Clerq

An open-source, self-hostable business operating system for developer-freelancers and small dev studios: clients, projects, time tracking, expenses and invoicing in one connected flow.

Use it live →  ·  Website  ·  Documentation  ·  Self-host

Try it

• Hosted: sign up at app.useclerq.net, no install, use it in your browser.
• Self-hosted: one docker compose up (see below).

Features

• Clients with contacts, default rates, VAT numbers and an activity thread
• Projects and tasks with a kanban board and list views
• Time tracking: start/stop timers, manual entries, and a weekly timesheet
• Invoicing: generate lines from unbilled time (grouped your way) or add fixed amounts; multi-currency with ECB conversion fixed per line; standard / zero-rated / reverse-charge VAT; gapless per-year numbering; draft / sent / paid / overdue lifecycle; branded PDF export
• Recurring invoices (retainers): set a schedule once: client, tax treatment and fixed-amount lines on a cadence (weekly through yearly, every N periods) with net terms and an optional end date or occurrence cap. Clerq drafts each invoice when it comes due and either leaves it for review or auto-issues it; pause and resume any time. A built-in scheduler runs the sweep, with an optional token-guarded /api/cron/run for external cron
• Expenses: capture expenses and attach them to projects
• AI & MCP: an embedded Model Context Protocol server lets AI assistants run your business through the same rules as the web app
• Provably-correct money math: every billing rule is fixture-tested with hand-verified expected output, using minor-unit integer arithmetic so floats never touch money
• Teams and roles: small-team memberships with roles and permissions, everything scoped per business
• Multiple businesses per account: one login can own and belong to several businesses, with a topbar switcher to move between them - clean separation, no second account needed
• CSV import with interactive column mapping for migrating clients in
• Auth: email/password (Better Auth), optional Google SSO via env config, server-side database sessions
• One-command self-host via docker-compose, demo seed included

Screenshots

Captured from the built-in demo data (pnpm db:seed). See docs/screenshots to regenerate them.

AI & MCP

Clerq ships an embedded Model Context Protocol server, so AI assistants (Claude, or any MCP client) can run your business data directly, under the same permissions and per-business boundary as the web app.

• 50+ tools spanning clients (with contacts, notes and per-member rates), projects, tasks, time tracking, invoicing, expenses, profit reporting and team management.
• Every tool wraps the same tRPC layer the UI uses, so validation and the per-business tenancy boundary are identical; an assistant never gets a side door into your data.
• OAuth 2.1 authorization (via Better Auth) with a consent screen, so you can connect a client without minting or pasting long-lived tokens.
• Signed, short-lived invoice PDF links, so an assistant can hand you a downloadable invoice without a browser login.
• Served at /api/mcp inside the app, with nothing extra to deploy.

Point any MCP client at your instance:

https://app.useclerq.net/api/mcp     # hosted
https://<your-instance>/api/mcp      # self-hosted

AI receipt scanning (optional): set an OPENROUTER_API_KEY to add a “Scan with AI” button on the expense form that reads an uploaded receipt (PNG, JPEG or PDF) and pre-fills the fields. It stays hidden unless configured; see .env.example.

See the AI docs for the full tool list and client-setup walkthrough.

Self-host (one command)

Requires Docker.

git clone https://github.com/PunterDigital/clerq.git
cd clerq
docker compose up

This starts Postgres, applies database migrations, and serves the app on http://localhost:3000. Defaults are fine for trying it locally; set POSTGRES_PASSWORD (see .env.example) before exposing it anywhere.

Make yourself a platform admin

The System Administration area (cross-tenant stats and moderation) requires an existing platform admin, which the first sign-up cannot be. Create your account in the app, then bootstrap yourself from the running container:

docker compose exec app node grant-admin.mjs [email protected]

It's idempotent, so re-running is harmless. Once you're in, grant any other admins from System Administration → Users. (Contributors running from a source checkout can use pnpm admin:grant <email> instead.)

Check which version is running

GET /version returns the running release, e.g. {"version":"1.4.0"} (null for an image built from source). It needs no sign-in, so it works for deploy checks and uptime monitors.

Local development

Requires Node 24+, pnpm 10+, and a Postgres instance (or use docker compose up postgres).

pnpm install
cp .env.example .env   # point DATABASE_URL at your Postgres
pnpm db:migrate
pnpm db:seed           # optional demo data ([email protected] / clerq-demo)
pnpm dev

Quality gate (all must pass before any commit):

pnpm typecheck
pnpm lint
pnpm test
pnpm test:billing
pnpm build

See CONTRIBUTING.md for repo layout and conventions.

Licence

AGPL-3.0. You can self-host, modify, and redistribute freely; if you run a modified version as a network service, you must offer its source to your users. Chosen so the project stays genuinely open.