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

Invoices commands

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

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

Look up billing for a client

• freshbooks clients list -s "company name" -- find the client ID
• freshbooks invoices list -- list all invoices (filter by client in output)
• freshbooks invoices get -- 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 --client-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.