TrackUp is a desktop application for managing contacts and events that is optimised for a CLI-first experience while still offering the benefits of a GUI.

Designed for startup founders, TrackUp streamlines relationship management, follow-ups, and event organisation — helping you work efficiently without unnecessary distractions.

Quick start

  1. Check if Java is installed
    TrackUp needs Java (version 17 or higher) to run.
    • Mac users: Follow this guide to install Java properly.
    • Windows users: You can check if Java is installed by opening a command prompt and typing: java -version
  2. Download TrackUp
    Click here to download the latest version of TrackUp.
    • Download the file that ends with .jar.
  3. Choose where to keep TrackUp
    Move the downloaded .jar file to any folder you like.
    • This folder will be where TrackUp stores its data.
  4. Open TrackUp
    • Open the Terminal (on Mac) or Command Prompt (on Windows).
    • Go to the folder where you put the .jar file. To do that, type: cd path-to-the-folder (Replace “path-to-the-folder” with the actual folder location)
    • Then start the app by typing: java -jar trackup.jar
    • After a few seconds, the application will open with a window like this: Ui
  5. Try a command
    • Click on the command box at the top left of the application window.
    • Type a command like this: help and pressing Enter will open the help window.
    • Here are a few more example commands you can try:
      • list - Lists all contacts.
      • add -n John Doe -p 98765432 -e johnd@example.com -a John street, block 123, #01-01 - Adds a contact named John Doe to TrackUp.
      • delete 3 - Deletes the 3rd contact shown in the current list.
      • clear - Deletes all contacts.
      • exit - Exits the app.
  6. Learn more
    Scroll down to the Features section below to explore all the things TrackUp can do!

Features

:information_source: Notes about the command format:

  • Words in <UPPER_CASE> indicate the parameters to be supplied by the user. e.g., in add -n <NAME>, <NAME> is a parameter which can be used as add -n John Doe.
  • Items in square brackets are optional. e.g., -c <CATEGORY> is optional.
  • The order of parameters is flexible. e.g., add -n John Doe -p 98765432 is equivalent to add -p 98765432 -n John Doe.
  • Extraneous parameters for commands that do not require any (such as exit and clear) will be ignored.
  • When copying commands from this PDF version, ensure that line breaks do not remove necessary spaces.

Viewing help: help

Shows a message to access the help page.
Shows a full usage with example when a specific command is given.

help message

Format: help [<COMMAND_WORD>]

Notes:

  • COMMAND_WORD is optional.

Examples:

  • help
  • help add - displays full usage for add command
  • help delete - displays full usage with description and example for delete command

Adding a person: add

Adds a contact to TrackUp.

Format: add -n <NAME> -p <PHONE> -e <EMAIL> -a <ADDRESS> [-c <CATEGORY>] [-t <TAG>]...

:bulb: Tip: A person can have any number of tags (including 0)

Notes:

  • NAME, PHONE, EMAIL, and ADDRESS are compulsory.
  • CATEGORY and TAG are optional.
  • CATEGORY should be one of: Client, Investor, Partner, Other and is case-insensitive.
  • TAG must be a single alphanumeric word with no spaces or special characters.
  • If any required field (name, phone, email, or address) is missing, a descriptive error will appear indicating the exact missing attribute.

Examples:

  • add -n John Doe -p 98765432 -e johnd@example.com -a John street, block 123, #01-01 -c Client -t friend
  • add -n Betsy Crowe -p 1234567 -e betsycrowe@example.com -a Newgate Prison

Deleting a person: delete

Deletes the specified contact from TrackUp.

Format: delete <INDEX>

Notes:

  • Deletes the person at the specified INDEX.
  • INDEX refers to the contact’s index in the current list (must be a positive integer).

Examples:

  • delete 3 - deletes the third contact in the current list.
  • list followed by delete 2 - deletes the 2nd person in the address book.
  • find Betsy followed by delete 1 - deletes the 1st person in the results of the find command.

Deleting a person by attributes: deleteby

Deletes a contact from TrackUp using one or more attributes.

Format: deleteby [-n <NAME>] [-p <PHONE>] [-e <EMAIL>] [-a <ADDRESS>] [-c <CATEGORY>] [-t <TAG>]

Notes:

  • Deletes the person that matches the provided attributes.
  • At least one attribute must be specified.
  • Attribute matching is exact and case-sensitive, except for EMAIL which is case-insensitive.
  • If multiple contacts match the criteria, the system will display an error message stating that multiple matches were found and that no contact will be deleted.

Examples:

  • deleteby -n John Doe - deletes the person named John Doe from the address book.
  • deleteby -p 98765432 - deletes the person with phone number 98765432.
  • deleteby -e johnd@example.com - deletes the person with email johnd@example.com.
  • deleteby -a 311, Clementi Ave 2, #02-25 - deletes the person living at 311, Clementi Ave 2, #02-25.
  • deleteby -c Client - deletes the person with the category Client.
  • deleteby -n John Doe -p 98765432 - deletes the person named John Doe with phone number 98765432.

Editing a person: edit

Edits an existing person in TrackUp.

Format: edit <INDEX> [-n <NAME>] [-p <PHONE>] [-e <EMAIL>] [-a <ADDRESS>] [-c <CATEGORY>] [-t <TAG>]...

Notes:

  • INDEX refers to the contact’s index in the current displayed person list (must be a positive integer).
  • At least one of the optional fields must be provided.
  • When editing tags, the existing tags of the person will be removed i.e. adding of tags is not cumulative.
  • You can remove all the person’s tags by typing -t without specifying any tags after it.

Examples:

  • edit 1 -p 91234567 -e johnd@example.com - updates the phone number and email of the first contact.
  • edit 2 -n Betsy Crower -c Investor - updates the name and sets the category to Investor for the second contact.

Listing all persons: list

Displays all contacts in TrackUp, optionally filtering by category.

Format: list [<CATEGORY>]

Notes

  • CATEGORY is optional and case-insensitive.
  • Displays all contacts if no category is specified.
  • If a category is provided, only contacts from that category are shown.

Examples:

  • list - displays all contacts.
  • list Client - displays only contacts categorised as Client.
  • list Investor - displays only contacts categorised as Investor.

Sorting persons list: sort

Sorts displayed contacts the current list by the given attributes.

Format: sort [-n <BOOLEAN>] [-p <BOOLEAN>] [-e <BOOLEAN>] [-a <BOOLEAN>] [-c <BOOLEAN>] [-t <BOOLEAN>]

Notes:

  • Displays all contacts if no attribute is specified.
  • If an attribute is provided, displays the result after sorting by the specified attribute.
  • BOOLEAN should be either true or false and is case-insensitive, to indicate if the sorting is ascending (true) or descending (false).
  • Prefixes for attributes: -n for name, -p for phone, -e for email, -a for address, -c for category, and -t for tag.

Examples:

  • sort - displays all contacts.
  • sort -n true - displays persons list sorted by name in ascending order.

sort by name in ascending order

  • sort -n false - displays persons list sorted by name in descending order.

sort by name in descending order

  • sort -t true -n false - displays persons list first sorted by tag in ascending order, then sorted by name in descending order.

Locating persons by name: find

Finds persons whose names contain any of the given keywords.

Format: find <KEYWORD> [<MORE_KEYWORDS>]...

Notes:

  • The search is case-insensitive. e.g. hans will match Hans.
  • The order of keywords does not matter. e.g. Hans Bo will match Bo Hans.
  • Only the name attribute is searched.
  • Only full word matches are considered. e.g. Han will not match Hans.
  • Persons matching at least one keyword will be returned (i.e., an OR search).

Examples:

  • find John - returns persons with name such as John Doe.
  • find alex david - returns persons with names such as Alex Yeoh and David Li.

find alex david

Finds persons whose attributes contain the given keyword.

Format: search <KEYWORD>

Notes:

  • The search is case-insensitive. e.g., john will match John.
  • Partial matches are supported. e.g., son will match Johnson.
  • The search applies to all attributes (name, phone, email, address, tags, and category).
  • Persons matching the keyword will be returned.

Examples:

  • search John - returns persons with names such as John Doe and Johnny Smith.
  • search 98765432 - returns persons with the phone number 98765432.
  • search johnd@example.com - returns persons with the email johnd@example.com.
  • search Clementi - returns persons whose address contains Clementi.
  • search friends - returns persons who have the tag friends.
  • search client - returns persons categorised as Client.
  • search doe - returns persons whose attributes contain “doe”, such as John Doe and johndoe@example.com.

search doe

Adding an event: addevent

Adds an event to TrackUp.

Format: addevent -t <EVENT_TITLE> -s <START_DATETIME> -e <END_DATETIME> [-c <CONTACT_INDEX>]...

:bulb: Tip: An event can have any number of contacts linked (including 0)

Notes:

  • EVENT_TITLE, START_DATETIME, and END_DATETIME are compulsory.
  • CONTACT_INDEX is optional.
  • START_DATETIME and END_DATETIME must be in YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM format.
  • Added event is updated in both events list and the weekly calendar.

Examples:

  • addevent -t Team Meeting -s 2025-03-30 14:00 -e 2025-03-30 15:00 -c 1 -c 3 - adds Team Meeting event from 14:00 to 15:00 on March 30, 2025, linking it to contacts at index 1 and 3.
  • addevent -t Project Deadline -s 2025-04-01 23:59 -e 2025-04-02 00:00 - adds Project Deadline event without linking any contacts.

add event

Deleting an event: delevent

Deletes events from TrackUp based on specified filters.

Format: delevent [-t <TITLE_KEYWORD>] [-s <START_DATETIME>] [-e <END_DATETIME>] [-c <CONTACT_INDEX>]...

Notes:

  • At least one filter must be provided.
  • TITLE_KEYWORD performs a case-insensitive partial match on event titles.
  • START_DATETIME and END_DATETIME require an exact match (YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM format).
  • CONTACT_INDEX matches events linked to the specified contacts.
  • All matching events will be deleted.
  • If no matching events are found, an error message is displayed.
  • Deleted events are updated in both events list and the weekly calendar.

Examples:

  • delevent -t Meeting - deletes all events with “Meeting” in the title.
  • delevent -s 2025-03-30 14:00 -e 2025-03-30 15:00 - deletes all events exactly matching this start and end time.
  • delevent -c 2 - deletes all events linked to the contact at index 2.
  • delevent -t Workshop -c 1 -c 4 - deletes all events with “Workshop” in the title that are linked to contacts at index 1 or 4.

Adding a note to a person: addnote

Adds a short note to the specified person in TrackUp.

Format: addnote <PERSON_INDEX> <NOTE_TEXT>

Notes:

  • PERSON_INDEX refers to the contact’s index in the currently displayed list (must be a positive integer).
  • Each person can have up to 5 notes.
  • Notes should be short and descriptive. The maximum note length is 50 characters.
  • Notes are displayed beneath the person’s details in the UI.

Examples:

  • addnote 1 Met at tech networking event
  • addnote 2 Follow up next week regarding proposal

add note

Deleting a note from a person: delnote

Deletes a specific note from a person in TrackUp.

Format: delnote <PERSON_INDEX> <NOTE_INDEX>

Notes:

  • PERSON_INDEX refers to the person in the currently displayed list.
  • NOTE_INDEX refers to the position of the note in that person’s list of notes (must be a positive integer).
  • Notes are displayed in order; the first note is index 1.

Examples:

  • delnote 2 1 - deletes the first note from the second person in the list.
  • find John followed by delnote 1 2 - deletes the second note from the first person in the search results for “John”.

Toggling field visibility: toggle

Toggles the visibility of a specific field in the TrackUp contact list UI. This command is useful for customising the information you want displayed for each contact.

Format: toggle <FIELD>

Supported Fields:

  • name
  • phone
  • email
  • address
  • tag
  • category
  • note
  • datetime

Notes:

  • All fields are visible by default.
  • Executing the command will invert the visibility of the given field.
  • Changes apply to the persons list and events list.
  • Running the command again for the same field will revert it to its previous visibility.

Examples:

  • toggle name - toggles the visibility of the name field.
  • toggle phone - toggles the visibility of the phone field.

toggle phone

  • toggle note - toggles the visibility of the note field.
  • toggle datetime - toggles the visibility of the datetime field.

toggle datetime

Using keyboard shortcuts

TrackUp provides convenient keyboard shortcuts to quickly navigate and perform actions in the application.

Shortcuts and Actions:

  • F1 - opens the Help Window.
  • F2 - shows the person list in the list panel.
  • F3 - shows the event list in the list panel.
  • ← (Left Arrow) - moves to the previous week in the weekly calendar.
  • → (Right Arrow) - moves to the next week in the weekly calendar.

Notes:

  • These shortcuts can be used from anywhere within the main application window.
  • If the command box is selected, ← and → will not trigger calendar navigation. Instead, they will behave like normal text-editing keys.

Clearing all entries: clear

Clears all contacts and events from TrackUp.

Format: clear

Exiting the program: exit

Exits TrackUp.

Format: exit

Saving and Editing Data

  • Saving the Data: TrackUp automatically saves data as a JSON file in your home folder after any command that changes the data.

  • Editing the Data File: The data is stored as a JSON file (e.g., [JAR file location]/data/trackup.json). Advanced users can edit this file directly, but be sure to back up the file first.

:exclamation: Caution: Editing the data file incorrectly may cause TrackUp to discard all data or behave unexpectedly.

Archiving data files [coming in v2.0]

FAQ

Q: How do I transfer my data to another Computer?
A: Install TrackUp on the other computer and replace the empty data file it creates with your backup from your previous TrackUp home folder.

Known Issues

  1. Multi-screen Usage: When using multiple screens, if you move the application between screens, the GUI might open off-screen on some setups. Delete the preferences.json file in your TrackUp folder to reset the display settings.

  2. Help Window Behavior: If you minimize the Help Window and then issue the help command again, the original Help Window may remain minimized. Manually restore the window to view the help message.

Command Summary

Action Format Examples
View help help [<COMMAND_WORD>] help, help add
Add a person add -n <NAME> -p <PHONE> -e <EMAIL> -a <ADDRESS> [-c <CATEGORY>] [-t <TAG>]... add -n John -p 98765432 -e john@example.com -a Street 1
Delete a person delete <INDEX> delete 3
Delete person by attributes deleteby [-n <NAME>] [-p <PHONE>] [-e <EMAIL>] [-a <ADDRESS>] [-c <CATEGORY>] [-t <TAG>] deleteby -n John Doe, deleteby -p 98765432
Edit a person edit <INDEX> [-n <NAME>] [-p <PHONE>] [-e <EMAIL>] [-a <ADDRESS>] [-c <CATEGORY>] [-t <TAG>]... edit 1 -p 91234567 -e johnd@example.com
List persons list [<CATEGORY>] list, list Client
Sort persons sort [-n <BOOLEAN>] [-p <BOOLEAN>] [-e <BOOLEAN>] [-a <BOOLEAN>] [-c <BOOLEAN>] [-t <BOOLEAN>] sort -n true, sort -t true -n false
Find persons by name find <KEYWORD> [<MORE_KEYWORDS>]... find John, find alex david
Search persons by attribute search <KEYWORD> search John, search Clementi
Add an event addevent -t <TITLE> -s <START_DATETIME> -e <END_DATETIME> [-c <CONTACT_INDEX>]... addevent -t Meeting -s 2025-03-30 14:00 -e 2025-03-30 15:00 -c 1 -c 3
Delete an event delevent [-t <TITLE>] [-s <START_DATETIME>] [-e <END_DATETIME>] [-c <CONTACT_INDEX>]... delevent -t Meeting, delevent -c 2
Add a note addnote <PERSON_INDEX> <NOTE_TEXT> addnote 1 Follow up next week
Delete a note delnote <PERSON_INDEX> <NOTE_INDEX> delnote 2 1
Toggle field visibility toggle <FIELD> toggle name, toggle phone
Keyboard shortcuts F1, F2, F3, ←, → F1: help, F2: person list, ←: previous week
Clear all contacts clear clear
Exit program exit exit