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Qasim Muhammad
Qasim Muhammad

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Manage Google Calendar, Outlook & Exchange from the Command Line — AI Scheduling Included

#cli #calendar #scheduling #productivity

Managing calendars across Google, Outlook, and Exchange usually means three different UIs, three different APIs, and three sets of credentials. The Nylas CLI unifies them into one command-line interface — list events, create meetings, check availability, and let AI handle the scheduling.

Getting Started 

brew install nylas/nylas-cli/nylas
nylas init
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Once authenticated, every calendar command works against Google Calendar, Outlook, Exchange, Yahoo, and iCloud identically.

List Your Calendars

nylas calendar list shows all calendars on your account — primary, shared, and subscribed:

nylas calendar list --json
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View Upcoming Events

nylas calendar events list displays your schedule:

# Next 7 days (default)
nylas calendar events list

# Next 30 days
nylas calendar events list --days 30

# In a specific timezone
nylas calendar events list --days 7 --timezone America/New_York --json
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Inspect a Single Event

nylas calendar events show gives you every detail — attendees with RSVP status, recurrence rules, conferencing links:

nylas calendar events show --id evt_abc123 --json
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Create Events

nylas calendar events create adds events directly:

nylas calendar events create \
  --title "Sprint Review" \
  --start "2025-04-15T14:00:00" \
  --end "2025-04-15T15:00:00" \
  --participants "alice@co.com,bob@co.com" \
  --location "Zoom" \
  --yes
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Update and Delete Events

Modify with nylas calendar events update:

nylas calendar events update --id evt_abc123 --title "Sprint Review (Moved)" --start "2025-04-16T14:00:00"
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Remove with nylas calendar events delete:

nylas calendar events delete --id evt_abc123 --notify
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The --notify flag sends cancellation emails to attendees.

RSVP from the Terminal

nylas calendar events rsvp responds to invitations:

nylas calendar events rsvp --id evt_xyz789 --status yes
nylas calendar events rsvp --id evt_xyz789 --status maybe
nylas calendar events rsvp --id evt_xyz789 --status no
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AI-Powered Scheduling

This is where it gets interesting. The CLI has built-in AI features that go beyond CRUD.

Natural Language Event Creation

nylas calendar schedule ai parses plain English:

nylas calendar schedule ai "Team standup tomorrow at 9am for 15 minutes"
nylas calendar schedule ai "Lunch with Sarah next Friday at noon"
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Find a Meeting Time

nylas calendar find-time queries everyone's availability and returns open slots:

nylas calendar find-time \
  --participants "alice@co.com,bob@co.com,carol@co.com" \
  --duration 30 \
  --days 5
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Check Availability

nylas calendar availability check shows free/busy windows:

nylas calendar availability check \
  --start "2025-04-15T09:00:00Z" \
  --end "2025-04-15T17:00:00Z" \
  --participants "alice@co.com,bob@co.com"
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Detect Conflicts

nylas calendar ai conflicts scans your calendar for double-bookings and tight back-to-back slots:

nylas calendar ai conflicts --days 14
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The AI flags hard conflicts (simultaneous events), soft conflicts (less than 15 minutes between meetings), and travel-time risks.

AI Rescheduling

nylas calendar ai reschedule suggests optimal alternative times:

nylas calendar ai reschedule --id evt_conflicting123
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It analyzes participant availability and calendar density to propose 3 conflict-free alternatives.

Calendar Analytics

nylas calendar analyze breaks down your meeting load:

nylas calendar analyze --days 30 --json
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Output includes total meeting hours, busiest day of the week, average meeting duration, recurring vs one-off ratio, and focus-time gaps.

Timezone Tools (100% Offline)

The CLI includes standalone timezone utilities that work without an API key or internet connection.

nylas timezone list — browse all IANA timezones:

nylas timezone list --filter America
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nylas timezone convert — convert between zones:

nylas timezone convert --from "America/New_York" --to "Asia/Tokyo" --time "2025-04-15T09:00"
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nylas timezone find-meeting — find overlapping work hours across zones:

nylas timezone find-meeting --zones "America/New_York,Europe/London,Asia/Tokyo"
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nylas timezone dst — check DST transitions:

nylas timezone dst --zone "America/New_York"
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nylas timezone info — current offset and status:

nylas timezone info "Europe/London"
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Full Command Reference

All calendar and timezone commands with full flag documentation: Nylas CLI Command Reference.

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