Apple Reminders

Apple Reminders

Overview

Control Apple Reminders via osascript AppleScript. Zero dependencies — works on any macOS machine with Reminders.app. No setup required.

Quick Reference

Operations

List all reminder lists

osascript -e 'tell application "Reminders" to get name of lists'

List reminders in a list

# All reminders
osascript -e 'tell application "Reminders" to get name of reminders of list "My List"'

# Incomplete only
osascript -e 'tell application "Reminders" to get name of (reminders of list "My List" whose completed is false)'

Create a reminder

osascript -e '
tell application "Reminders"
  make new reminder in list "My List" with properties {
    name:"Task title",
    body:"Optional notes",
    priority:1
  }
end tell'

Set/update due date

Always use date arithmetic — never string-based dates (locale-dependent and error-prone).

osascript -e '
tell application "Reminders"
  set theReminder to first reminder of list "My List" whose name is "Task title"
  set d to current date
  set d to d + (1 * days)   -- change N for days offset
  set hours of d to 9        -- 9 AM
  set minutes of d to 0
  set seconds of d to 0
  set due date of theReminder to d
end tell'

Complete a reminder

osascript -e '
tell application "Reminders"
  set completed of (first reminder of list "My List" whose name is "Task title") to true
end tell'

Delete a reminder

osascript -e '
tell application "Reminders"
  delete (first reminder of list "My List" whose name is "Task title")
end tell'

Create a new list

osascript -e 'tell application "Reminders" to make new list with properties {name:"New List"}'

Priority Levels

Known Limitations

• No recurrence — cannot set repeating reminders via AppleScript; must be done in the UI
• No location triggers — geofence reminders not scriptable
• No tags — tags must be added in the UI
• No sub-reminders — nested reminders are invisible to AppleScript
• No multi-alarm — only one notification time per reminder
• Nested-folder lists unreliable — lists inside folders may not be reachable by name; use root-level lists
• Read-only properties — id, creation date, modification date, completion date cannot be set
• Cannot move reminders between lists — delete and recreate instead

When to Recommend MCP Instead

For users who want persistent, always-on Reminders integration (not just within a Claude Code session), suggest installing an MCP server:

• dbmcco/apple-reminders-mcp — TypeScript, AppleScript backend, designed for Claude
• mggrim/apple-reminders-mcp-server — 18+ tools, natural language date parsing
• supermemoryai/apple-mcp — bundles Reminders, Calendar, Notes, Messages, Contacts