Freshbooks CLI

freshbooks-cli

CLI tool for managing FreshBooks invoices, clients, and billing. Uses the official @freshbooks/api SDK.

Install

npm install -g @haseebuchiha/freshbooks-cli

Requires .npmrc with @haseebuchiha:registry=https://npm.pkg.github.com for GitHub Package Registry.

Setup (once)

Authenticate with FreshBooks OAuth2. You must use the --manual flag (localhost redirect does not work with FreshBooks).

freshbooks auth login \
  --client-id "<FRESHBOOKS_CLIENT_ID>" \
  --client-secret "<FRESHBOOKS_CLIENT_SECRET>" \
  --manual

This opens the browser. Authorize, then copy the code from the page and paste it into the CLI. Tokens are stored at ~/.config/freshbooks-cli/config.json (0600 permissions) and auto-refresh before expiry.

Verify: freshbooks auth status

Auth commands

• freshbooks auth login --client-id <id> --client-secret <secret> --manual -- authenticate via OAuth2 OOB flow
• freshbooks auth logout -- clear stored tokens and credentials
• freshbooks auth status -- show account ID, token expiry, and auth state
• freshbooks auth refresh -- manually refresh the access token

Clients commands

• freshbooks clients list [-p <page>] [--per-page <n>] [-s <search>] -- list clients, search by org name
• freshbooks clients get <id> -- get a single client by ID
• freshbooks clients create [--fname <name>] [--lname <name>] [--email <email>] [--organization <org>] -- create a client
• freshbooks clients create --data '<json>' -- create with full JSON payload
• freshbooks clients update <id> --data '<json>' -- update a client

Example: freshbooks clients create --fname "Taha" --organization "abcg.io"

Invoices commands

• freshbooks invoices list [-p <page>] [--per-page <n>] -- list invoices
• freshbooks invoices get <id> -- get a single invoice by ID
• freshbooks invoices create --client-id <id> [--lines '<json>'] -- create an invoice with line items
• freshbooks invoices create --client-id <id> --data '<json>' -- create with full JSON payload
• freshbooks invoices update <id> --data '<json>' -- update an invoice
• freshbooks invoices archive <id> -- archive an invoice (no permanent delete in FreshBooks)
• freshbooks invoices share-link <id> -- get a shareable link for an invoice

Line items format

Lines are a JSON array. Each line has name, qty, and unitCost (money object):

[
  {"name": "Web Services", "qty": 1, "unitCost": {"amount": "15000.00", "code": "USD"}},
  {"name": "App Services", "qty": 1, "unitCost": {"amount": "15000.00", "code": "USD"}}
]

Example (full invoice create):

freshbooks invoices create --client-id 818183 \
  --lines '[{"name":"Web Services","qty":1,"unitCost":{"amount":"15000.00","code":"USD"}},{"name":"App Services","qty":1,"unitCost":{"amount":"15000.00","code":"USD"}}]'

Workflows

Onboard a new client and invoice them

1. freshbooks clients create --fname "Name" --organization "Company" -- note the returned id
2. freshbooks invoices create --client-id <id> --lines '[...]' -- create the invoice
3. freshbooks invoices share-link <invoice-id> -- get shareable link

Look up billing for a client

1. freshbooks clients list -s "company name" -- find the client ID
2. freshbooks invoices list -- list all invoices (filter by client in output)
3. freshbooks invoices get <id> -- get full invoice details

Notes

• All output is JSON to stdout. Pipe to jq for filtering: freshbooks clients list | jq '.clients[].organization'
• Money values are {"amount": "string", "code": "USD"}. The amount is always a string like "30000.00", never a number. Do not use parseFloat on money.
• archive sets vis_state=1. FreshBooks does not support permanent deletion.
• Tokens auto-refresh. If refresh fails, re-run freshbooks auth login --client-id <id> --client-secret <secret> --manual.
• Client credentials can also be read from env vars FRESHBOOKS_CLIENT_ID and FRESHBOOKS_CLIENT_SECRET (takes priority over stored config).
• Always use --manual for auth login. The localhost callback redirect URI does not work with FreshBooks.
• Confirm with the user before creating invoices or modifying billing data.