Calendar Sync for macOS

Sync events from one calendar to another. Synchronize all events from today's start up-to 30 days from now, including instances of recurring events.

For CalendarSync to work, you must have your calendars enabled in System Settings/Internet Accounts.

Also, you can install launchd agents to synchronize your calendars automatically.

Build the script

1. Open the CalendarSync project in XCode.
2. At the top, select the "Any Mac" run destination.
3. Select Product -> Build For -> Running.
4. Select Product -> Archive.
5. Right-click the archive, click "Show in Finder".
6. Right-click the .xcarchive, "Show Package Contents".
7. The CalendarSync binary is under Products/usr/local/bin/.
8. You can copy the CalendarSync executable file to your home directory for simplicity.

CalendarSync usage

Follow the account_name→calendar_name format. CalendarSync uses the → arrow character as a separator as it has a low probability of appearing in a calendar's name.

If you're unsure of what names to use, you can get them from Calendar.app.

./CalendarSync "source_account_name→source_calendar_name" "target_account_name→target_calendar_name" [--dry-run]

Example:

./CalendarSync "outlook→Calendar" "gmail→somename@gmail.com"

Dry run

--dry-run is an optional argument you can use to see what events CalendarSync would create and delete, if any.

Example:

./CalendarSync "outlook→Calendar" "gmail→somename@gmail.com" --dry-run

Configure a sync agent

Copy the com.danyreyna.CalendarSync.plist file

Give it a unique name.

cp com.danyreyna.CalendarSync.plist com.danyreyna.calendarsync.some_sync_agent_name.plist

For example:

cp com.danyreyna.CalendarSync.plist com.danyreyna.calendarsync.outlook_to_gmail.plist

Edit your plist file

1. Edit the following keys to change some_sync_agent_name to your agent's name:
   • Label
   • StandardOutPath
   • StandardErrorPath
   • For example, com.danyreyna.calendarsync.outlook_to_gmail.
2. Configure the ProgramArguments key:
   1. Edit the path to CalendarSync. You can copy the CalendarSync executable file to your home directory for simplicity.
   2. Edit the source and target calendars.
      • Follow the account_name→calendar_name format.
      • CalendarSync uses the → arrow character as a separator as it has a low probability of appearing in a calendar's name.
      • If you're unsure of what names to use, you can get them from Calendar.app.
3. You can also uncomment the --dry-run <string> tag for testing and debugging purposes.
4. By default, the agent will run every hour from 8am to 5pm. Edit the StartCalendarInterval key to your liking.

Note about two-way synchronization

To prevent race conditions when synchronizing events from calendar A to calendar B and also from calendar B to calendar A, edit StartCalendarInterval in one of your two agents so they don't run simultaneously. For example, agent X may run hourly on the hour (8:00, 9:00, etc.) and agent Y may run with a few-minute offset (8:02, 9:02, etc.).

Install a sync agent

1. Move your plist file to your user's launch agents directory.

mv com.danyreyna.calendarsync.some_sync_agent_name.plist ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.danyreyna.calendarsync.some_sync_agent_name.plist

For example:

mv com.danyreyna.calendarsync.outlook_to_gmail.plist ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.danyreyna.calendarsync.outlook_to_gmail.plist

2. Load the plist into launchd.

launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.danyreyna.calendarsync.some_sync_agent_name.plist

For example:

launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.danyreyna.calendarsync.outlook_to_gmail.plist

3. Verify it loaded correctly.

launchctl list | grep com.danyreyna.calendarsync.some_sync_agent_name

For example:

launchctl list | grep com.danyreyna.calendarsync.outlook_to_gmail

See a sync agent's logs

Output log

cat /tmp/com.danyreyna.CalendarSync.some_sync_agent_name.out | tail 

For example:

cat /tmp/com.danyreyna.CalendarSync.outlook_to_gmail.out | tail 

Error log

cat /tmp/com.danyreyna.CalendarSync.some_sync_agent_name.err | tail 

For example:

cat /tmp/com.danyreyna.CalendarSync.outlook_to_gmail.err | tail 

Update a sync agent's configuration

1. Unload the plist from launchd.

launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.danyreyna.calendarsync.some_sync_agent_name.plist

For example:

launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.danyreyna.calendarsync.outlook_to_gmail.plist

2. Edit the plist file with your new configuration.
3. Load the plist into launchd.

launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.danyreyna.calendarsync.some_sync_agent_name.plist

For example:

launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.danyreyna.calendarsync.outlook_to_gmail.plist

4. Verify it loaded correctly.

launchctl list | grep com.danyreyna.calendarsync.some_sync_agent_name

For example:

launchctl list | grep com.danyreyna.calendarsync.outlook_to_gmail

Uninstall a sync agent

1. Unload the plist from launchd.

launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.danyreyna.calendarsync.some_sync_agent_name.plist

For example:

launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.danyreyna.calendarsync.outlook_to_gmail.plist

2. Remove the plist file from your user's launch agents directory.

rm ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.danyreyna.calendarsync.some_sync_agent_name.plist

For example:

rm ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.danyreyna.calendarsync.outlook_to_gmail.plist

3. Remove the log files.

rm /tmp/com.danyreyna.CalendarSync.some_sync_agent_name.out 
rm /tmp/com.danyreyna.CalendarSync.some_sync_agent_name.err 

For example:

rm /tmp/com.danyreyna.CalendarSync.outlook_to_gmail.out 
rm /tmp/com.danyreyna.CalendarSync.outlook_to_gmail.err