Channels
A channel is a data-collection connector that brings activity into TimeCampus. Channels are the plumbing behind the automatic, privacy-first Timeline: each connected tool becomes a source of contextual activity signal, and the timeline assembles itself from what your channels capture.
You stay in control of what's connected. Every channel is something you registered, configured, and can turn off at any time.
Channel types
Channels come in two families:
| Family | Examples | What they capture |
|---|---|---|
| Native clients | Browser extension, mobile app, desktop app, CLI | Activity from the device or client itself — the context of what kind of work is happening |
| Integration channels | Calendar, code editor, chat, email, project tools | Activity signal from the work tools you already use — meetings, coding sessions, communication |
Both families follow the same privacy rules — see Privacy-first capture below.
The Channels page
Open Channels in the app at app.timecampus.com to manage your connectors. From here you can:
- Register a channel — pick the channel type, give it a name, and configure its settings
- Set the sync cadence — how often the channel should sync activity into TimeCampus
- Toggle a channel on or off — pause capture from a source without deleting its configuration
- Trigger a sync — run a sync on demand; the channel's last-sync time updates so you can see it ran
- Review status — each channel shows its current status and last-sync information at a glance
- Delete a channel — remove a connector entirely
Channel lifecycle
A channel moves through statuses as you set it up and use it:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Setup | The channel has been registered but isn't capturing yet — finish configuration and activate it |
| Active | The channel is on; it can be synced and will feed the timeline |
Newly registered channels start in Setup. Activate a channel to turn it on; toggle it off any time to pause it. Only an active channel can be synced — syncing a channel that isn't active returns an error rather than silently doing nothing.
A typical setup
- Open Channels and register a channel — for example, a calendar channel
- Configure its settings and activate it
- Set the sync interval to the cadence you want
- Trigger a sync (or let the interval handle it) — the channel records when it last synced
Repeat for each tool you want feeding your timeline. You can connect as many or as few channels as you're comfortable with — the Timeline composes whatever sources you've opted into and degrades gracefully when a source is off.
Privacy-first capture
Channels are built around a hard rule: insight, not surveillance.
- No screenshots. Channels never capture images of your screen.
- No keystroke logging. What you type is never recorded.
- No idle-time policing. Channels don't measure whether you're "at your desk."
- Contextual signal only. A channel captures what kind of work happened — a meeting, a coding session, communication — not the content of it.
You decide which channels exist, which are active, and how often they sync. Turning a channel off stops capture from that source immediately. For the full picture of what TimeCampus deliberately does and doesn't collect, see the Privacy model.
Offline capture and reliable delivery
Native-client channels are designed for offline-first collection: when a device loses connectivity, activity is collected locally and delivered reliably once the connection returns. You don't lose your timeline because you worked on a plane.
Access control
Channels are workspace-scoped. Managing channels requires the appropriate channel permission in your workspace — a member without it can't create, change, or delete channel configurations. See Access control for how roles and permissions work.
What works today vs. what's rolling out
Channel configuration is fully available today: you can register channels, configure settings and sync intervals, toggle them on and off, and trigger syncs that record when they ran.
The continuous live capture engine — where an active channel automatically pulls activity from its external source (your calendar, editor, chat, email, browser) and streams it into your timeline on every sync — is still rolling out. Today, a sync is a configuration-level operation: it validates the channel and stamps the sync time, but does not yet ingest data from the external tool. Time data still flows into TimeCampus through time entries, the timer, and the per-source surfaces like meetings and email tracking. See the roadmap for sequencing.
Setting your channels up now means your capture preferences are ready the moment live sync reaches your workspace.
Next steps
- Timeline — the view your channels feed
- Privacy model — what is and isn't captured, in full
- Data controls — retention and per-surface privacy settings