to open the Log time modal.

Log 45 minutes on the Mercato dashboard bug fix yesterday afternoon.

What you'll see: a draft card titled DRAFT TIME ENTRY with the parsed project, duration, start time, and description. Click Commit to save the entry, Dismiss to discard.

If the project is ambiguous (you have both "Mercato" and "Mercato Studio"), the draft will say so and won't have a Commit button until you re-prompt with a more specific phrase.

Tip: include a duration (30m, 1.5h, two hours), the project name, and a short description. Anything else (yesterday, this morning, at 14:30) becomes the start time.

Draft an invoice

Use this when you want to bill a client for a stretch of work.

Draft an invoice for Watchdog last month.

What you'll see: a draft card titled DRAFT INVOICE with:

• The period (e.g. Apr 1 → May 1)
• The number of entries that would roll into it
• A per-project breakdown with hours and amounts
• The total in the client's currency

Click Commit to create the draft and jump straight to it. The invoice is saved as a Draft in Invoices; it isn't sent until you click Send there.

You can be more specific about the period:

• Draft an invoice for Acme for March.
• Draft an invoice for Acme covering 2026-Q1.
• Draft an invoice for Acme from 2026-04-01 to 2026-04-15.

If the period mixes currencies (the client paid you in EUR for some work and USD for others), the draft says so and asks you to narrow the window. Hourdini's invoices are single-currency.

Pre-flight before a draft

Use this when you don't want to commit yet, just see what's there.

What would an invoice for Acme last month look like?

The assistant runs the same preview but doesn't propose a draft. You get the totals and the breakdown without anything to commit. Useful when you're deciding whether it's worth invoicing this month.

See what's outstanding

Use this when you want a quick "who owes me money" summary.

Who owes me money?

What you'll see: a per-client, per-currency list of every sent invoice that hasn't been paid. Drilling deeper:

• Show me overdue invoices.
• What's outstanding for Watchdog?
• What's the total of invoice 2026-0042?

Inspect a specific invoice

Use this when you have an invoice number and want a quick look.

What's on invoice 2026-0042?

The assistant fetches the line items and totals. You'll see the client, status, currency, due date, and the per-line breakdown. Use it as a sanity check before resending or following up.

Multi-step: investigate then act

The assistant remembers the thread, so you can chain. Example:

What's unbilled for Acme this quarter?

(answer: "Acme Q1: 42.3 hours, USD 6,345.00 across 87 entries.")

Draft an invoice for that period.

The follow-up keeps the same client and period. The draft card shows up with the numbers you just heard.

This is the pattern we recommend: ask first, draft second. It keeps each turn cheap (read-only tools are free of guesswork) and gives you a chance to back out before anything is written.

When the assistant says no

A few responses you'll see and what they mean:

• "No unbilled, billable time in that period for this client." The window is empty. Either pick a different period or check that the entries you expected are marked billable.
• "Multiple currencies in this period (USD, EUR). Pick a narrower window." Hourdini won't draft a mixed-currency invoice. Split the period along the currency boundary and draft each separately.
• "Monthly AI budget exhausted. Try again next month." Your org hit its monthly token cap. An owner can raise the cap in Settings -> Assistant. See Settings and privacy.
• "This proposal has already been resolved." You're confirming a draft you already committed or dismissed. Open a new turn.

When to use the drawer vs. an external agent

The in-app drawer is best for short, conversational checks while you're in the web app: a question, one draft, a follow-up.

An external MCP agent (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Codex) is better for longer, multi-step workflows where you want the assistant to take more autonomous action: closing out a month, reconciling several clients, scripted patterns. External agents have full write access without per-action confirmation, scoped to one org via a Personal Access Token.

See Connect your own agent.