# Create Time Entries

`POST /psa/time-entries`

Group: PSA › Time Entries · Operation ID: `createTimeEntries`

Creates time entries. A member can log time against an activity only once per date, and a duplicate fails with DUPLICATE_TIME_ENTRY.

Creates time entries and changes nothing else. It never deletes or updates existing entries, so it is safe to call for a date that already has entries for the same member against other activities.

A member can log time against a given activity on a given date only once. If an entry already exists for that member, activity and date, the request fails with DUPLICATE_TIME_ENTRY and nothing is created. Correct the existing entry with PATCH psa/time-entries instead. Entries repeated within one request are merged when they agree on hours and rejected with the same error when they disagree.

Each entry's project is taken from its projectActivityId unless psaProjectId is given. An activity that resolves to no project fails with ACTIVITY_NOT_FOUND.

A create also fails when the member's team is not active, and when the entries would break the project's time rules (required notes, no time on weekends or holidays, and per-member limits on hours per day, week and month). These failures are reported as generic errors, not as named diagnostics.

[Open in the interactive reference](https://docs.api.lensing.ai/?op=createTimeEntries)

## Parameters

| Name | In | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `Api-Version` | header | `"v1"` | yes | The API version this request targets, named by its public identifier. Required on every request; omitting it, or naming a version this company does not have, is answered with 400. This document describes version `v1`. |
| `Idempotency-Key` | header | string | no | An opaque caller-chosen string (1-255 characters) that makes this request safe to retry. Repeating the same key with an identical request body replays the original response instead of re-executing - but only once that original request succeeded; a failed attempt re-executes on retry. Repeating the key with a different body is answered with 422. A key still in flight is answered with 409 - as is a key whose original request was interrupted before it finished, for a few minutes afterwards, until that attempt is presumed dead. A completed response stays replayable for 24 hours. The key is scoped to the caller, not to the action: reusing it for a different action is answered with 409 or 422 rather than treated independently. On read actions this header is ignored. On write actions that cannot offer the guarantee it is answered with `400 IDEMPOTENCY_NOT_SUPPORTED` rather than silently ignored. |

## Request body

Required, `application/json`: createTimeEntriesInput.

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `timeEntries` | array of object | yes | The time entries to create. |
| `timeEntries[].date` | string (date) | yes | The date the time is logged for. Use format YYYY-MM-DD. |
| `timeEntries[].hours` | string (decimal) | yes | The total hours for the entry. |
| `timeEntries[].projectActivityId` | number | yes | The numeric key of the project activity to log time against. |
| `timeEntries[].memberId` | number | yes | The numeric key of the PSA member assignment to log time for. |
| `timeEntries[].psaProjectId` | number | no | The numeric key of the PSA project the entry belongs to. If omitted, it is derived from projectActivityId. |
| `timeEntries[].notes` | string | no | Free-form notes for the entry. Required when the project's settings require notes. |

Example:

```json
{
  "timeEntries": [
    {
      "date": "2026-08-04",
      "hours": "7.5",
      "projectActivityId": 7001,
      "memberId": 5001,
      "notes": "Sprint 14 backend work"
    }
  ]
}
```

## Response

`200` Success

Under `data` (createTimeEntriesOutput):

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `created` | array of object | yes | The created entries, in input order. Each is an id only. Read an entry back with GET psa/time-entries/:id. |
| `created[].id` | string | yes | The unique identifier for the created time entry. |

## Response headers

- `Idempotency-Replayed` — Present and `true` only when this response replays a previously stored one for the same Idempotency-Key, rather than reflecting a live execution. Absent on a live response - never sent as `false`.

## Errors

| Code | Status |
| --- | --- |
| `ACTIVITY_NOT_FOUND` | 400 |
| `DUPLICATE_TIME_ENTRY` | 400 |
| `IDEMPOTENCY_KEY_CONFLICT` | 409 |
| `IDEMPOTENCY_PAYLOAD_MISMATCH` | 422 |

## Statuses

- `400` — Invalid request or business failure. Codes: ACTIVITY_NOT_FOUND, DUPLICATE_TIME_ENTRY
- `401` — Missing or invalid access token
- `403` — Not authorized
- `404` — Not found
- `409` — The Idempotency-Key is still being processed by another request.
- `422` — The Idempotency-Key was already used with a different request payload.
- `429` — Too many requests
- `500` — Internal server error