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Calendar Trigger (Calendar Event Watcher)

The Calendar Trigger monitors ICS calendar feeds for new events and automatically starts workflows when new calendar entries are found.

What does this integration do?​

The Calendar Trigger regularly retrieves an ICS calendar feed and monitors it for new events. When a new calendar entry is detected, it automatically starts the linked workflow with the event information.

Typical Use Cases:

  • Meeting Preparation: Automatic preparation of meetings and rooms
  • Event Management: Workflow triggering for event preparation and follow-up
  • Reminders: Automatic notifications before important appointments
  • Resource Management: Automatic booking and release of resources
  • Workflow Orchestration: Event-based triggering of business processes
  • External System Integration: Synchronization with other calendar systems

User Configuration​

Calendar Source​

Calendar URL (Calendar URL)

  • Purpose: URL of the ICS calendar feed to be monitored
  • Format: Complete HTTPS URL to an ICS file
  • Examples:
    • https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/[calendar-id]/public/basic.ics
    • https://outlook.office365.com/calendar/[calendar-id]/calendar.ics
    • https://company.com/events.ics
    • https://api.calendarsystem.com/feed/public.ics

Poll Interval (ms) (Polling Interval in Milliseconds)

  • Purpose: Time interval between calendar queries
  • Default: 60000 (1 minute)
  • Format: Milliseconds
  • Examples:
    • 30000 (30 seconds for frequent updates)
    • 300000 (5 minutes for normal monitoring)
    • 3600000 (1 hour for rare updates)

Data Output​

Result (Event) - Variable for Event Data

  • Purpose: Name of the variable that stores the information of the new calendar entry
  • Content: Structured event information from the ICS feed
  • Example Variable: newEvent

How it Works​

Monitoring Mechanism​

Polling System:

  • Regular HTTP queries of the ICS feed
  • Parsing ICS data into structured event objects
  • Tracking already seen events via UID

New Event Detection:

  • Each event has a unique UID
  • Already processed UIDs are stored
  • Only new UIDs trigger workflows

Error Handling:

  • Robust handling of network errors
  • Continuation during temporary failures
  • Logging of connection problems

Workflow Integration​

Data Format​

Calendar Entry (Result Variable):

{
  "uid": "event-12345-67890@calendar.example.com",
  "summary": "Weekly Team Meeting",
  "description": "Discussion of project progress and planning",
  "start": "2024-03-15T09:00:00Z",
  "end": "2024-03-15T10:00:00Z",
  "location": "Conference Room A",
  "organizer": "max.mustermann@company.com",
  "attendees": ["anna.schmidt@company.com", "peter.mueller@company.com"],
  "status": "CONFIRMED",
  "created": "2024-03-10T14:30:00Z",
  "lastModified": "2024-03-12T16:45:00Z"
}

Field Descriptions:

  • uid: Unique identifier of the event
  • summary: Title/subject of the event
  • description: Detailed description
  • start: Start time (ISO 8601 format)
  • end: End time (ISO 8601 format)
  • location: Event location
  • organizer: Email of the organizer
  • attendees: Array of attendee emails
  • status: Status (CONFIRMED, TENTATIVE, CANCELLED)
  • created: Creation timestamp
  • lastModified: Last modification

Usage in Subsequent Steps​

Process Event Information:

Variable: newEvent

In LLM Action:
"Create an agenda for the following meeting: {{newEvent.summary}} on {{newEvent.start}}"

In Script Action:
const event = memory.load('newEvent');
const startTime = new Date(event.start);
const isToday = startTime.toDateString() === new Date().toDateString();

Send Notifications:

Variables: newEvent

In Email Action:
To: {{newEvent.attendees}}
Subject: Reminder: {{newEvent.summary}}
Body: The meeting "{{newEvent.summary}}" will take place on {{newEvent.start}}.

Practical Examples​

Meeting Preparation​

Configuration:

  • Calendar URL: https://company.com/calendar/meetings.ics
  • Poll Interval: 300000 (5 minutes)
  • Result: upcomingMeeting

Usage: Automatic room booking, agenda creation, attendee notification

Event Management​

Configuration:

  • Calendar URL: https://events.company.com/public-events.ics
  • Poll Interval: 600000 (10 minutes)
  • Result: newEvent

Usage: Event promotion, resource planning, catering orders

Maintenance Window Monitoring​

Configuration:

  • Calendar URL: https://it.company.com/maintenance.ics
  • Poll Interval: 60000 (1 minute)
  • Result: maintenanceWindow

Usage: System maintenance, notifications, backup scheduling

Project Milestones​

Configuration:

  • Calendar URL: https://pm.company.com/project-milestones.ics
  • Poll Interval: 3600000 (1 hour)
  • Result: milestone

Usage: Project status updates, reports, stakeholder notifications

Technical Details​

Schema Configuration​

configSchema: {
  url: {
    name: 'Calendar URL',
    description: 'ICS feed URL',
    schema: z.string().url(),
  },
  pollInterval: {
    name: 'Poll Interval (ms)',
    description: 'Interval for polling the calendar feed',
    schema: z.number().default(60000),
  },
  outputName: {
    name: 'Result (Event)',
    reference: 'memory-out',
    schema: z.string(),
  },
}

Internal Implementation​

ICS Parser:

  • Uses specialized ICS parser for RFC 5545 compatibility
  • Extraction of all relevant event properties
  • Robust handling of different ICS formats

HTTP Client:

  • Uses Axios for reliable HTTP requests
  • Support for various authentication types
  • Automatic error handling and retry logic

Memory Management:

  • Efficient storage of seen event UIDs
  • Automatic garbage collection for old events
  • Optimized performance for large calendars

Best Practices​

Calendar URLs​

URL Security:

  • Use HTTPS URLs for secure transmission
  • Validate URL access permissions
  • Use read-only/public calendar URLs

Calendar Management:

  • Use specific calendars for workflow triggers
  • Organize events with clear conventions
  • Document calendar URLs for the team

Performance​

Polling Optimization:

  • Adjust poll intervals to calendar frequency
  • Avoid too frequent polling for rare events
  • Consider server load of calendar provider

Resource Management:

  • Monitor network traffic
  • Implement caching where possible
  • Limit number of simultaneous calendar triggers

Robustness​

Error Handling:

  • Implement fallback strategies for failures
  • Validate event data in subsequent steps
  • Handle different ICS formats and versions

Monitoring:

  • Monitor polling success rates
  • Track event processing times
  • Implement alerts for calendar failures

Integration​

Event Processing:

  • Implement timezone handling for international calendars
  • Consider recurring events
  • Validate date/time formats

Workflow Design:

  • Combine with time-based triggers for reminders
  • Implement event status handling (CANCELLED, etc.)
  • Consider event updates and deletions

The Calendar Trigger enables seamless integration of calendar systems into automated workflows and provides flexible, reliable monitoring of appointments and events.