One of the most important features in quantified self is the ability to export your data in an open format. Fitbit lets you download your personal data if you subscribe to a premium membership. Alternatively they provide an API at dev.fitbit.com/ that allows developers to interact with Fitbit data in their own applications, products and services.

In a blog post at quantifiedself.com Mark Levitt shows a way how to export your Fitbit data into Google Spreadsheets. I explored to API myself adding and removing some of the fields to get more insights to the data.

In a future post I will delve into the data in order to understand some of my own physical activity patterns.

Update 14 November 2014: I removed the Active Score since it has been dropped by the Fitbit API

/* FitbitDownload.gs
This script will access your Fitbit data via the Fitbit API and insert it into a Google spreadsheet.
The first row of the spreadsheet will be a header row containing data element names. Subsequent rows will contain data, one day per row.
Note that Fitbit uses metric units (weight, distance) so you may wish to convert them.
Original script by loghound@gmail.com
Original instructional video by Ernesto Ramirez at http://vimeo.com/26338767
Modifications by Mark Leavitt (PDX Quantified Self organizer) www.markleavitt.com
Further Modifications by Christian Stade-Schuldt blog.tafkas.net
Here's to your (quantified) health!
*/
// Key of ScriptProperty for Firtbit consumer key.
var CONSUMER_KEY_PROPERTY_NAME = "fitbitConsumerKey";
// Key of ScriptProperty for Fitbit consumer secret.
var CONSUMER_SECRET_PROPERTY_NAME = "fitbitConsumerSecret";
// Default loggable resources (from Fitbit API docs).
var LOGGABLES = ["activities/steps",
"activities/distance",
"activities/floors",
"activities/elevation",
"activities/calories",
"activities/activityCalories",
"activities/minutesSedentary",
"activities/minutesLightlyActive",
"activities/minutesFairlyActive",
"activities/minutesVeryActive",
"sleep/startTime",
"sleep/timeInBed",
"sleep/minutesAsleep",
"sleep/awakeningsCount",
"sleep/minutesAwake",
"sleep/minutesToFallAsleep",
"sleep/minutesAfterWakeup",
"sleep/efficiency",
"body/weight",
"body/bmi",
"body/fat"];
// function authorize() makes a call to the Fitbit API to fetch the user profile
function authorize() {
var oAuthConfig = UrlFetchApp.addOAuthService("fitbit");
oAuthConfig.setAccessTokenUrl("http://api.fitbit.com/oauth/access_token");
oAuthConfig.setRequestTokenUrl("http://api.fitbit.com/oauth/request_token");
oAuthConfig.setAuthorizationUrl("http://api.fitbit.com/oauth/authorize");
oAuthConfig.setConsumerKey(getConsumerKey());
oAuthConfig.setConsumerSecret(getConsumerSecret());
var options = {
"oAuthServiceName": "fitbit",
"oAuthUseToken": "always",
};
// get the profile to force authentication
Logger.log("Function authorize() is attempting a fetch...");
try {
var result = UrlFetchApp.fetch("http://api.fitbit.com/1/user/-/profile.json", options);
var o = Utilities.jsonParse(result.getContentText());
return o.user;
}
catch (exception) {
Logger.log(exception);
Browser.msgBox("Error attempting authorization");
return null;
}
}
// function setup accepts and stores the Consumer Key, Consumer Secret, firstDate, and list of Data Elements
function setup() {
var doc = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
var app = UiApp.createApplication().setTitle("Setup Fitbit Download");
app.setStyleAttribute("padding", "10px");
var consumerKeyLabel = app.createLabel("Fitbit OAuth Consumer Key:*");
var consumerKey = app.createTextBox();
consumerKey.setName("consumerKey");
consumerKey.setWidth("100%");
consumerKey.setText(getConsumerKey());
var consumerSecretLabel = app.createLabel("Fitbit OAuth Consumer Secret:*");
var consumerSecret = app.createTextBox();
consumerSecret.setName("consumerSecret");
consumerSecret.setWidth("100%");
consumerSecret.setText(getConsumerSecret());
var firstDate = app.createTextBox().setId("firstDate").setName("firstDate");
firstDate.setName("firstDate");
firstDate.setWidth("100%");
firstDate.setText(getFirstDate());
// add listbox to select data elements
var loggables = app.createListBox(true).setId("loggables").setName(
"loggables");
loggables.setVisibleItemCount(4);
// add all possible elements (in array LOGGABLES)
var logIndex = 0;
for (var resource in LOGGABLES) {
loggables.addItem(LOGGABLES[resource]);
// check if this resource is in the getLoggables list
if (getLoggables().indexOf(LOGGABLES[resource]) > -1) {
// if so, pre-select it
loggables.setItemSelected(logIndex, true);
}
logIndex++;
}
// create the save handler and button
var saveHandler = app.createServerClickHandler("saveSetup");
var saveButton = app.createButton("Save Setup", saveHandler);
// put the controls in a grid
var listPanel = app.createGrid(6, 3);
listPanel.setWidget(1, 0, consumerKeyLabel);
listPanel.setWidget(1, 1, consumerKey);
listPanel.setWidget(2, 0, consumerSecretLabel);
listPanel.setWidget(2, 1, consumerSecret);
listPanel.setWidget(3, 0, app.createLabel(" * (obtain these at dev.fitbit.com)"));
listPanel.setWidget(4, 0, app.createLabel("Start Date for download (yyyy-mm-dd)"));
listPanel.setWidget(4, 1, firstDate);
listPanel.setWidget(5, 0, app.createLabel("Data Elements to download:"));
listPanel.setWidget(5, 1, loggables);
// Ensure that all controls in the grid are handled
saveHandler.addCallbackElement(listPanel);
// Build a FlowPanel, adding the grid and the save button
var dialogPanel = app.createFlowPanel();
dialogPanel.add(listPanel);
dialogPanel.add(saveButton);
app.add(dialogPanel);
doc.show(app);
}
// function sync() is called to download all desired data from Fitbit API to the spreadsheet
function sync() {
// if the user has never performed setup, do it now
if (!isConfigured()) {
setup();
return;
}
var user = authorize();
var doc = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
doc.setFrozenRows(1);
var options = {
"oAuthServiceName": "fitbit",
"oAuthUseToken": "always",
"method": "GET"
};
// prepare and format today's date, and a list of desired data elements
var dateString = formatToday();
var activities = getLoggables();
// for each data element, fetch a list beginning from the firstDate, ending with today
for (var activity in activities) {
var currentActivity = activities[activity];
try {
var result = UrlFetchApp.fetch("http://api.fitbit.com/1/user/-/"
+ currentActivity + "/date/" + getFirstDate() + "/"
+ dateString + ".json", options);
} catch (exception) {
Logger.log(exception);
Browser.msgBox("Error downloading " + currentActivity);
}
var o = Utilities.jsonParse(result.getContentText());
// set title
var titleCell = doc.getRange("a1");
titleCell.setValue("date");
var cell = doc.getRange('a2');
// fill the spreadsheet with the data
var index = 0;
for (var i in o) {
// set title for this column
var title = i.substring(i.lastIndexOf('-') + 1);
titleCell.offset(0, 1 + activity * 1.0).setValue(title);
var row = o[i];
for (var j in row) {
var val = row[j];
cell.offset(index, 0).setValue(val["dateTime"]);
// set the date index
cell.offset(index, 1 + activity * 1.0).setValue(val["value"]);
// set the value index index
index++;
}
}
}
}
function isConfigured() {
return getConsumerKey() != "" && getConsumerSecret() != "";
}
function setConsumerKey(key) {
ScriptProperties.setProperty(CONSUMER_KEY_PROPERTY_NAME, key);
}
function getConsumerKey() {
var key = ScriptProperties.getProperty(CONSUMER_KEY_PROPERTY_NAME);
if (key == null) {
key = "";
}
return key;
}
function setLoggables(loggable) {
ScriptProperties.setProperty("loggables", loggable);
}
function getLoggables() {
var loggable = ScriptProperties.getProperty("loggables");
if (loggable == null) {
loggable = LOGGABLES;
} else {
loggable = loggable.split(',');
}
return loggable;
}
function setFirstDate(firstDate) {
ScriptProperties.setProperty("firstDate", firstDate);
}
function getFirstDate() {
var firstDate = ScriptProperties.getProperty("firstDate");
if (firstDate == null) {
firstDate = "2012-01-01";
}
return firstDate;
}
function formatToday() {
var todayDate = new Date;
return todayDate.getFullYear()
+ '-'
+ ("00" + (todayDate.getMonth() + 1)).slice(-2)
+ '-'
+ ("00" + todayDate.getDate()).slice(-2);
}
function setConsumerSecret(secret) {
ScriptProperties.setProperty(CONSUMER_SECRET_PROPERTY_NAME, secret);
}
function getConsumerSecret() {
var secret = ScriptProperties.getProperty(CONSUMER_SECRET_PROPERTY_NAME);
if (secret == null) {
secret = "";
}
return secret;
}
// function saveSetup saves the setup params from the UI
function saveSetup(e) {
setConsumerKey(e.parameter.consumerKey);
setConsumerSecret(e.parameter.consumerSecret);
setLoggables(e.parameter.loggables);
setFirstDate(e.parameter.firstDate);
var app = UiApp.getActiveApplication();
app.close();
return app;
}
// function onOpen is called when the spreadsheet is opened; adds the Fitbit menu
function onOpen() {
var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
var menuEntries = [{
name: "Sync",
functionName: "sync"
}, {
name: "Setup",
functionName: "setup"
}, {
name: "Authorize",
functionName: "authorize"
}];
ss.addMenu("Fitbit", menuEntries);
}
// function onInstall is called when the script is installed (obsolete?)
function onInstall() {
onOpen();
}
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