Apple Reminders

Apple Reminders

Use remindctl for Apple Reminders on macOS. It uses Apple's public EventKit APIs, so changes sync through the normal Reminders/iCloud path.

Prerequisites

• macOS 14+ with Reminders.app
• remindctl installed and available on PATH
• Install with brew install steipete/tap/remindctl
• Reminders access for the terminal app that runs remindctl
• Use remindctl status to check permission state before mutating data

Use This Skill When

• The user wants to manage Apple Reminders from the terminal
• The user asks for reminders, reminder lists, due dates, completion, deletion, or permission status
• The user wants reminders that appear on iPhone, iPad, or Mac via Apple Reminders

Do Not Use This Skill When

• The user wants a non-Reminders agent alert, cron job, or timed chatbot reminder
• The user wants calendar events instead of reminders
• The user needs native Reminders sections, tags, smart lists, attachments, or Apple's private "Urgent" toggle

Current Command Model

• remindctl defaults to show today
• show accepts filters: today, tomorrow, week, overdue, upcoming, open, completed, all, or a date string
• show --list <name> limits a view to one list
• list shows all lists with no arguments, or reminders in one or more named lists
• add creates a reminder
• edit updates a reminder by index or ID prefix
• complete marks reminders complete
• delete removes reminders
• status reports Reminders authorization without prompting
• authorize requests permission when possible

Helpful Aliases

• lists and ls map to list
• rm maps to delete
• done maps to complete

Output And Flags

• --json, -j, --json-output, and --jsonOutput emit JSON
• --plain emits stable tab-separated output
• --quiet emits minimal output
• --no-color disables colored output
• --no-input disables interactive prompts

Prefer --json when another step needs machine-readable data. JSON can include EventKit metadata such as creationDate, lastModifiedDate, url, alarmDate, locationTrigger, and recurrenceRule.

Reading Reminder Data

• Use remindctl today --json or remindctl show --json to inspect reminders
• Use remindctl open --json for all incomplete reminders, including reminders without due dates
• Use remindctl list --json to inspect lists
• Use remindctl list Work Errands --json to inspect multiple lists together
• Use remindctl status --json to inspect authorization state
• Reminder IDs and display indexes come from show output; complete, delete, and edit accept either an index or an ID prefix

Creating Reminders

add accepts the title as a positional argument or via --title, but not both.

Important options:

• --list <name> choose the target list
• --due <date> set the due date
• --alarm <date> set the alarm date
• --notes <text> add notes
• --url <url> set the dedicated URL field
• --repeat <rule> set simple recurrence
• --priority <none|low|medium|high> set priority
• --location <address> create a location trigger
• --radius <meters> adjust geofence radius
• --leaving trigger on leaving instead of arriving

If no list is provided, remindctl uses the Reminders app's default list. Do not assume the default is a specific list name. If the system has no default reminder list, specify --list.

Use --location whenever using --radius or --leaving; those flags are invalid on their own.

Editing Reminders

edit can update:

• --title
• --list
• --due or --clear-due
• --alarm or --clear-alarm
• --notes
• --url or --clear-url
• --repeat or --no-repeat
• --priority
• --complete or --incomplete

Reject conflicting combinations such as --due with --clear-due, --alarm with --clear-alarm, --url with --clear-url, --repeat with --no-repeat, or --complete with --incomplete.

Use remindctl edit <id> --list <new-list> to move a reminder between lists. Do not tell the user to delete and recreate the reminder for a move; the command already supports moving it directly.

Dates

Accepted date inputs:

• today, tomorrow, yesterday
• YYYY-MM-DD
• YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm
• ISO 8601 with timezone, such as 2026-01-03T12:34:56Z
• Local ISO 8601 without timezone, such as 2026-01-03T12:34:56

Rules:

• Date-only inputs create all-day reminders
• Date-time inputs create timed reminders
• Timed due reminders get a notification alarm at the due time unless --alarm overrides it
• Due-only edits preserve every alarm; explicit alarm edits preserve relative and location-based alarms

If the user provides only a calendar date, prefer a date-only value instead of inventing a time.

Supported repeat values:

• daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly, yearly
• every N days/weeks/months/years

Lists

• remindctl list prints all lists with reminder and overdue counts
• remindctl list <name...> prints reminders in one or more lists
• remindctl list <name> --create creates the list if missing
• remindctl list <name> --delete deletes the list
• remindctl list <name> --rename <new-name> renames the list
• remindctl list <name> --force skips confirmation for destructive list deletion
• Create, delete, and rename accept one list name only

Completion And Deletion

• complete and delete require one or more IDs or indexes
• delete prompts for confirmation unless --force or --no-input suppresses it
• complete supports --dry-run
• delete supports --dry-run

Permissions

Use remindctl status first when permission state matters.

• status never prompts
• authorize triggers the system prompt when the state is notDetermined
• If access is denied, direct the user to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Reminders
• If the prompt does not appear, the current workaround is to run:

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

When running over SSH, grant access on the Mac that actually runs remindctl.

Response Discipline

• Confirm the reminder title, list, and due date before creating it if any of them are ambiguous
• Use the exact command syntax shown by the current implementation
• Do not reuse stale guidance about deleting and recreating reminders to move them between lists
• Do not assume a fixed default list name
• Do not promise unsupported private Reminders.app features; remindctl intentionally stays on public EventKit APIs