Outlook Calendar Reader

Overview

This skill reads calendar events from Outlook via ICS subscription URL.

When to Use

User asks about today's meetings or schedule
User asks about upcoming events
User wants to check availability
User asks "What's on my calendar?"

ICS URL Configuration

ICS URL: <YOUR_ICS_URL_HERE>

⚠️ Setup Required: Replace <YOUR_ICS_URL_HERE> above with your actual ICS URL.

How to get your ICS URL:

Open Outlook Web

Go to Calendar → Settings (gear icon) → View all Outlook settings

Calendar → Shared calendars → Publish a calendar

Select calendar and permissions → Publish → Copy ICS link

Execution Steps

Method 1: Use ics_parser.py (Recommended)

The skill includes ics_parser.py that handles all parsing and RRULE expansion.

Prerequisite: uv must be installed.

bash

# Get today's date
TODAY=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)

# Parse events for today
uv run ~/.claude/skills/outlook-calendar/ics_parser.py \
  --url "ICS_URL_HERE" \
  --start "$TODAY" \
  --end "$TODAY"

# Parse events for a date range
uv run ~/.claude/skills/outlook-calendar/ics_parser.py \
  --url "ICS_URL_HERE" \
  --start 2025-12-01 \
  --end 2025-12-31

# Output as JSON
uv run ~/.claude/skills/outlook-calendar/ics_parser.py \
  --url "ICS_URL_HERE" \
  --start 2025-12-01 \
  --end 2025-12-31 \
  --format json

# Debug mode (shows event counts)
uv run ~/.claude/skills/outlook-calendar/ics_parser.py \
  --url "ICS_URL_HERE" \
  --start 2025-12-01 \
  --end 2025-12-31 \
  --debug

Method 2: Manual Parsing with WebFetch

If the script is not available, use WebFetch and parse manually:

Fetch ICS: Use WebFetch to retrieve the ICS URL
Parse Events: Extract VEVENT blocks
Handle RRULE: Expand recurring events (see RRULE Reference below)
Filter & Format: Filter by date range and output as table

Script Features

The ics_parser.py script handles:

✅ All 3 DTSTART formats (UTC, TZID, all-day)
✅ RRULE expansion (WEEKLY, DAILY with BYDAY, INTERVAL, UNTIL, COUNT)
✅ Automatic timezone conversion (UTC → Taipei UTC+8)
✅ Dependencies auto-installed by uv
✅ Table or JSON output format
✅ Debug mode for troubleshooting

Output Format

The script outputs a markdown table:

Date	Time	Event	Location
2025-12-02 (Tue)	10:30-11:00	🔄 Standup Meeting	Microsoft Teams
2025-12-02 (Tue)	14:00-15:00	🔄 Weekly Meeting	Conference Room
2025-12-03 (Wed)	09:00-10:00	Project Review	Zoom

🔄 indicates a recurring event

RRULE Reference

Identify Recurring Events

A VEVENT with RRULE is a recurring event:

BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Taipei Standard Time:20250424T103000
RRULE:FREQ=WEEKLY;INTERVAL=1;BYDAY=MO,TU,WE,TH,FR
SUMMARY:Standup Meeting
END:VEVENT

Common RRULE Parameters

Parameter	Meaning	Example
`FREQ`	Frequency	DAILY, WEEKLY, MONTHLY, YEARLY
`INTERVAL`	Every N periods	2 = every 2 weeks
`BYDAY`	Day of week	MO, TU, WE, TH, FR, SA, SU
`UNTIL`	End date	20251231T235959Z
`COUNT`	Total occurrences	10

DTSTART Formats

Outlook ICS uses 3 different formats:

Format	Example	Timezone
UTC	`DTSTART:20251211T060000Z`	UTC (convert +8)
With TZID	`DTSTART;TZID=Taipei Standard Time:20250424T103000`	Local time
All-day	`DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251225`	Date only

Example Queries

"What meetings do I have today?"
"Show my calendar for this week"
"Am I free tomorrow afternoon?"
"What's on my schedule for 12/5?"

Troubleshooting

Quick Debug