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

Search (fallback / explicit request)

• Default (~6 months): gcalcli --nocolor search "" today +180d
• Custom: gcalcli --nocolor search ""

Create — add (one-off events)

• Overlap preflight (tight, cross-calendar):
• gcalcli --nocolor agenda
• IMPORTANT: do NOT add --calendar here; overlaps must be checked across all non-ignored calendars.
• Timed event:
• gcalcli --nocolor --calendar "" add --noprompt --title "