Quick Start

What is til.re?

til.re is a no-signup, instant timer supporting both countdown and countup modes. Just type your time in the address bar and press Enter to start.

Core philosophy: URL is the State — All settings are encoded in the URL, no backend storage needed. Share and bookmark anytime.

Get Started in 5 Seconds

Key Features

• Zero Signup: No account needed, start instantly
• Easy Sharing: URL is the state, just copy the link to share
• Countdown & Countup: Future time → countdown, past date → countup (elapsed time)
• Multiple Themes: Various visual styles to choose from
• Shortcut System: Semantic shortcuts (e.g., pomodoro, weekend)
• Loop Mode: Support for work/rest alternating cycles

URL Protocol

Basic Format

https://til.re/[TimeExpression]?[Parameters]

Examples:

• til.re/25m?title=Focus&theme=ring
• til.re/pomodoro?theme=zen

Time Expressions

til.re supports four types of time expression formats:

Relative Time

Start counting from the current moment. Supports seconds (s), minutes (m), hours (h), and days (d).

Absolute Time

Countdown to a specific time point. Supports multiple formats:

Date Only (supports countup)

Format: YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY/MM/DD

DateTime (supports countup)

Format: YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM or YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM, with optional timezone

Time Only (recurring daily, no countup)

Format: HH:MM or HH:MM:SS. Automatically rolls over to tomorrow if time has passed.

Month-Day (recurring yearly, no countup)

Format: MM-DD or MM/DD, optionally with time. Automatically rolls over to next year if date has passed.

Cyclic Time (A of B)

Periodic time points with automatic rollover to the next cycle. Format: [unitA]of[unitB][value]

Shortcuts

Semantic shortcuts that include predefined time and configuration. See Shortcut Reference for details.

Parameters

Common Parameters

Configuration parameters supported by all themes.

Units Parameter

Controls which time units are displayed. Default is hms (hours:minutes:seconds).

Examples:

• til.re/25m?units=ms - Minutes:Seconds only
• til.re/7d?units=dhms - Days:Hours:Minutes:Seconds
• til.re/2026-01-01?units=yMdhms - Full format

Compact Parameter

Controls hiding leading zeros:

• 0 (default): Show all units
• Positive integer N: Keep at least N units, hide leading zeros

Examples (with units=hms):

Overflow Parameter

Controls behavior when using absolute time with complete date (e.g., 2020-01-01):

Font Options

Parameter Applicability by Mode

Some parameters only apply to countdown mode. In countup mode (elapsed), parameters related to "completion" are ignored:

Configuration Priority

When the same configuration is defined in multiple places, the priority is:

URL Parameters > Shortcut Defaults > Global Defaults

Interaction Controls

Themes are divided into two categories with different interaction methods:

Functional Themes

Provide visual control buttons. Shown on mouse movement or touch, auto-hide after 3 seconds (Pixel theme always visible).

Immersive Themes

No control bar, uses implicit interaction to maintain visual immersion.

• Single Click: Pause / Resume
• Double Click: Toggle Fullscreen

Keyboard Shortcuts (All Themes)

default Default

Clean, large-font countdown display. Ideal for focus and minimalist scenarios.

Theme-Specific Parameters

Examples

• til.re/25m - Basic usage
• til.re/25m?color=ff6600&bg=000000 - Custom colors
• til.re/25m?scale=1.5&font=mono - Scaled + Monospace font

Shortcut Reference

Shortcuts are semantic presets that include predefined time expressions and configurations. Just use the shortcut name directly in the URL.

External Plugins

til.re supports loading themes and shortcuts from external GitHub repositories via jsDelivr CDN.

URL Format

Use @user/repo:name format to specify user plugins:

User Theme

til.re/25m?theme=@username/my-themes:aurora

User Shortcut

til.re/@username/my-shortcuts:deep-work

Official Plugins

Official plugins (themes without @ prefix) are loaded from the til-re/plugins repository. See the Themes section above for available themes.

Create Your Own Plugin

Use our official template to get started quickly:

👉 github.com/til-re/plugin-template

The template includes:

• Example themes (beginner + advanced)
• Example shortcuts
• Local development server
• Complete API documentation

Theme Structure

your-repo/
├── themes/
│   └── my-theme/
│       ├── manifest.json
│       ├── my-theme.js
│       └── my-theme.css

Theme Manifest

{
  "id": "my-theme",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "name": "My Theme",
  "files": {
    "js": "my-theme.js",
    "css": "my-theme.css"
  },
  "defaults": {}
}

Shortcut Pack

{
  "id": "my-shortcuts",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "shortcuts": {
    "deep-work": {
      "time": "90m",
      "config": {
        "title": "Deep Work",
        "loop": false
      }
    }
  }
}