gcalcli-calendar

Use gcalcli to read/search/manage Google Calendar with minimal tool calls and minimal output.

Rules

CLI flag placement (critical)

• Global flags (--nocolor, --calendar) go BEFORE the subcommand.
• Subcommand-specific flags go AFTER the subcommand name.
• Example: gcalcli --nocolor delete --iamaexpert "query" start end — NOT gcalcli --nocolor --iamaexpert delete ....
• This applies to ALL subcommand flags: --iamaexpert (delete), --noprompt/--allday (add), --use-legacy-import (import), etc.

Output & language

• Don't print CLI commands/flags/tool details unless the user explicitly asks (e.g. "show commands used", "/debug", "/commands").
• If asked for commands: print ALL executed commands in order (including retries) and nothing else.
• Don't mix languages within one reply.
• Be concise. No scope unless nothing found.

Dates & formatting

• Human-friendly dates by default. ISO only if explicitly requested.
• Don't quote event titles unless needed to disambiguate.

Calendar scope

• Trust gcalcli config (default/ignore calendars). Don't broaden scope unless user asks "across all calendars" or results are clearly wrong.

Agenda (today-only by default)

• If user asks "agenda" without a period, return today only.
• Expand only if explicitly asked (tomorrow / next N days / date range).

Weekday requests (no mental math)

If user says "on Monday/Tuesday/..." without a date: 1) fetch next 14 days agenda once, 2) pick matching day/event from tool output, 3) proceed (or disambiguate if multiple).

Finding events: prefer deterministic agenda scan (meaning-first)

When locating events to cancel/delete/edit: - Prefer agenda over search. - Use a bounded window and match events by meaning (semantic match) rather than exact text. - Default locate windows: - If user gives an exact date: scan that day only. - If user gives a weekday: scan next 14 days. - If user gives only meaning words ("train", "lecture", etc.) with no date: scan next 30 days first. - If still not found: expand to 180 days and say so only if still empty.

Use gcalcli search only as a fallback when: - the time window would be too large to scan via agenda (token-heavy), or - the user explicitly asked to "search".

Search (bounded)

• Default search window: next ~180 days (unless user specified otherwise).
• If no matches: say "No matches in next ~6 months (->)" and offer to expand.
• Show scope only when nothing is found.

Tool efficiency

• Default: use --nocolor to reduce formatting noise and tokens.
• Use --tsv only if you must parse/dedupe/sort.

Actions policy (optimized for conversational speed)

This skill is designed for personal assistant use where the user expects fast, low-friction calendar management. The confirmation policy below is an intentional UX choice — see README.md for rationale and safety guards.

Unambiguous actions: execute immediately

For cancel/delete/edit actions, skip confirmation when ALL of these hold: - The user explicitly requested the action (e.g. "delete my dentist appointment"). - Exactly one event matches in a tight time window. - The match is unambiguous (single clear result on an exact date, or user specified date+time).

Ambiguous actions: always ask first

If multiple candidates match, or the match is uncertain: - Ask a short disambiguation question listing the candidates (1-3 lines) and wait for the user's choice.

Create events: overlap check MUST be cross-calendar (non-ignored scope)

When creating an event: - Always run a best-effort overlap check across ALL non-ignored calendars by scanning agenda WITHOUT --calendar. - This ensures overlaps are detected even if the new event is created into a specific calendar. - If overlap exists with busy events: - Ask for confirmation before creating. - If no overlap: - Create immediately.

Choose the right create method

• add — default for one-off events. Supports --allday, --reminder, --noprompt. Does NOT support recurrence or free/busy (transparency).
• import via stdin — use ONLY when you need recurrence (RRULE) or free/busy (TRANSP:TRANSPARENT). Pipe ICS content via stdin; NEVER write temp .ics files (working directory is unreliable in exec sandbox).
• quick — avoid unless user explicitly asks for natural-language add. Less deterministic.

Deletes must be verified

• Use non-interactive delete with --iamaexpert (a delete subcommand flag — goes AFTER delete). This is gcalcli's built-in flag for non-interactive/scripted deletion.
• Always verify via agenda in the same tight window after deletion.
• If verification still shows the event, do one retry with --refresh.
• Never claim success unless verification confirms the event is gone.

Canonical commands

Agenda (deterministic listing)

• Today: gcalcli --nocolor agenda today tomorrow
• Next 14d (weekday resolution): gcalcli --nocolor agenda today +14d
• Next 30d (meaning-first locate): gcalcli --nocolor agenda today +30d
• Custom: gcalcli --nocolor agenda <start> <end>

Search (fallback / explicit request)

• Default (~6 months): gcalcli --nocolor search "<query>" today +180d
• Custom: gcalcli --nocolor search "<query>" <start> <end>

Create — add (one-off events)

• Overlap preflight (tight, cross-calendar):
  • gcalcli --nocolor agenda <start> <end>
  • IMPORTANT: do NOT add --calendar here; overlaps must be checked across all non-ignored calendars.
• Timed event:
  • gcalcli --nocolor --calendar "<Cal>" add --noprompt --title "<Title>" --when "<Start>" --duration <minutes>
• All-day event:
  • gcalcli --nocolor --calendar "<Cal>" add --noprompt --allday --title "<Title>" --when "<Date>"
• With reminders (repeatable flag):
  • --reminder "20160 popup" → 14 days before (20160 = 14×24×60)
  • --reminder "10080 popup" → 7 days before
  • --reminder "0 popup" → at event start
  • Time unit suffixes: w (weeks), d (days), h (hours), m (minutes). No suffix = minutes.
  • Method: popup (default), email, sms.

Create — import via stdin (recurrence / free/busy)

Use ONLY when add can't cover the need (recurring events, TRANSP, etc.). Pipe ICS directly via stdin — never write temp files. echo 'BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260308 SUMMARY:Event Title RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY TRANSP:TRANSPARENT END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR' | gcalcli import --calendar "<Cal>" - DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:YYYYMMDD for all-day; DTSTART:YYYYMMDDTHHmmSS for timed. - RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY — yearly recurrence. Also: DAILY, WEEKLY, MONTHLY. - TRANSP:TRANSPARENT — free; TRANSP:OPAQUE — busy (default). - One import call = one event (one VEVENT block). For multiple events, run separate piped imports. - Add --reminder "TIME" flag(s) to set reminders (overrides any VALARM in ICS). - All import-specific flags (--use-legacy-import, --verbose, etc.) go AFTER import.

Delete (with post-delete verification)

• Locate via agenda (preferred):
  • gcalcli --nocolor agenda <dayStart> <dayEnd> (exact date)
  • gcalcli --nocolor agenda today +14d (weekday)
  • gcalcli --nocolor agenda today +30d (meaning only)
• Delete (non-interactive, bounded):
  • gcalcli --nocolor delete --iamaexpert "<query>" <start> <end>
• Verify (same window):
  • gcalcli --nocolor agenda <dayStart> <dayEnd>
• Optional one retry if still present:
  • gcalcli --nocolor --refresh agenda <dayStart> <dayEnd>

Edit / Modify existing events

• gcalcli edit is interactive — cannot be used in non-interactive exec.
• To change properties not editable in-place: delete + recreate the event.
  • Locate → delete (with --iamaexpert) → create with updated properties → verify.
• For bulk property changes (e.g. setting all events to free): iterate delete+recreate per event.