Qarett, by EMRALD

Weigh every AI work stint and see where the day really went.

Time and weigh your AI work. No timer to run, just one short receipt at the end.

Connect Qarett

Before you start: go to app.effortmastery.com and create a free account to use Qarett. You'll sign in with it the first time you connect.

hermes mcp add qarett --url https://mcp.qarett.com/mcp --auth oauth

hermes mcp login qarett

Run them one after the other. A browser opens to the Qarett sign-in page.

Open Customize, then Connectors, then Add custom connector.

Name it Qarett and paste this address:

https://mcp.qarett.com/mcp

Choose Continue. If asked, pick Sign in now and Register automatically. When Claude prompts you to finish, choose Connect and sign in.

Add a remote MCP server with this address and choose sign-in (OAuth):

https://mcp.qarett.com/mcp

Then tell your AI you're starting work, or say "list my Qarett projects".

Qarett is free to use and works with every version of EMRALD.

⚖️ Qarett · Henderson memo

44m · timed by EMRALD's server, not by the AI

Hard	7/10
Effort vs. task	5/10 · about right
Enjoyable	6/10
Verification time	3/10 · about 13 of 44 min (your estimate)
In the zone	Yes
Effort sources	complexity
Forecasted effort	E3 (about 7.5/10)
Actual effort	7/10 (your receipt rating)

Saved to your EMRALD account

An example receipt card.

Three steps

Your AI chat hides two costs: hours that slip by and the time spent checking the AI's work. Qarett weighs both in three steps.

1
Work as usual.
Your AI starts and ends a stint when real work does, and Qarett's server stamps the times, so there is no timer to run.
2
Fill out a ten-second receipt.
How hard it was, whether your effort fit the task, how pleasant it was, plus optional extras like how much went to verifying the AI's work.
3
See your results in your EMRALD account.
Every stint adds to a record compared only to your own past.

Where the day went

Time blindness makes it hard to say how long a stretch of work took or how heavy it was. Qarett gives each AI stint a server-stamped clock and your own 1 to 10 ratings of how hard it was. Your record is compared only to your own past.

No stopwatches to push

Your AI notices when real work begins and ends, and Qarett's server stamps both times. You never have to press anything. The ratings are yours, in your own words.

The verification tax, recorded

The verification tax is the hidden cost of verifying AI output. Qarett records it with Verification share (D21), a free metric that comes with Qarett: your own estimate of how much of a stint went to checking the AI's work instead of actually producing. It appears in the EMRALD web app's Data Center, marked with a Qarett chip. The base EMRALD receipt does not ask it.

What the receipt asks

Three ratings, each 1 to 10:

How hard was that? (1 easy, 10 exhausting)
Did you give the right amount of effort for what this needed? (1 far too little, 5 ideal to the task, 10 far too much)
How pleasant was this work? (1 unpleasant, 10 enjoyable)

Optional extras, when you want them: how much of the stint went to checking the AI's work, whether you were in the zone, what made the work effortful, any unexpected complications on a multi-day project, and any notes you want to include.

Try it with your own work

Paste these into your AI app.

Consultant

StartStart a Qarett stint on my Henderson memo project. I'm drafting the findings section with you.
WorkTighten the second paragraph and check the numbers against the appendix.
EndDone. 7, 5, 6, 3, complexity, yes.

(hard, effort fit, pleasant, how much went to checking, what made it effortful, in the zone; about ten seconds to type)

Writer

StartStart a Qarett stint on the newsletter project. I'm revising the long essay with you today.
WorkCut the middle section by a third and keep the argument.
EndWrapping up. 5, 6, 9, 1, novelty, yes.

Finance/ops lead

StartStart a Qarett stint on the Q3 reconciliation project. We're matching invoices to the ledger export.
WorkFlag every invoice over 5,000 that has no matching ledger line.
EndThat's it. 8, 5, 3, 7, uncertainty, somewhat.

What it looks like

A Qarett stint starting in an AI chat — Tell your AI you're starting work, or let it notice. Qarett's server stamps the start, and later the finish, so there is no timer to press and no clock the AI can write.

The Qarett receipt questions in an AI chat — A short receipt in your own words: how hard it was, whether your effort fit the task, how pleasant it was. Optional extras ask how much of the stint went to verifying the AI's work, whether you were in the zone, what made it effortful, and on multi-day projects any unexpected complications, plus any notes you want to keep.

A finished Qarett receipt card — The card is built by the server, not the AI. It sets your forecasted effort next to your actual effort and adds the stint to your free EMRALD account, where your receipts build into personal effort metrics.

In a terminal, the same card comes as plain text.

Questions

Is Qarett free?

Yes. Qarett is free to use and works with every version of EMRALD. Verification share (D21), the one metric Qarett adds, comes with it.

Do I need an EMRALD account?

Yes, a free one. Your stints and receipts save to it, and you sign in with your EMRALD email and password the first time you connect.

What is Verification share (D21)?

Verification share (D21), free, from Qarett, is your own estimate of how much of a stint went to checking the AI's work. It appears in the EMRALD web app's Data Center with a Qarett chip, and the base EMRALD receipt does not ask it.

Which AI apps work?

Claude (as a custom connector) and Hermes. Any other app that supports remote MCP servers with sign-in can use the same address.

How do I turn it off?

Open the Integrations page in your EMRALD account and choose Revoke. The connection also lapses after 90 days without use.

Setup for every app and the technical details are in the docs.

Weigh your next stint

Connect Qarett to your AI app in a few minutes, then tell it you're starting work.