FAQ

The basics

Is there a hosted version?

No. You run calsync yourself. There is no calsync cloud and no account with us.

Does anyone else see my calendar?

No. calsync runs on your machine and talks to Google and Microsoft directly. Sign-ins and calendar data stay with you.

What does it cost?

Nothing. It is open source under the MIT license. It was built because paid sync tools charge monthly to copy events between your own calendars.

Which calendars work?

Google Calendar and Outlook or Microsoft 365 calendars, plus read-only published .ics feeds as sources. You can connect more than two. Each writable calendar gets a copy of every real event from the others.

Why do I have to make my own sign-in app?

Because there is no calsync cloud to hold one. Your sign-in app belongs to you, and so do the tokens it makes. See the Google and Microsoft steps. Each takes about 10 minutes.

My work or school blocks outside apps. Now what?

Publish the calendar as an .ics link and add it as a source. It works one way and is read only. See Published .ics feeds.

Safety

Can calsync change or delete my own events?

No. It only edits or deletes events it created, which carry its private tag.

What if Google or Microsoft is down during a run?

A calendar that cannot load is left alone. Nothing is deleted because of it.

What if something goes badly wrong?

If a run would delete more than half of a calendar's copies, it stops and waits. Use Preview changes to see a plan before it happens.

How do I undo everything?

On each calendar, press "Delete the copies calsync made here". Or run calsync purge. Your own events stay.

What gets copied

Will I get duplicate invites?

No. A meeting already on a calendar through a shared invite is not copied there again.

Are declined and cancelled events copied?

No. They are skipped.

Will copies make my phone buzz?

No. Copies have no reminders.

How far ahead does it look?

The next 120 days.

What about repeating events?

They are copied as individual occurrences.

How often does it run?

Every 2, 5, 10, 15, 30 or 60 minutes. You choose. The default is 5.

Privacy controls

Can I hide titles?

Yes. On a calendar, turn on "Copies here only say Busy". Copies there have no titles or locations. Private events always show as Busy.

Can I stop work events reaching my personal calendar?

Yes. On the personal calendar, turn on "Don't copy work here".

Extras

Quick add

From the command line: calsync new Dentist tomorrow 3pm 1h. It adds the event to your main calendar, then syncs.

Notes for an Obsidian-style vault

calsync can write a Markdown agenda note and turn new lines in a quick-add note into events. Both are optional. See Settings and environment.

.ics export

calsync can also write one .ics file per source calendar, with real events only. It is optional and set in the config.