modbender Taiwan Calendar Skill
Provides accurate Taiwan working day and holiday information by querying government open data APIs in real-time.
Why This Skill Exists
Claude Code frequently makes errors with Taiwan date-related queries due to knowledge cutoff:
- Gets weekdays wrong (e.g., saying Tuesday when it's Wednesday)
- Doesn't know current year's national holidays
- Unaware of make-up workdays (補班日)
This skill queries Taiwan's government administrative calendar API to provide accurate, up-to-date information.
When to Use
Trigger actively when user asks about:
- Date queries: "今天是幾號?", "What's today's date?", "現在台灣幾點?"
- Working day queries: "今天是工作日嗎?", "Is tomorrow a working day?", "下週一要上班嗎?"
- Holiday queries: "1/1 是假日嗎?", "國慶日是哪天?", "下一個連假什麼時候?"
- Date calculations: "5 個工作日後是哪天?", "這個月有幾個工作日?", "deadline 是五個工作天"
- Make-up workdays: "有沒有補班?", "這週六要上班嗎?"
Also use for:
- Schedule/timeline planning that requires working day awareness
- Deadline calculations mentioning "工作日/工作天"
- Any Taiwan calendar-related questions
Commands
All commands use: uv run --managed-python scripts/taiwan_calendar.py <command>
Basic Queries
today - Today's date and status
uv run --managed-python scripts/taiwan_calendar.py today
Output example:
2025-01-06 (週一) 是工作日。
check <date> - Check specific date
uv run --managed-python scripts/taiwan_calendar.py check 2025-01-01
uv run --managed-python scripts/taiwan_calendar.py check 01/01
Output example:
2025-01-01 (週三) 是非工作日 - 元旦。
Date formats supported:
YYYY-MM-DD(e.g., 2025-01-01)YYYY/MM/DD(e.g., 2025/01/01)MM/DD(assumes current year, e.g., 01/01)
Range Queries
range <start> <end> - Count working days in range
uv run --managed-python scripts/taiwan_calendar.py range 2025-01-01 2025-01-31
Output example:
2025-01-01 到 2025-01-31 共有 23 個工作日。
期間假日：
- 2025-01-01 (週三) - 元旦
- 2025-01-29 (週三) - 春節
Advanced Calculations
add-days [date] <n> - Calculate N working days later
# From today
uv run --managed-python scripts/taiwan_calendar.py add-days 5
# From specific date
uv run --managed-python scripts/taiwan_calendar.py add-days 2025-01-06 5
Output example:
從 2025-01-06 算起 5 個工作日後是 2025-01-13 (週一)。
next-working [date] - Find next working day
# From today
uv run --managed-python scripts/taiwan_calendar.py next-working
# From specific date
uv run --managed-python scripts/taiwan_calendar.py next-working 2025-01-03
Output example:
下一個工作日是 2025-01-06 (週一)。
next-holiday [date] - Find next holiday
# From today
uv run --managed-python scripts/taiwan_calendar.py next-holiday
# From specific date
uv run --managed-python scripts/taiwan_calendar.py next-holiday 2025-01-06
Output example:
下一個假日是 2025-01-29 (週三) - 春節。
Usage Examples
Example 1: Simple Date Query
User: "今天是幾號？"
Response:
[Run: uv run --managed-python scripts/taiwan_calendar.py today]
Output: 2025-01-06 (週一) 是工作日。
"今天是 2025 年 1 月 6 日（週一），是工作日。"
Example 2: Holiday Check
User: "元旦是放假嗎？"
Response:
[Run: uv run --managed-python scripts/taiwan_calendar.py check 01/01]
Output: 2025-01-01 (週三) 是非工作日 - 元旦。
"是的，元旦（1/1）是國定假日。"
Example 3: Working Day Calculation
User: "報告要 5 個工作天內交，今天開始算那是哪天？"
Response:
[Run: uv run --managed-python scripts/taiwan_calendar.py add-days 5]
Output: 從 2025-01-06 算起 5 個工作日後是 2025-01-13 (週一)。
"從今天算起 5 個工作日後是 1 月 13 日（週一）。"
Example 4: This Month's Working Days
User: "這個月有幾個工作日？"
Response:
[Run: uv run --managed-python scripts/taiwan_calendar.py range 2025-01-01 2025-01-31]
Output: 2025-01-01 到 2025-01-31 共有 23 個工作日。
期間假日：
- 2025-01-01 (週三) - 元旦
"這個月（1月）有 23 個工作日，期間有元旦（1/1）放假。"
Example 5: Next Holiday
User: "下一個連假是什麼時候？"
Response:
[Run: uv run --managed-python scripts/taiwan_calendar.py next-holiday]
Output: 下一個假日是 2025-01-29 (週三) - 春節。
"下一個假日是春節，從 1 月 29 日（週三）開始。"
Technical Details
Data Source
- Primary: Taiwan government open data platform (data.gov.tw)
- Fallback: New Taipei City open data
Caching
- Location: System temp directory (cross-platform via
tempfile.gettempdir()) - File:
taiwan-calendar-cache.json - Expiry: 1 hour
- Behavior: Automatically refreshes when expired
Timezone
- All operations use Taiwan timezone (Asia/Taipei, UTC+8)
- Current time queries reflect Taiwan local time
Error Handling
- Clear error messages if API unavailable
- Automatic fallback to secondary API source
- Uses expired cache with warning if network unavailable
Important Notes
When to Use This Skill
✅ DO use for:
- Any Taiwan date/calendar queries
- Working day calculations
- Holiday information
- Date arithmetic involving working days
❌ DON'T use for:
- Non-Taiwan regions/calendars
- Lunar calendar queries (農曆)
- 24 solar terms (二十四節氣)
- Historical dates (use for current/future dates)
Natural Language Output
The script outputs Chinese (Traditional) responses. Use these directly when responding to users, or translate if needed.
Command Execution
Always use the full command with uv run --managed-python:
uv run --managed-python scripts/taiwan_calendar.py <command> [args]
NEVER use:
python scripts/taiwan_calendar.py❌cd scripts && uv run taiwan_calendar.py❌
The script path is relative to the skill directory.
Troubleshooting
"Failed to fetch calendar data"
Cause: All API sources unavailable
Solution:
- Check network connection
- Verify government API status
- Script will use expired cache if available (with warning)
"Invalid date format"
Cause: Unrecognized date format
Solution: Use supported formats:
YYYY-MM-DD(e.g., 2025-01-06)YYYY/MM/DD(e.g., 2025/01/06)MM/DD(e.g., 01/06)
"Unable to parse date"
Cause: Ambiguous date input
Solution: Be explicit with year for dates far from today
Progressive Disclosure
This is the main skill file. All essential information is included here for immediate use.
For implementation details, see: scripts/taiwan_calendar.py