ICS Calendar Reader

Parse .ics files with scripts/read_ics.py instead of hand-parsing text.

Prerequisite

• Set ICS_URLS to one or more calendar URLs (comma-separated).
  • Example: export ICS_URLS="https://example.com/a.ics,https://example.com/b.ics"
• Secrets/defaults file: ~/.config/stu-skills/ics-calendar-reader/.env
  • The script reads this path from ics-calendar-reader/.env-path automatically.
• If ICS_URLS is missing and no ics_path is provided, the script exits with an instruction for the agent to ask the user for it.
• Do not paste private calendar URLs in prompts or command lines; run the script and let it read from env.
• The parser refuses --url inputs by design and instructs using ICS_URLS from .env.
• ICS_URLS entries using webcal:// or webcals:// are normalized to https:// automatically.

.env Sample

Path: ~/.config/stu-skills/ics-calendar-reader/.env

ICS_URLS="https://example.com/a.ics,https://example.com/b.ics"

Workflow

1. Run the parser on the file and request JSON for reliable downstream use:
   • python3 scripts/read_ics.py /path/to/calendar.ics --format json
   • python3 scripts/read_ics.py --format json
2. Filter to upcoming events or a window:
   • python3 scripts/read_ics.py /path/to/calendar.ics --after now --limit 20 --format json
   • python3 scripts/read_ics.py /path/to/calendar.ics --after 2026-02-01T00:00:00 --before 2026-03-01T00:00:00 --format json
   • python3 scripts/read_ics.py --after now --limit 20 --format json
3. Use text output for quick human review:
   • python3 scripts/read_ics.py /path/to/calendar.ics --format text

Cache (URL fetches)

• Remote ICS URLs are cached by default for 900 seconds.
• Override TTL with --cache-ttl (seconds) or ICS_CACHE_TTL_SECONDS.
• Disable cache by setting --cache-ttl 0.
• Override cache location with --cache-dir or ICS_CACHE_DIR.
• Default cache path:
  • $XDG_CACHE_HOME/stu-skills/ics-calendar-reader
  • or ~/.cache/stu-skills/ics-calendar-reader when XDG_CACHE_HOME is unset.

Output Contract

Expect each event to include:

• summary
• start (ISO-8601)
• end (ISO-8601 when available)
• all_day (boolean)
• location
• description
• status
• uid
• organizer
• attendees

Notes

• Treat parsed JSON as source of truth for further transformations.
• Keep timezone-aware datetimes intact; do not strip offsets.
• When presenting datetimes to users, default to local timezone with format Sat 7 Feb 2026 16:43 (%a %-d %b %Y %H:%M).
• For recurring events, treat each VEVENT record present in the file as one parsed item.
• If needed, read references/ics-fields.md for quick field semantics.
• For private calendar subscriptions, store URLs in ICS_URLS and avoid inline URLs entirely.