Ical CLI

ical CLI — macOS Calendar

Binary: /Users/fredchu/bin/ical — always use full path.

Gotchas (Read First)

1. delete needs --force — without it, blocks on interactive confirmation and hangs
2. update has NO --force flag — changes apply immediately, just run it
3. --id and positional arg are mutually exclusive — never pass both
4. Calendar JSON field is title, not name
5. Never use -i (interactive mode) — it requires terminal input, use flags instead
6. Row numbers reset on every list/today/upcoming command

Commands

Querying

/Users/fredchu/bin/ical today                                    # Today's events
/Users/fredchu/bin/ical today -o json                            # JSON for parsing
/Users/fredchu/bin/ical list --from today --to "next friday"     # Date range
/Users/fredchu/bin/ical upcoming --days 7                        # Next N days
/Users/fredchu/bin/ical show 2                                   # Details for row #2
/Users/fredchu/bin/ical search "meeting" --from "jan 1" --to "dec 31"
/Users/fredchu/bin/ical calendars -o json                        # List calendars

Creating

/Users/fredchu/bin/ical add "會議" \
  --start "tomorrow at 2pm" --end "tomorrow at 3pm" \
  --calendar Work --alert 15m --location "Office"

# Recurring
/Users/fredchu/bin/ical add "Standup" \
  --start "next monday at 9am" --end "next monday at 9:30am" \
  --repeat weekly --repeat-days mon,wed,fri

Updating

# By row number (NO --force needed, changes apply immediately)
/Users/fredchu/bin/ical update 1 --title "新標題"
/Users/fredchu/bin/ical update 2 --start "tomorrow at 3pm" --end "tomorrow at 4pm"
/Users/fredchu/bin/ical update 1 --location ""        # Clear a field
/Users/fredchu/bin/ical update 1 --alert none          # Clear alerts
/Users/fredchu/bin/ical update 1 --repeat none         # Remove recurrence

# By exact ID (for scripts)
/Users/fredchu/bin/ical update --id "FULL_EVENT_ID" --title "New"

# Recurring: update this + future occurrences
/Users/fredchu/bin/ical update 2 --span future --start "next monday at 9am"

Deleting

# ALWAYS pass --force to avoid interactive prompt
/Users/fredchu/bin/ical delete 1 --force
/Users/fredchu/bin/ical delete --id "FULL_EVENT_ID" --force

# Recurring: delete this + future
/Users/fredchu/bin/ical delete 3 --span future --force

Key Flags Reference

Filtering (list / today / upcoming / search):

• --calendar -c — filter by calendar name
• --from -f, --to -t — date range
• --exclude-calendar — exclude by name (repeatable)
• -o json — JSON output

Creating (add):

• --start -s (required), --end -e (default: start + 1h)
• --calendar -c, --location -l, --notes -n, --url -u
• --alert (e.g., 15m, 1h, 1d) — repeatable
• --all-day -a
• --repeat (daily/weekly/monthly/yearly)
• --repeat-interval, --repeat-days (e.g., mon,wed), --repeat-count, --repeat-until

Event selection (show / update / delete):

• Number → row from last listing (e.g., 2)
• --id "FULL_ID" → exact match (preferred for scripting)
• Never combine both

Date Syntax

Natural language: today, tomorrow, now, eod, eow, next monday, in 3 hours, 2 days ago, mar 15 at 2pm, 5pm, next friday at 3:30pm, end of week

ISO: 2026-03-15, 2026-03-15T14:30:00

JSON Fields

Event: id, title, start_date, end_date, calendar, calendar_id, location, notes, url, all_day, recurrence, alerts

Calendar: id, title, type, color, source, readOnly