Google Calendar Automation Scripts

Note: This README was AI-generated and reflects the current state of the automation scripts.

A collection of Google Apps Script automations to supercharge your Google Calendar with smart features like prefix-based coloring, intelligent meeting detection, and container-based event grouping.

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✨ Features

🎨 Prefix-Based Event Management

Quickly format events with simple prefixes that auto-remove after processing:

Prefix	Effect	Example
o	Orange color	o client meeting → Orange event titled "client meeting"
r	Red color	r urgent deadline → Red event titled "urgent deadline"
y	Yellow color	y brainstorm session → Yellow event titled "brainstorm session"
f	Free time (transparent)	f optional lunch → Event marked as "Free"
daily	Daily recurrence (no end)	daily standup → Repeating daily event titled "standup"

All prefixes are case-insensitive: O , R , DAILY work just as well!

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🤝 Smart Meeting Detection

Automatically detects and enhances meeting events:

Detection criteria:

• Keywords in title: meet, meeting, call, go, train, ride
• Meeting platforms in description/location: Google Meet, Zoom, Webex, GoToMeeting, Calendly, Zeeg
• Events with attendees
• Events already colored red

Auto-enhancements:

• ✅ Colors meeting RED
• ✅ Adds 3-minute reminder (preserves your other reminders)
• ✅ Smart detection (won't remove manually set reminders)

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📦 Glue Events (Container System)

Move multiple events together like a folder!

How it works:

1. Create an event with "glue" anywhere in the title (e.g., Glue morning routine)
2. Create events inside the glue's time window (e.g., workout 9:00-9:30, breakfast 9:30-10:00)
3. Move the glue event → all contained events move with it!

Features:

• ✅ Auto-capitalizes "glue" → "Glue"
• ✅ Automatically colored GRAY
• ✅ Marked as "Free" time (doesn't block calendar)
• ✅ Position-based detection (no manual attachment needed)
• ✅ Maintains relative positioning when moved

Perfect for:

• Morning/evening routines
• Client project blocks (prep → meeting → followup)
• Travel itineraries (flight → hotel → rental car)

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🚀 Installation

Prerequisites

• Google Account with Google Calendar
• Node.js (v4.7.4 or later)
• npm (comes with Node.js)

Setup Steps

1. Install clasp (Command Line Apps Script)

npm install -g @google/clasp

2. Enable Google Apps Script API

Visit https://script.google.com/home/usersettings and toggle on "Google Apps Script API"

3. Authenticate clasp

clasp login

This opens a browser window to authorize clasp with your Google account.

4. Clone this repository

git clone https://github.com/ArtyMcLabin/GoogleCalendar_ExtendedFeatures_Appscript.git
cd GoogleCalendar_ExtendedFeatures_Appscript

5. Create your Apps Script project configuration

# Create a new Apps Script project
clasp create --title "Calendar Automation" --type standalone

This creates a .clasp.json file with your new Script ID.

OR if you prefer to use an existing project, copy the example:

cp .clasp.json.example .clasp.json
# Then edit .clasp.json and replace YOUR_SCRIPT_ID_HERE with your actual Script ID

6. Deploy to Apps Script

clasp push

7. Set up Calendar trigger

1. Open the Apps Script editor:

   clasp open

2. In the Apps Script editor:

   • Click Triggers (clock icon) in left sidebar
   • Click + Add Trigger (bottom right)
   • Configure:
     • Function: dispatchCalendarUpdates
     • Event source: From calendar
     • Calendar owner: Your email
     • Event type: Calendar updated
   • Click Save

3. Authorize the script when prompted

Done! Your calendar automation is now active.

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🔧 Configuration

All settings are in Code.js under the CONFIG object:

var CONFIG = {
  LOCK_TIMEOUT_MS: 30000,           // Lock timeout (30 seconds)
  MEETING_REMINDER_MINUTES: 3,     // Default meeting reminder time

  COLOR_PREFIXES: {
    ORANGE: 'o ',
    RED: 'r ',
    YELLOW: 'y ',
    FREE: 'f ',
    DAILY: 'daily '
  },

  MEETING_KEYWORDS: ['meet', 'meeting', 'call', 'go', 'train', 'ride'],
  MEETING_METHODS: ['meet.google.com', 'zoom.us', 'webex.com', ...]
};

Customize these values to match your preferences!

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📖 Usage Examples

Color Coding Events

Create: "r submit report"
Result: Red event titled "submit report"

Create: "o team check-in"
Result: Orange event titled "team check-in"

Creating Recurring Events

Create: "daily morning review" (9:00 AM - 9:15 AM)
Result: Daily recurring event titled "morning review"

Using Glue Events

1. Create: "Glue project work" (2:00 PM - 5:00 PM)
2. Create: "kickoff meeting" (2:00 PM - 2:30 PM)
3. Create: "development time" (2:30 PM - 4:30 PM)
4. Create: "code review" (4:30 PM - 5:00 PM)
5. Move "Glue project work" to 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
   → All three events move automatically!

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🛠️ Debugging

Manual Functions (Run from Apps Script Editor)

• debugShowAllGlueData() - View all stored glue event data
• clearAllProperties() - Reset all glue tracking data
• checkAndUpdateGlueEvents() - Manually re-process all glue events

Viewing Logs

1. Open Apps Script editor: clasp open
2. Click Executions in left sidebar
3. Click on an execution to view logs

Note: clasp logs requires GCP project setup (not configured by default)

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🔒 Security & Privacy

• ✅ No hardcoded credentials or API keys
• ✅ Uses Google's OAuth for authentication
• ✅ All processing happens in your Google Apps Script environment
• ✅ No data sent to external servers
• ✅ OAuth tokens stored locally (.clasprc.json - gitignored)

Script ID in .clasp.json is safe to commit - it's a public identifier, not a secret.

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🏗️ Architecture

Processing Flow:

1. Calendar event created/modified
2. Google triggers dispatchCalendarUpdates()
3. Script fetches recent events (last 30 seconds)
4. Processes each event based on type:
   • Prefix → Color/settings applied
   • Meeting → Auto-detected and enhanced
   • Glue → Container tracking updated
5. Results visible in ~15-20 seconds

Key Design Principles:

• ✅ Idempotent (safe to run multiple times)
• ✅ No description tag pollution (clean UI)
• ✅ Event-specific processing markers
• ✅ 30-second window for rapid event creation
• ✅ Lock mechanism prevents concurrent conflicts

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📝 Development

Local Development

# Edit code in your favorite editor
code Code.js

# Deploy changes to Apps Script
clasp push

# Pull changes from Apps Script (if edited in web UI)
clasp pull

Git Workflow

git add .
git commit -m "Description of changes"
git push

Important: GitHub pushes do NOT automatically deploy to Apps Script. Always run clasp push to deploy.

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🐛 Troubleshooting

Events not processing:

• Wait 15-20 seconds after creating/editing (trigger delay + processing time)
• Check executions in Apps Script editor for errors
• Verify trigger is active

Glue events not moving contained events:

• Ensure contained events are FULLY inside the glue window
• Wait 20 seconds after creating each event before moving
• Run debugShowAllGlueData() to check storage

Lock timeout errors:

• Multiple triggers firing too quickly
• Normal behavior - subsequent triggers wait for first to complete
• If persistent, increase LOCK_TIMEOUT_MS in CONFIG

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📜 License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details

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🤝 Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

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🙏 Credits

Created with assistance from Claude (Anthropic AI) for personal calendar automation needs.

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📊 Version History

Latest: v0.34 (October 2025)

• Added yellow color prefix (y )
• Added free time prefix (f )
• Added daily recurrence prefix (daily )
• Fixed glue event processing performance (10x faster)
• Removed description tag pollution
• Critical lock timeout fix

See commit history for detailed changelog.