Why I used Google Sheets as a Database for my Open-Source Pomodoro Tool

Scott McCarty — Sun, 28 Dec 2025 03:36:04 +0000

Most productivity apps are "data silos." You spend hundreds of hours feeding them your focus data, only to find it locked behind a proprietary cloud, a subscription paywall, or a clunky CSV export.

As an engineer—with a career spanning from NASA to leadership at Red Hat—I’ve used the Pomodoro technique for over 20 years. I’ve tried every app under the sun, but I always returned to the same realization: The "audit" is more important than the "timer."

I didn't want a "streak" or a badge. I wanted high-fidelity data that I could analyze to find where my mental energy was leaking. So, I built Acquacotta.

The Architecture: Why Google Sheets?
When I set out to build a professional-grade Pomodoro system, I made a specific architectural choice: No proprietary backend. Instead, Acquacotta uses your own Google Sheet as its primary database.

Data Sovereignty and Composability By logging sessions directly to a spreadsheet you own, the data is immediately "composable." You don't have to wait for a developer to build a new reporting feature. You can:

Run Pivot Tables to see "Deep Work" vs. "Admin" time.

Use native Google Sheets AI to find trends in your focus.

Pipe the data into a Looker Studio dashboard or an LLM for a career audit.

Offline-First with SQLite A productivity tool is useless if it lags. Acquacotta uses a local SQLite cache. When you finish a session, it logs locally first. This ensures the UI is lightning-fast and works offline. The sync to Google Sheets happens in the background, handling API latency without interrupting your flow.

Beyond the Alarm: The "Power User" Features
Most "free" timers are toys. Acquacotta is built for people who treat their productivity like a data science project:

Acoustic Focus: I included an optional "tick-tock" sound inspired by the iconic 60 Minutes stopwatch. For me, this has become a Pavlovian trigger—when the ticking starts, my brain knows it is time for deep work.

Hardware Hybrid Mode: I often use physical Hexagon timers on my desk. Acquacotta has a dedicated mode to instantly log these manual sessions, ensuring your digital audit log remains the "Single Source of Truth."

Burnout Prevention: It tracks "Daily Minute Goals." It’s designed to help you find the "Goldilocks zone"—working enough to feel accomplished without hitting the "heroics-to-burnout" cycle.

Purely Open Source (FOSS)
I want to be clear: There will never be a commercial version of Acquacotta. I built this because I wanted a professional-grade tool that respected my data ownership. It is 100% open-source, privacy-focused, and free forever. It’s a tool built by a developer, for developers, managers, and data nerds.

I’d love your feedback
The project is currently in active development. I’m particularly interested in your thoughts on:

The Sync Logic: How do you feel about "Sheets-as-a-backend" for personal telemetry?

The Audit: What metrics are you tracking in your own deep-work sessions?

Check out the repo, grab the code, or try the hosted version. Let’s stop renting our productivity data and start owning it.

GitHub: https://github.com/fatherlinux/Acquacotta
Hosted Version: https://acquacotta.crunchtools.com:8443

Forem: Scott McCarty

Why I used Google Sheets as a Database for my Open-Source Pomodoro Tool