Source: https://cli.nylas.com/guides/manage-calendar-from-terminal

# Manage Calendar Events from Terminal

Most calendar integrations stop at CRUD. The Nylas CLI goes further with DST-aware event creation, configurable working hours and break protection, timezone locking for travel, and AI-powered natural language scheduling. Works with Gmail, Outlook, Exchange, Yahoo, iCloud, and IMAP.

Written by [Prem Keshari](https://cli.nylas.com/authors/prem-keshari) Senior SRE

Reviewed by [Nick Barraclough](https://cli.nylas.com/authors/nick-barraclough)

Updated April 26, 2026

## Why manage your calendar from the terminal?

If you spend your day in the terminal -- writing code, managing servers, running scripts -- switching to a browser tab to check your schedule creates unnecessary friction. A CLI-based calendar lets you:

- Check your next meeting without leaving your editor
- Script recurring event creation for standup meetings or 1:1s
- Integrate calendar checks into CI/CD or deployment scripts
- Pipe availability data into scheduling bots or agents
- Create events across timezones without mental math

## 1. Quick setup

```bash
brew install nylas/nylas-cli/nylas
```

Alternative install methods are in the [getting started guide](https://cli.nylas.com/guides/getting-started).

```bash
nylas auth login
nylas calendar list  # verify
```

## 2. List upcoming events

```bash
# Next 7 days (default)
nylas calendar events list

# Next 14 days
nylas calendar events list --days 14

# With timezone info shown
nylas calendar events list --show-tz

# Convert all times to a different timezone
nylas calendar events list --timezone America/Los_Angeles

# Combine both
nylas calendar events list --timezone Europe/London --show-tz
```

### Example output

```text
$ nylas calendar events list --days 7

Team Standup
  When: Mon, Feb 16, 2026, 9:00 AM - 9:30 AM
  Location: Conference Room A
  Guests: 5 participant(s)
  ID: event_abc123

Project Review
  When: Tue, Feb 17, 2026, 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
  Guests: 3 participant(s)
  ID: event_def456

Found 4 event(s)
```

## 3. Create events

```bash
# Basic event
nylas calendar events create \
  --title "Sprint Planning" \
  --start "2026-02-20 10:00" \
  --end "2026-02-20 11:00"

# All-day event
nylas calendar events create \
  --title "Team Offsite" \
  --start "2026-03-01" \
  --all-day

# With participants
nylas calendar events create \
  --title "Design Review" \
  --start "2026-02-21 14:00" \
  --end "2026-02-21 15:00" \
  --participant alice@company.com \
  --participant bob@company.com
```

## 4. DST-aware scheduling

A subtle but real problem: scheduling a meeting at 2:30 AM on the day clocks spring forward. That time does not exist. The CLI catches this before you create a broken event:

```text
$ nylas calendar events create --title "Early Sync" --start "Mar 8, 2026 2:30 AM"

DST Conflict Detected!

This time will not exist due to Daylight Saving Time (clocks spring forward)

Suggested alternatives:
  1. Schedule 1 hour earlier (before DST)
  2. Schedule at the requested time after DST
  3. Use a different date

Create anyway? [y/N]: n
Cancelled.
```

It also warns about fall-back duplicates, where 1:00-2:00 AM occurs twice. Use `--ignore-dst-warning` to skip the check if you know what you are doing.

## 5. Working hours validation

Configure your working hours and the CLI warns you before you schedule meetings outside them:

```yaml
# ~/.config/nylas/config.yaml
working_hours:
  default:
    enabled: true
    start: "09:00"
    end: "17:00"
  friday:
    enabled: true
    start: "09:00"
    end: "15:00"   # Short Fridays
  weekend:
    enabled: false  # No weekend meetings
```

```text
$ nylas calendar events create --title "Late Call" --start "2026-02-18 18:00"

Working Hours Warning

This event is scheduled outside your working hours:
  Your hours: 09:00 - 17:00
  Event time: 6:00 PM
  1 hour(s) after end

Create anyway? [y/N]:
```

## 6. Break time protection

Unlike working hours (which you can override), break blocks are hard enforced -- you cannot accidentally schedule over lunch:

```yaml
# In config.yaml
working_hours:
  default:
    enabled: true
    start: "09:00"
    end: "17:00"
    breaks:
      - name: "Lunch"
        start: "12:00"
        end: "13:00"
        type: "lunch"
      - name: "Afternoon Coffee"
        start: "15:00"
        end: "15:15"
        type: "coffee"
```

```text
$ nylas calendar events create --title "Quick Sync" --start "2026-02-18 12:30"

Break Time Conflict

Event cannot be scheduled during Lunch (12:00 - 13:00)
Error: event conflicts with break time
```

## 7. Timezone locking

When you create an event for an in-person meeting in a specific city, you want the time to stay in that city's timezone even if someone views it from a different location:

```bash
# Lock to your current timezone
nylas calendar events create \
  --title "NYC Office All-Hands" \
  --start "2026-02-20 09:00" \
  --location "New York Office" \
  --lock-timezone

# The event shows a lock indicator
# When: Fri, Feb 20, 2026, 9:00 AM EST (locked)
# (Your local: 6:00 AM PST)

# Unlock later
nylas calendar events update event_123 --unlock-timezone
```

## 8. AI-powered natural language scheduling

Describe what you want in plain English and the CLI finds the best times. Works with local LLMs (Ollama) for privacy or cloud providers for speed:

```bash
# Natural language
nylas calendar schedule ai "30-minute meeting with john@example.com next Tuesday afternoon"

# Privacy mode (local LLM, no data leaves your machine)
nylas calendar schedule ai --privacy "sensitive planning session next week"

# Use a specific provider
nylas calendar schedule ai --provider claude "team retrospective on Friday"

# Auto-confirm the first suggestion
nylas calendar schedule ai --yes "lunch with Alice next Monday"
```

### Example output

```text
$ nylas calendar schedule ai "30-min sync with john@example.com next Tuesday"

AI Scheduling Assistant
Provider: Ollama (local)

Top 3 suggested times:

1. Tuesday, Feb 17, 2:00 PM PST (Score: 94/100)
   you@example.com:  2:00 PM - 2:30 PM PST
   john@example.com: 5:00 PM - 5:30 PM EST
   Both in working hours, no conflicts

2. Tuesday, Feb 17, 1:00 PM PST (Score: 82/100)
   Post-lunch slot, moderate energy

3. Tuesday, Feb 17, 3:00 PM PST (Score: 90/100)
   Near end of working hours for John

Create meeting with option #1? [y/N/2/3]: y
Event created successfully!
```

## 9. Availability checks

```bash
# Check your availability
nylas calendar availability check

# Find time across participants
nylas calendar find-time \
  --participants alice@company.com,bob@company.com \
  --duration 1h

# Check conflicts for a proposed meeting
nylas calendar ai conflicts check \
  --title "Weekly product sync" \
  --start "2026-02-20T14:00:00Z" \
  --duration 60 \
  --participants alice@company.com,bob@company.com

# AI-powered rescheduling
nylas calendar ai reschedule ai event_123 --reason "Conflict detected"
```

## 10. Offline timezone utilities

These commands work 100% offline -- no API key required. Useful for quick timezone math:

```bash
# Convert time between zones
nylas timezone convert --from PST --to EST
nylas timezone convert --from UTC --to JST --time "2026-03-01T12:00:00Z"

# Check DST transitions for a zone
nylas timezone dst --zone America/New_York
nylas timezone dst --zone PST --year 2026

# Find meeting times across multiple zones
nylas timezone find-meeting --zones "NYC,London,Tokyo"

# List all timezones (filterable)
nylas timezone list --filter America
```

## 11. Scripting examples

```bash
#!/bin/bash
# morning-schedule.sh -- show today's events at shell login

echo "=== Today's Schedule ==="
nylas calendar events list --days 1

# Check for heavy meeting days
events=$(nylas calendar events list --days 1 --json | jq length)
if [ "$events" -gt 8 ]; then
  echo "WARNING: heavy meeting day ($events events)"
fi
```

---

> **Update (February 18, 2026)**: Replaced invalid calendar AI command examples with supported subcommands and updated the scripting snippet to use stable event-list checks.

## Next steps

- [Manage Outlook calendar](https://cli.nylas.com/guides/manage-outlook-calendar-cli) -- Outlook and Microsoft 365 calendar from the CLI
- [Manage Google Calendar](https://cli.nylas.com/guides/manage-google-calendar-cli) -- Google Calendar without the Google API
- [Manage Exchange calendar](https://cli.nylas.com/guides/manage-exchange-calendar-cli) -- Exchange Online and on-prem calendar from the CLI
- [Manage iCloud calendar](https://cli.nylas.com/guides/manage-icloud-calendar-cli) -- iCloud Calendar without CalDAV
- [Manage Yahoo calendar](https://cli.nylas.com/guides/manage-yahoo-calendar-cli) -- Yahoo Calendar from the CLI
- [Google Calendar ownership changes](https://cli.nylas.com/guides/google-calendar-ownership-changes) -- orphan calendars deleted April 27, new transfer API in June
- [EWS to Graph migration](https://cli.nylas.com/guides/ews-to-graph-migration) -- Exchange calendar access changes before October 2026
- [Send email from the terminal](https://cli.nylas.com/guides/send-email-from-terminal) -- complete email management from the CLI
- [Give AI agents access via MCP](https://cli.nylas.com/guides/ai-agent-email-mcp) -- let Claude or Cursor manage your calendar
- [RFC 5545 -- iCalendar (iCal)](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc5545) — canonical calendar object model: VEVENT, VTODO, RRULE, recurrence semantics
- [RFC 5546 -- iTIP scheduling protocol](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc5546) — how invites, replies, and cancellations move between calendar systems
- [Full command reference](https://cli.nylas.com/docs/commands) -- every calendar flag and subcommand
- [GitHub repository](https://github.com/nylas/cli) -- source code and contributions
- [Record meetings from the CLI](https://cli.nylas.com/guides/record-meetings-from-terminal) -- send a notetaker bot to record and transcribe calendar events