A Chrome extension that tracks how much time you spend typing in Instagram DMs — broken down by person, per day. Built in a few hours as a side project, but works reliably for what it does.
Tracks your typing engagement in Instagram Web DMs. Every time you're actively typing to someone, it logs time against their username. That's it.
It doesn't track reads, scrolling, or anything passive — only the time you're actually in the input field, typing away.
- Typing-only activation — timer starts when you type, not when you open a chat
- 5-second idle timeout — pauses automatically after you stop typing; this is configurable in the source if you want it longer or shorter
- Remembers your last contact — picks back up with the right username when you start typing again
- Per-user daily aggregation — multiple sessions with the same person on the same day get summed up automatically
- Session count — always shows how many separate typing sessions you had with someone
- Delete entries — one-click removal for any log
- Manual username correction — you can rename any log entry if the username was wrong or you want to clean it up
- Merge on rename — if you rename an entry to a username that already exists, it'll ask you to confirm and merge the two (time and session counts combined)
- Always-on draggable widget — sits on top of the Instagram page, shows who you're chatting with and the live timer
- Collapsible — hit "−" to get it out of your way
- Click-to-edit username — if the wrong name got picked up, just click and fix it inline
- 100% local storage — everything stays in your browser via Chrome's Storage API, nothing goes anywhere else
- JSON export/import — back up your data or move it to another device
InstaChat Analytics/
├── manifest.json
├── generate-icons.js
├── src/
│ ├── background/
│ │ └── service-worker.js
│ ├── content/
│ │ ├── content-script.js
│ │ └── content-style.css
│ ├── popup/
│ │ ├── popup.html
│ │ ├── popup.css
│ │ └── popup.js
│ └── assets/
│ ├── icon16.png
│ ├── icon48.png
│ └── icon128.png
└── README.md
- Clone or download this repo
- Go to
chrome://extensions/ - Enable Developer mode (top right)
- Click Load unpacked and select the project folder
- Open Instagram Web and go to any DM
- Start typing — the widget will appear and begin tracking
- Click the extension icon to see your stats
| Permission | Why |
|---|---|
storage |
Save your stats locally |
tabs |
Detect tab switches away from Instagram |
windows |
Detect when Chrome loses focus |
https://www.instagram.com/* |
Inject the widget and content script |
Not tracking?
- Make sure you're on
https://www.instagram.com/ - Check it's enabled in
chrome://extensions/ - Reload the page
- Remember: it only starts when you type in a DM input field
Wrong username showing up?
- Click the username in the widget and type the correct one
- Or rename the log entry in the popup after the fact
Data not appearing?
- Check the Today tab in the popup
- Try refreshing the popup
MIT — do whatever you want with it.