Google Calendar

Calendar management built for how small businesses actually schedule.

Uses the gws CLI for all Calendar operations. See the google-workspace skill for setup.

Triggers

• "what's on my calendar"
• "schedule a meeting"
• "check availability"
• "meeting prep"
• "cancel / reschedule a meeting"
• "block time for..."
• Any request involving scheduling, events, or availability

Prerequisites

• gws CLI installed and authenticated with Calendar scope
• Run gws auth login -s calendar if not already done

Core Commands

gws calendar +agenda             # Today's upcoming events
gws calendar +agenda --week      # This week's events
gws calendar +insert             # Create a new event
gws workflow +meeting-prep       # Prep for next meeting (attendees, docs, agenda)
gws workflow +standup-report     # Today's meetings + open tasks

Daily Scheduling Workflow

Morning: Know your day

# What's on today?
gws calendar +agenda --format table

# Full week view (Monday planning)
gws calendar +agenda --week --format table

Before each meeting: Prep

# Get attendees, description, linked docs for next meeting
gws workflow +meeting-prep

Scheduling: Create events

# Quick event from natural language
gws calendar events quickAdd --params '{"calendarId": "primary", "text": "Team standup tomorrow at 9am for 30 minutes"}'

# Structured event with attendees
gws calendar +insert

Check availability before scheduling

# Check free/busy for specific people
gws calendar freebusy query --json '{
  "timeMin": "2026-01-15T09:00:00-05:00",
  "timeMax": "2026-01-15T17:00:00-05:00",
  "items": [
    {"id": "person1@example.com"},
    {"id": "person2@example.com"}
  ]
}'

SMB Scheduling Patterns

Staff Meetings

# Create a recurring weekly team meeting
gws calendar events insert --params '{"calendarId": "primary"}' --json '{
  "summary": "Weekly Team Standup",
  "start": {"dateTime": "2026-01-20T09:00:00-05:00", "timeZone": "America/New_York"},
  "end": {"dateTime": "2026-01-20T09:30:00-05:00", "timeZone": "America/New_York"},
  "recurrence": ["RRULE:FREQ=WEEKLY;BYDAY=MO"],
  "attendees": [
    {"email": "team-member@example.com"}
  ]
}'

Customer Appointments

# Schedule a customer meeting
gws calendar events insert --params '{"calendarId": "primary"}' --json '{
  "summary": "Meeting with [Customer Name]",
  "description": "Discuss: [agenda items]",
  "start": {"dateTime": "2026-01-20T14:00:00-05:00", "timeZone": "America/New_York"},
  "end": {"dateTime": "2026-01-20T15:00:00-05:00", "timeZone": "America/New_York"},
  "attendees": [
    {"email": "customer@example.com"}
  ],
  "reminders": {
    "useDefault": false,
    "overrides": [
      {"method": "email", "minutes": 60},
      {"method": "popup", "minutes": 15}
    ]
  }
}'

Focus Time / Deep Work Blocks

# Block focus time so meetings don't eat your day
gws calendar events insert --params '{"calendarId": "primary"}' --json '{
  "summary": "Focus Time — Do Not Schedule",
  "start": {"dateTime": "2026-01-20T08:00:00-05:00", "timeZone": "America/New_York"},
  "end": {"dateTime": "2026-01-20T10:00:00-05:00", "timeZone": "America/New_York"},
  "recurrence": ["RRULE:FREQ=WEEKLY;BYDAY=TU,TH"],
  "transparency": "opaque"
}'

Vendor / Supplier Meetings

# Find all events with a specific vendor this month
gws calendar events list --params '{
  "calendarId": "primary",
  "timeMin": "2026-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "timeMax": "2026-01-31T23:59:59Z",
  "q": "vendor name"
}'

Managing Events

Reschedule

# Update an event's time (need the eventId)
gws calendar events patch --params '{"calendarId": "primary", "eventId": "EVENT_ID"}' --json '{
  "start": {"dateTime": "2026-01-21T14:00:00-05:00", "timeZone": "America/New_York"},
  "end": {"dateTime": "2026-01-21T15:00:00-05:00", "timeZone": "America/New_York"}
}'

Cancel

# Delete an event
gws calendar events delete --params '{"calendarId": "primary", "eventId": "EVENT_ID"}'

Add notes / agenda to existing meeting

gws calendar events patch --params '{"calendarId": "primary", "eventId": "EVENT_ID"}' --json '{
  "description": "Agenda:\n1. Review last week\n2. Discuss Q1 goals\n3. Action items"
}'

Weekly Planning (Monday Routine)

A good Monday routine for any small business owner:

1. Review the week:

   gws calendar +agenda --week --format table

2. Identify conflicts: Look for overlapping events or back-to-back meetings without breaks
3. Block focus time: Protect at least 2 hours/day for deep work
4. Prep for key meetings:

   gws workflow +meeting-prep

5. Check for missing follow-ups: Are there meetings from last week that need follow-up emails?

Integration with Other Skills

• morning-briefing — Calendar is part of the daily briefing
• gmail — Meeting-related emails, sending agendas
• google-tasks — Convert meeting action items to tasks
• google-docs — Meeting notes and agendas
• playbook-discovery — Analyze calendar for recurring meeting patterns

Tips

• Always check free/busy before proposing times to external contacts
• Use quickAdd for fast event creation with natural language
• Set up recurring events for regular meetings — don't recreate them each week
• Use --dry-run before creating/modifying events to preview the request
• Keep event descriptions structured: agenda items, links, prep notes

Related Skills

• google-workspace — Required setup (install and auth)
• gmail — Email coordination around meetings
• google-tasks — Action items from meetings
• morning-briefing — Daily calendar + email + business digest

Your calendar is your commitment log. Protect it.