diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/aw-core/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/aw-core/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e0caf6b41c0e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/aw-core/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+{ lib
+, buildPythonPackage
+, fetchFromGitHub
+, pythonOlder
+, poetry-core
+, jsonschema
+, peewee
+, appdirs
+, iso8601
+, rfc3339-validator
+, takethetime
+, strict-rfc3339
+, tomlkit
+, deprecation
+, timeslot
+, pytestCheckHook
+}:
+
+buildPythonPackage rec {
+  pname = "aw-core";
+  version = "0.5.12";
+
+  format = "pyproject";
+
+  # pypi distribution doesn't include tests, so build from source instead
+  src = fetchFromGitHub {
+    owner = "ActivityWatch";
+    repo = "aw-core";
+    rev = "v${version}";
+    sha256 = "sha256-DbugVMaQHlHpfbFEsM6kfpDL2VzRs0TDn9klWjAwz64=";
+  };
+
+  disabled = pythonOlder "3.8";
+
+  nativeBuildInputs = [
+    poetry-core
+  ];
+
+  propagatedBuildInputs = [
+    jsonschema
+    peewee
+    appdirs
+    iso8601
+    rfc3339-validator
+    takethetime
+    strict-rfc3339
+    tomlkit
+    deprecation
+    timeslot
+  ];
+
+  nativeCheckInputs = [
+    pytestCheckHook
+  ];
+
+  preCheck = ''
+    # Fake home folder for tests that write to $HOME
+    export HOME="$TMPDIR"
+  '';
+
+  pythonImportsCheck = [ "aw_core" ];
+
+  meta = with lib; {
+    description = "Core library for ActivityWatch";
+    homepage = "https://github.com/ActivityWatch/aw-core";
+    maintainers = with maintainers; [ huantian ];
+    license = licenses.mpl20;
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
index 0af5df74e9f8..8d4a6187eba5 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
@@ -847,6 +847,8 @@ self: super: with self; {
 
   avro-python3 = callPackage ../development/python-modules/avro-python3 { };
 
+  aw-core = callPackage ../development/python-modules/aw-core { };
+
   awacs = callPackage ../development/python-modules/awacs { };
 
   awesome-slugify = callPackage ../development/python-modules/awesome-slugify { };