# Managing & Consolidating Activities As you use the Zipwire CLI, you'll accumulate activities. Over time, these can become sprawling, inconsistent, or redundant. This guide covers how to organize and consolidate them. ## Why Activity Management Matters After months of tracking time, you might have: * **Duplicates**: "Frontend Development" and "Frontend > Development" * **Typos**: "Meeetings" instead of "Meetings" * **Inconsistent naming**: "Bug Fixes", "Bug Fixing", "Bug Fix" * **Too many activities**: Staffing agencies often prefer fewer, broader categories * **Historical cruft**: Old client names or abandoned projects The good news: the CLI lets you consolidate and rename activities **without losing any data**. All your journal entries automatically update. ## Finding Activities ### List All Activities ```bash # View all activities zw activity list # View in hierarchical format zw activity list --style hierarchical # View as flat list (default) zw activity list --style flat ``` ### Search for Activities ```bash # Search by name zw activity search "meeting" # Search by project zw activity search "ABC Corp" # Search by activity zw activity search "bug" ``` ### See Recently Used ```bash # Most recently used activities zw activity recent # Last 2 weeks zw activity recent --period 2w # Last 30 days zw activity recent --period 30d ``` ## Consolidating Activities ### Basic Rename Rename a single activity: ```bash zw activity rename --from "Old Activity Name" --to "New Activity Name" ``` Example: ```bash zw activity rename --from "Meeetings" --to "Meetings" ``` ### Merging Multiple Activities Merge several activities into one. This is useful when you have duplicates or variations: ```bash zw activity rename \ --from "Frontend Development" \ --from "Frontend > Development" \ --from "FE Dev" \ --to "Client A > Frontend > Development" ``` This command: 1. Takes all entries from the three source activities 2. Moves them to the target activity 3. Removes the old activities 4. Updates all journal entries automatically ### Using Activity Keys For programmatic use (scripts, agents), you can use activity keys instead of names: ```bash # Get activity keys from list zw activity list --format structured # Merge using keys zw activity rename \ --from "abe_jnla_ac71x94j8smyi0fu" \ --from "abe_jnla_bc82y05k9t" \ --to "abe_jnla_cd93z16l0u" ``` ### Important: Quoting Activity Names Activity names with spaces or the `>` character **must be quoted**: ```bash # ❌ Wrong - shell will interpret the > zw activity rename --from Client > Development --to Client > Dev # ✅ Correct - quoted names zw activity rename --from "Client > Development" --to "Client > Dev" ``` ## What Happens During Consolidation When you merge activities, the CLI: 1. **Consolidates** all journal entries from source activities to the target 2. **Updates** every affected journal entry automatically 3. **Removes** the old activities once merged 4. **Reports** what was changed: * Number of entries updated * Activities removed * Breakdown per source activity Example output: ``` ↓ Activity consolidation complete ▦ Target Activity • Client A > Development > Features ▦ Merged Activities • 45 entries from "Client A > Dev > Features" • 12 entries from "Frontend Features" ✓ 57 total entries updated ✓ 2 activities removed ``` ## Common Consolidation Scenarios ### Scenario 1: Fixing Typos You've been tracking time with a typo in an activity name: ```bash zw activity rename --from "Meetigns" --to "Meetings" ``` All 23 entries under "Meetigns" are automatically updated to "Meetings". ### Scenario 2: Handling Agency Constraints Your staffing agency prefers fewer, broader categories. Instead of: ``` Client A > Development > Features Client A > Development > Bug Fixes Client A > Development > Code Review Client A > QA > Testing Client A > QA > Automation ``` Consolidate to: ```bash zw activity rename \ --from "Client A > Development > Features" \ --from "Client A > Development > Bug Fixes" \ --from "Client A > Development > Code Review" \ --to "Client A > Development" zw activity rename \ --from "Client A > QA > Testing" \ --from "Client A > QA > Automation" \ --to "Client A > QA" ``` Now all entries are organized under just two high-level activities. ### Scenario 3: Consolidating Duplicates You've been inconsistent with naming. Fix it: ```bash zw activity rename \ --from "Frontend Development" \ --from "Frontend > Development" \ --from "FE Dev" \ --from "Frontend Dev Work" \ --to "Client A > Frontend > Development" ``` All 127 entries across four variations are merged into one activity. ### Scenario 4: Cleaning Up Old Clients You finished a project and want to consolidate historical entries: ```bash zw activity rename \ --from "Old Client > Project Alpha > Development" \ --from "Old Client > Project Alpha > QA" \ --from "Old Client > Project Alpha > Meetings" \ --to "Archive > Old Client > Project Alpha" ``` All historical entries are grouped under an "Archive" company for easy reference. ## Before & After: A Real Example **Before consolidation** (scattered activities): ```bash $ zw activity list • ABC Corp > Development > Features • ABC Corp > Dev > Bug Fixes • ABC Corp > Frontend Development • ABC Corp > Frontend > Features • ABC Corp > Meetings • ABC Corp > Meeting Notes • Personal > General > General • Personal > Admin > Admin Work • Personal > Admin > General ``` **Consolidation commands:** ```bash # Fix ABC Corp inconsistencies zw activity rename \ --from "ABC Corp > Dev > Bug Fixes" \ --to "ABC Corp > Development > Bug Fixes" zw activity rename \ --from "ABC Corp > Frontend Development" \ --from "ABC Corp > Frontend > Features" \ --to "ABC Corp > Frontend > Development" zw activity rename \ --from "ABC Corp > Meeting Notes" \ --to "ABC Corp > Meetings" # Consolidate Personal admin zw activity rename \ --from "Personal > Admin > Admin Work" \ --from "Personal > Admin > General" \ --to "Personal > Admin" ``` **After consolidation** (clean and organized): ```bash $ zw activity list • ABC Corp > Development > Features • ABC Corp > Development > Bug Fixes • ABC Corp > Frontend > Development • ABC Corp > Meetings • Personal > General > General • Personal > Admin ``` Much cleaner! ## Tips & Best Practices ### Plan Before Consolidating Think about your structure before renaming: ```bash # Decide on a consistent format first # Option A: Company > Project > Activity # Option B: Company > Activity > Subactivity # Option C: Client > Billable Category ``` ### Check Entry Counts First See how many entries are affected: ```bash zw activity search "old-name" # Shows all entries so you know the impact ``` ### Consolidate in Batches If you have many activities, do a few at a time and verify: ```bash # Consolidate one client first zw activity rename --from "Client A Old Name" --to "Client A > Development" # Verify it worked zw activity search "Client A" # Then move to the next batch zw activity rename --from "Client B Old Name" --to "Client B > Development" ``` ### Keep Hierarchies Consistent Use consistent separators and levels: ```bash # ✅ Consistent "Company > Project > Task Type" "Company > Project > Task Type" # ❌ Inconsistent "Company > Project > Task Type" "Company - Project - Task Type" "Company/Project/Task" ``` ### Use Codes for Broad Categories If you work for multiple agencies or have many clients, consider using codes: ```bash zw activity rename \ --from "Old Agency Name > Development" \ --to "AGENCY_CODE > Development" # E.g., "A001 > Development", "A002 > Development" ``` ## Troubleshooting ### "Activity Not Found" The activity name doesn't exist exactly as written. Check: ```bash # Search for it zw activity search "part-of-name" # List all activities zw activity list ``` ### Forgot to Quote the Name ```bash # ❌ This won't work zw activity rename --from Client > Development --to New Name # ✅ Always quote names with > or spaces zw activity rename --from "Client > Development" --to "New Name" ``` ### Want to Undo a Merge The merge is permanent, but you can: 1. Create a new activity with the old name 2. Move entries back using a rename ```bash # Create the old activity again zw activity create "Old Activity Name" # Move entries that need it (you'll need to do this via the API or web app) ``` *** For more on tracking time and working with activities, see: * [Getting Started](https://docs.zipwire.io/tools-and-integrations/getting-started) * [Common Workflows](https://docs.zipwire.io/tools-and-integrations/workflows) * [Configuration](https://docs.zipwire.io/tools-and-integrations/configuration) Use the built-in help anytime: ```bash zw activity --help zw activity rename --help ```